Smoky Mountains Backpacking – Blue Ridge Parkway

First Backpacking Group Hike

After our adventure in the Grand Canyon, we were excited about future overnight backpacking experiences. Now back country hiking meant learning how to prepare meals in the forest, sleeping in the forest, going potty in the forest… What no bathroom! So, Kyle and I did our research …and more research….and ultimately…

We came together with both of our interests and research. We decided on Western North Carolina as our focus location. We had previously purchased our hiking equipment from REI so we knew they offered group REI adventures with experienced guides to lead the hiking, backpacking and overnight adventures!

Reviewing the trip availability I knew Autumn was the time of year to take a group hike. I’d love to see the autumn leaves turning colors and feel the cool air in the forest. We read the group trip overview and itinerary. The group size was 10 hikers plus 2 experienced guides. Hiking 6-8 hours daily with possible elevation gain of 1,750 feet, 3 nights sleeping in tents. Definitely a learning adventure for us that we were looking for since we have only tented twice. Once at Disney Campground 20+ years ago with the unusual drop of temperature in the 30’s and our Grand Canyon night of which dropped in 30’s also! But never in the “Back Country” so to speak for multiple nights! So we signed up! Next to prepare!

First item on the gear list was a Bear Canister! What is a Bear Canister I said….after research we discovered the importance of a bear canisters especially near the Smokey Mountains where Black Bears have a sizable population and enjoy people food. We reviewed the gear list and checked off what we had and what we needed to purchase.

The experienced guides taught us the ropes of backpacking, tenting, cooking, filtering water, campfire, how to go potty in the forest, preparing for cold rainy weather in back country. We learned detailed information about the area, landscape, plants, trees, history and more from the guides.