Returning to the Keys -Fall of 2023 through the Smoky Mountains

As usual, my spouse and I make our drive back down to our winter home in the Keys an exploring road trip. We always like to visit the Appalachians and Smoky Mountains to see the splendent fall colors. This year we focused on the Knoxville/Pigeon Forge area of East Tennessee before moving on the North Carolina Mtns areas. A few days in a rental on Fort Loudon Lake near Friendsville, a few more days in a cabin in the mountains in Wears Valley and finally a couple of days in a lake home in the mountains in Sapphire NC.

First stop on our route was at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois on the Illinois River. It was a Saturday morning and the park was already full. We had to park in a remote lot and walk about 1/2 mile. It was a beautiful park and well worth the stop

Next stop was a VRBO rental on Ft Loudon Lake in Friendsville TN just south of Knoxville. We were going to stop at the Ark Encounter in Ky, but it turned out to be closed on Sundays. A nice stay in Friendsville area with kayaking the lake and touring the area and Lenoir City and Ft. Loudon State Park.

Next on the agenda was a drive on the Foothills Parkway,. A 72 mile corridor administered by the NPS , it has 3 segments. We drove the western 2 segments on our way to our Wears Valley via Townsend TN. An absolutely gorgeous drive with brilliant fall colors and expansive views of the mountains to the south and the valley to the NW overlooking Maryville and Knoxville. Our VRBO rental in Wears Valley had excellent views with peak fall colors.

Next adventure was a trip to Tuckaleechee Caverns near Townsend TN. We’ve toured many caverns and this would me near the top of our list. I loved the waterfall and running water as well as the formations and excellent lighting and paths. Well worth a stop if you are in the area.

Next up was a drive along the Little River Road in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. A beautiful drive alongside the river where a railroad used to run, ending near Gatlinburg TN. Traffic was very heavy and going through Gatlinburg on our way back to Wears Valley took forever!

Little River Gorge Road, Townsend to Gatlinbug TN

Last location in the mountains was a lake home in Sapphire NC near Cashiers NC. Great views and a quiet mountain lake to kayak. We also had a great hike on Whiteside Mountain with great views from 5000 ft. elevation. It was popular spot and we had to wait for a parking spot.

Christmas Vacation 2023-2024

After a poor experience the previous winter after getting stranded in airports while traveling back north, we decided to not return to Minnesota for Christmas, as we had for decades. Instead, I planned a gathering for the week after Christmas in Pigeon Forge TN with our kids and grandkids. I rented a house in the mountains just above Dollywood. It had nice views and privacy and even included an indoor pool, which the grandkids loved. Although the week included some warm and cool days (daily highs from 42 to 65), we enjoyed time outdoors everyday as there is no shortage of entertainment. From Go Karting, mountain coasters , Anakeeska Mountain Top Park and site seeing, dinner shows and lots of nice restaurants. Of course there were masses of tourists and snarled traffic. But all the family enjoyed it. I told the grandkids that this year it was about experiences, and not gifts. Unfortunately I got sick the last day, which turned out to be Covid. It took awhile to recover. I booked a few extra days to recover before driving back to the Keys. No one else in the family fell ill. I would do a trip like this again.

Fall of 2023 - No Diving No Fishing Lots of wind and rain

We returned to the Keys in November to be faced with lots of storms, record rain and wind. That, combined with motor problems on my lift (which I fixed by installing a new capacitor) left a limited number of good days to dive and it seemed on those days my dive buddy Jay was not available! At age 71 , I no longer care to dive by myself anymore. Likewise the weather did not cooperate for fishing trips. In my 22 years in the Keys this was by far the cloudiest, wettest and windiest weather I have encountered. Below is a video of one of the many nasty non boating days!

Winter of 2023

2022-2023 dive season was not off to a good start. I injured my leg right before we left Minnesota in late October and it got infected. Doctors orders were to stay out of the ocean until it healed. Then when we arrived in the Keys our house was found to have termites so we had to move out for a few days while they tented the entire house. I was finally cleared to dive in late November. I was able to get some successful Yellowtail fishing in Nov and December

I finally got back underwater on November 28, 2022, but realized I had left my GoPro Camera back home. Jay and I did dives at Conch Reef and Pickles on 11-28 -22 after dealing with 2 dead batteries and then realizing when we got out there that we had no ladder. So we rigged up some ropes and took off our gear to crawl back into the boat after the dive. It was very calm though. Next up was an afternoon dive at Conch Reef on 12-10-22. There is an interesting new island forming near the reef. The next day our last dives of the year 2022 were 2 at French Reef and a 3rd at Molasses on a calm day where we sighted a turtle, a stingray and a reef shark. No camera though. Camera will have to wait until I return to MN over Christmas to retrieve it!

My longtime friend Bob Bauman came in early January for his annual dive trip. We got decent weather and did 7 dives in 5 days! 4 at Molasses and also Conch, Snappers and Pickle Barrel reefs. I now had my GoPro 10 so images and videos were taken. But before diving, we got a very successful morning of fishing in with our limit of yellowtail snapper and some mackerel .

I prepared the fish Matecumbe style and Lazy Days style - both delicious!

Below is a slideshow from those dives with Bob

I got 6 more dives logged in January 2023 at Molasses, French and Conch. Below are some images from those dives. ALso got to try my New Subnado underwater propulsion

Here are links to the YouTube videos of the January 2023 dives with my dive buddy Bob Bauman. Sea turtle, Goliath Groupers and sharks and eels and lots of tropical fish. The weather cooperated during his 1 week annual visit.

April 18, 2022 - A day of diving. French Reef Caves, Molasses Reef and Pickles Reef

After a day off diving and sailing with Jay instead, we 3 are back on the water for a day of diving. First stop is French Reef to swim through Christmas Tree Cave and Hourglass Cave.

Then off to Molasses to the middle of the reef again. A bit of current here limited our exploring. First sighting of a lion fish in awhile . For our 3rd dive we went to Pickles. But unknown to us the buoy at the barrel wreck we using use had come loose. So we mistakenly used a neighboring buoy and had a long swim to get to where we wanted. My camera battery died just as an eel swam toward me and looked like to was going to attack.

April 16, 2022. My longtime dive buddy Dave is back for a visit.

Dave is visiting for a few days after spending the winter in Tucson. We were trying to get some dives in before windy weather set in. Unfortunately his Friday flight was cancelled, stranding him in Nashville and then the Saturday replacement was 3 hours late, leaving us little time to dive. So we hustled out for an evening dive at Conch Reef. It was quite choppy on the ride out and the visibility was poor. But any dive is a good dive. A cute pair of porcupine fish and other schools of fish made it interesting even as the light was fading.

April 3, 2022. Jay and I get back to the reef again - Molasses and Pickles.

Finally the weather and Jay’s scheduled allowed us back out diving together again. First stop at Molasses again found colorful coral and also a couple of nurse sharks and a sting ray. We have seen very few Stingrays this winter.

For our 2nd dive we headed to the Pickle Barrel Wreck. Luck was with us again as the single buoy was available. Lots of fish again and also a couple of Sanddiver Lizardfish.

March 28, 2022. Scott and I have 2 great dives at Molasses ReefMOn

For the 3rd day in a row, the weather was perfect for diving. So off to Molasses Reef we headed for a copy of dives. I thought it would not be crowded, but given the great weather, lots of boats on the reef. I tied up near the cave in the middle of the reef. A colorful dive with nice coral in the shallows and some colorful angelfish and parrotfish. A large pair of Permit also swam by us.

March 27, 2022 - Scott and I dive Pickles Reef

The weather is cooperating, so I a beautiful Sunday, Scott and I take of in the afternoon to dive Pickles Reef. On our first dive accidentally drops a weight bag from his BC and could not stay down. I got him back to the boat while I went looking for the pocket. Finally found it and when re-grouped and headed back into the water. Once again Pickles at the Pickle Barrel Wreck area provided lot of fish and other creatures. Including a well disguised Scorpionfish and a huge stone crab.

The Elkhorn coral is growing nicely in this area.

March 26, 2022 - Scott joins me for a early evening dive at Conch Reef.

My son Scott arranged a trip to visit us and hoped to get in some diving. The weather was predicted to get windy the latter part of his visit, so we were trying to get in the water on the day of his arrival. Of course his flight would be late. It was 5:15 before we got to the house and started getting his gear ready. Jay arrived to join us. We headed to Conch Reef, the closest reef to home. It was 6:30 before we splashed in. It was a bit of a choppy ride out and visibility was not the best, but a good dive never-the-less. Eel sighting, porcupine fish and lots of schools. At the end of the dive we spotted a critter none of us had seen before. It was a Tigertail Sea Cucumber. Looked about 4’ long with one end stuck in the rocks and the other rummaging the bottom. Another unusual find was a soapfish.

3-18-22 Brian Peterson catches a nice 46lb Amberjack

My son-in-law Brian Peterson and I went fishing with Brian McCadie on the Satisfaction this Friday afternoon. We wanted to fish some wrecks for some “big stuff” Brian hooked onto this nice Amberjack soon after putting his line in the water.

Brian and Mark with Amberjack