I love the outdoors but have not been able to really share the outdoors with my family because of spending most of my adult life in the Army.  I recently retired and so now am enjoying living in Virginia and having access to such a beautiful part of our country.  I am originally from Montana but being here in Virginia at least gives me wonderful mountain views.

This was a 3-day, 17-mile trip which turned into a 2-day, 17-mile trip. You can read the full trip report at the Canyon Man Blog, but here is the summary.

This was my wife's first backpacking trip.  She and I went into this trip not knowing what to expect of the Smoky Mountains. Neither of us had ever been to the Smokies, nor any other mountains east of Arkansas and Missouri. I was assuming it would be somewhat like the Ozarks and Ouachitas, only bigger.

Elk Trail to Hickory Creek Trail 911 Search and Rescue
March 16-18, 2007
Who:  Beartooth, GT, Imre, JonW, KevBro, nd, Storymaker, Trailhead

Day 0 – Friday, March 16, 2007

Our planned hike was the Elk Trail just north of the Quehanna Trail.  By Wednesday, March 14 the reporting stations in this area showed no snow pack remaining.  On Thursday morning the forecast was for cold conditions and occasional flurries.  When I came to work Friday there was now a winter storm warning for central Pennsylvania.  The forecast now predicted 12” of snow.  (This forecast proved to be accurate) 

My family and I just spent four days at Grayson Highlands State Park. This has become our favorite park of all time! One day was spent hiking the Rhodedendron Trail up to the AT and then toward Mt Rogers. The goal was to reach the summit. However, we ended up spending a lot of time checking out the wild ponies along the AT and the weather started changing for the worse. Other days were spent on several other trails. I highly recommend this...

An alternate trail of the PCT, the Eagle Creek trail #440 is a fantastic hike. It has enough challenging sections as well as some smooth hiking. The view is what will keep you coming back. Waterfalls mark the pay off of this sweet trail. Punch bowl falls, Tunnel Falls, and many more keep your mind off the pain of a backpack or sore feet.

We recently (April 17, 2009) completed a 14 mile round trip. We hiked from the trail head at Eagle Creek campground to the 7 1/2 mile camp. About 1/2 way to the Wantum lake campground. Setting camp at the trail head on Friday night got us an early start on the trail Saturday...