Dismals Canyon and Bear Creek Canoe Run

Well last weekend the Flem-fam met up with the ILs for a weekend of camping and canoing. My BIL had reserved 3 camping spots up at Dismals Canyon and 3 canoes for the Bear Creek Canoe Run.  Well we pile our stuff in the minivan and drive 2 hours to outside Phil Campbell (yes, that's the town's name). We arrive and check the registration desk to see if they're there yet. And begin check-in ourselves. Well the young lady starts taking the usual info (name, address, yada-yada) and then she starts added up all these charges. The deal is when you camp you have to pay full-price admission for each day for every person ($20/adult/day, $9/child(no discount for babies/toddlers)/day) plus 15/night for the campsite. So for our family of 5 thats 80 FREAKIN' DOLLARS!!! for camping 2 nights. (In comparison, I paid $22 for 2 nights at OMSP the previous weekend) No freakin' way, these folks are nuts. So I tell the girl to hang on, I'll be back. I go on down to the campsites, these people can't be serious. But the ILs have already setup and don't wanna leave. Crap. I tell them the Bear Creek lakes are nearby and we could prob stay for $8-15/night. Nope. fine. I grudgingly pay what I would've paid for nearly a week at GSMNP.

After we get unloaded and setup (its about a 200yd hike from the parking to the site, pack light). We all decide to try the hiking trail. It's nice, not $80 nice mind you (OK I'll stop). It's like the canyons of Sipsey just on a smaller scale (tighter canyon, smaller bluffs, fewer falls). It's humid but cool on the canyon floor. The Dismal Branch is a small stream that the kids love splashing in (they wore water shoes). At the end of the trail is the State Champion Eastern Hemlock, nice but you can 100s of similar size throughout the Smokies.

We eat a dinner of cold cuts and chips then return at dark to take the night tour to see the Dismalites. The girl at the camp store/registration office ask if we're having fun. "Yes we are", I reply thru gritted teeth. The guide walks a group of us down into a narrow part of the canyon (bring flashlight/ headlamps) where we see small dimly glowing spots on the walls. When you illuminate these spots (red lights work best) you can see the small larvae worms, brown, about 1/2"long, and thick as a thin pencil lead. They barely move.  

We then go take hot showers in the nice brand-new modern bathhouse, probably the nicest I've ever seen. We try to sleep but are hindered in resting well due to the slope of our campsite (kept sliding off the pad, the kids end up bunched at the opposite end of the tent by morning).

After breakfast we load up and head about 6 miles down hwy 43 to the Bear Creek Canoe Run rental place on Bear Creek. In pretty packed here, lots of folks wanting to run the creek on this hot July morn. We paid $45 for a canoe and shuttle upstream for the "6-hour run". The canoes we were issued were nice 16' Old Towns and the paddles are aluminum, not bad. The creek itself is busy but not a mob-scene. The dam release upstream is nearly perfect for canoing. Fast enough to necessitate paddling some but not too fast that you feel out of control thru the many small chutes. At the first "major" rapid we pull over and eat lunch, and then us "manly men" took the canoes thru the rapid (all of 5 sec worth) while the women and children walked around and met us at the bottom. After we reloaded, we went on for another 10 minutes and we arrived at Factory Falls where portaging was mandatory.  After that was a nice easy float with occasional chutes and downed trees. Better info can be found @ alabamawhitewater.com

We then left the creek tired w/ a few spots of sunburn (dw and I both had burnt shoulders, the kids were fine) and held b-day party at the campsite for DD3 (she's now 2).