First... An Introduction

As I was driving home with my husband and three sons after our first hike in the Great Smoky Mountains, we joked about the idea of creating a blog to track our progress as we set out to hike all the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.  Not only will I be able to document our progress, but I will be able to easily share our progress with family, friends, and the strangers who happen upon my blog. 

How it all began.  3 weeks ago, my husband, Chad and my 3 sons (no theme music please!), decided to hike House Mountain in Knox County Tennessee.  We loved it!  I started to look up different hikes in the area and came across the website for the 900 Miler Club, http://www.900miler.com/ .  This was a group of people who have hiked all 900 miles of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  I was awestruck and excited about the possibilities, and did not shut up about it for about 2 weeks.  Finally, I decided I wanted to be a member of the 900 Miler Club!

You may be asking yourself "Why try to hike all the trails of the GSMNP?"  I can't speak for everyone, but here are my reasons:
1) I love to hike!  I'll admit that I have not hiked very often in the past couple of years.  Mainly I have hiked small day hikes, my favorite being the loop in Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forrest in western North Carolina.  This will provide an opportunity for me to enjoy an activity I love, but have not gotten to do much in the past.
2) Hiking the trails of the GSMNP will be a new way for me to experience nature and the mountains I have loved as a child.  Yes, many people hike the trails in GSMNP, but being able to say you have hiked all the trails will give me more intimate knowledge of the "hills".  Being an anthropology major, I want to better understand how my ancestors and Native Americans lived.  Ok, warning, total cheese alert: I want to walk the trails they walked and see the views they saw on a day to day basis.  It is sad to see what has been taken from us all, for this was our heritage. Now, only fragments of these great forests remain.
3)  I want to see what lies beyond the next ridge! It is time for a new adventure in my life. 
4) Bragging rights.... 'nough said.
5) Spending more time with my family away from school, work, sports, video games, and TV.  Don't get me wrong, I love technology and all the conveniences of today as much as the next person, but you would be surprised how much your kids will talk to you when you are the only one around.  Even teenagers!
6)  I want to be in better shape physically.  I am by no means overweight, but I would like to tone up and improve my endurance.

And last but not least...
7) Why not?!

There are many unforeseen challenges that lie ahead, and I am ready to face them head on.  But there are other challenges that I am worried about (don't forget that I am a city girl):

1) BEARS!  Ok, I know that as long as I respect the wildlife and follow the advice of the park rangers then there will be a 99.9% chance that nothing will happen.  But there is still that .1%... just sayin'.
2) Yellow Jackets.  They love me!  I can be 50 feet away and one will make a bee-line for me (pun definitely intended).
3) Back-country camping.  Have I mentioned I'm a city girl?  Chad, my husband, used to back-country camp, hike, rock climb, you name it! So I am sure he will help me through this obstacle.  But, I also want to overcome this challenge for myself!  I don't like being a wimp.

So, this is the beginning of my journey.  Today, we hiked our first GSMNP trail, Abrams Falls in Cades Cove.  I will have to write about it next time.  Below are some pictures from our House Mountain hike.

Until next time....