Cades Cove

Cades Cove is the eagerly awaited scene for the annual bicycle tour held by the McDonald Road Pathfinder Club every November. Our club camps at a commercial site in Townsend and then we tour the loop in Cades Cove on Sabbath.

Here you can see our Pathfinders lining up in groups for the trip around the cove. All riders must wear a helmet. If you forget your helmet, then you get to see the cove from the bus! There is always an air of excitement before the director, Pam Tuttle gives the word for the first groups to go. The crisp November air made everyone eager to begin peddling to get their blood circulating. Those sweaters will start to come off soon.

The first stop for the entire group is the Primitive Baptist Church which is located a short distance off the loop road. This is where we hold our Sabbath services. This year we came prepared with song sheets and Pastor Crutchers guitar.

Our Pathfinders lead us out in a rousing song service which was enjoyed by all attending, including other visitors who came in during our song service and joined in songs of praise with us. Look at all the help the song leader had. None of the young ladies leading out in song service were troubled with unnecessary shyness on that day.

After some remarks and a prayer by Pastor Gettys we were once more off on the bikes to the mill at the far end of the loop.

Once at the mill it was time for lunch. The teen Pathfinders had prepared a visual scavenger hunt for the club and once the bikes were put away the Pathfinders were off in their groups to sight the items on their list. By the time the last group had returned from their hunt, it was time to eat. A Baptist group parked next to us began to look longingly at the cake we had for dessert while their hot cider seemed pretty attractive to us. A certain amount of horse trading went on that presumably left all parties satisfied with the result. After the food was put away and the grounds cleaned up, it was time for Pastor Getty to weave a spiritual lesson together from the days activities for us.

Pastor Gettys seems to have the Pathfinders complete attention for the moment. I wonder what he found on the scavenger hunt. The Pathfinders all seem engrossed in his story. Pastor Gettys always seems to be able to reach out and hold the attention of the young people. I am only learning now and from others at that, just what an accomplished woodsman our pastor is. Now that we know these things we will definitely have to find some more work for him. That's probably why he tried to keep it quiet.

After lunch and afternoon worship we mounted up and rode the rest of the loop back to the ranger station where the bikes were loaded onto trailers and the Pathfinders into the bus. Then it was back to Townsend for supper and a final treat before we left the Smokies. After sundown we all loaded into the bus for a ride to Gatlinburg and an evening of ice skating at the indoor rink. That and the ride back to Townsend guaranteed that our sleeping bags would look especially good to us when we got to camp.

After a short night it was Sunday and time to break camp and load up for the trip back home.  The Ranger class took another circuit around Cades Cove to help with some of the requirements for the biking honor while the rest of the club finished packing up. Cades Cove is beautiful in any weather and almost never fails to provide  generous sightings of deer and other wildlife. Next year we will try to have one of our teens bring us the Sabbath message. They will soon be our leaders. We want to make certain that they are well prepared to serve the Lord when he calls them. It is my view that my generation has been given the honor of participating in the training of the generation which will finish the work. Praise the Lord!
 
      by Gene Roll