Agile Trekker: Synchronous Fireflies, Elkmont Campground, Smokies

Although Glen is not a tent camper, I was able to persuade him to camp with me to see the synchronous fireflies in the Smokies. I saw them last year and I loved it so much that I booked a campsite again for this year. We took Krumm too. Dogs are allowed in the campground and on paved roads in the Smokies.

When I checked in at the campground, I was told that a large bear had gotten into the trash can the previous night. So, they have bear proof dumpsters there - I can hardly open them myself. I'm wondering how a bear got into it. They said the bear would be returning tonight (free food!), so they set out a bear trap. And they mentioned that it was near our campsite. Oh joy!

Glen went for a 6-mile hike while I set up our campsite and looked after Krumm (who can't go hiking here). Glen loved the hike. So, I was taking a container of Krumm's food and other stuff out of our car, and I managed to drop the container of his food. The cover came off, and all of his kibble spilled onto the ground. And there were lots of crumbs because it was near the end of the bag. OMG. I picked up all of the kibble but of course there were tons of crumbs on the ground. That's an open invitation to a hungry bear, who we know will be returning to the campground tonight. Ack.

A couple of our campsite neighbors came over and wanted to love on Krumm. Krumm doesn't want love from strangers, but he was thrilled when they started throwing a stick for him. They fell in love with him.

We headed out at around 7:30 to find a spot to watch the fireflies. We set up the same place I did last year. It's still on a paved road, so Krumm was allowed to sit with us. The fireflies were amazing and magical. I was wondering if Helene might have affected them, but the show was as good as ever. And most people were really nice - most people were very quiet or talked in hushed voices once the "show" started, and very few people used white lights/cell phones (you are only supposed to use red lights near the fireflies). Krumm was good about chilling there, even though he couldn't understand why we set up our chairs in front of a stream and didn't let him jump in. He got tons of compliments about how handsome & well behaved he is.

Back at the campground, I had problems falling asleep, as I was thinking about my spilled dog food & the big bear. I heard a couple of loud noises - I wondered if it was the bear trap. I eventually gave up being worried and put in ear plugs.

The next morning, I woke up and promptly took Krumm for a walk over to the bear trap. Gone! So, I guess they caught the bear.