Episode 11: Wild Turkey

In Episode 11, Katie (aka Wild Turkey) talks about her ventures in to the wilderness - hiking and backpacking with both friends and family in the Southeast.  Topics include the weather and its impact on the experience, the gear you need for the Trail, and hiking with infants and young children. Katie is the first female to do a solo interview for N2Backpacking and she delivers with this New Year's Eve conversation recorded in Elljay, Georgia. Katie talks about some pristine destinations … [Read more...]

Logs From The Sky – Scott’s Near Miss

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Great Smoky Mountain National Park – And The Machoists Got Pelted

Since the early 90's, some old Appalachian Trail thru-hikers that I know have maintained the tradition of an annual winter hike. As I detailed in "40 at 40", the trip is never easy and is typically booked within a few weeks of the MLK holiday. After a four year absence, I made a guest appearance during their three-day ramble of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park this year. It was mid-way through their hike when we met up at the Mt. Collins Shelter after the machoists had gotten pelted by … [Read more...]

Appalachian Trail/Bartram Trail – Wayah Bald to Cheoah Bald – Trip Video (January 2002)

This video recaps a winter hike we did in January 2002 over 34.6 miles with 8766' of elevation gain, and 12,114' of elevation loss. The route follows the Appalachian Trail with climbs over Wayah Bald, Wesser Bald, and Cheoah Bald, then finishes with a descent along the Bartram Trail and back down to U.S. 19.  … [Read more...]

Great Smoky Mountain National Park – 40 at 40

Five to ten years ago when I was younger and in better shape, I joined a group of former thru-hikers for a multi-day and often strenuous winter backpacking trip. The hike was appropriately dubbed the MLK trip since it usually occurred on or around the three-day Martin Luther King weekend. The "M.O." of the MLK trip was (and continues to be) a 30-38 mile mega-hike, preferrably in snow, and always spanning four days. Typically we left town after work, fought traffic to some Mexican … [Read more...]

Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Kephart Shelter – Trip Video (December 2010)

This video is of a short in and out backtrack hike in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It starts at US 441 on the North Carolina side of the park (and just north of the Oconaluftee Visitors Center) near Cherokee. The trail follows the The Kephart Prong which is a stream that runs down from Kephart Shelter to the Newfound Gap Road - also known as US 441. The shelter sleeps 10-12 and is situated in a valley at the junctions of the Grassy Branch and Sweat Heifer Trails. … [Read more...]

Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Mt. LeConte – Trip Video (February 2005)

This is a video of a backpacking trip we did through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in February 2005. The 32.2 mile hike has 29,000 feet of total elevation change, so make sure you are in good shape before you take it on - especially in the winter time. On this hike, we started at US 441 and climbed to the Mount Collins Shelter via the Husky Gap and Sugarland Mountain Trails. Once on the ridge, we followed the Appalachian Trail across Newfound Gap and up to the Boulevard Trail which … [Read more...]

Episode 4: The Chilkoot Trail

In Episode 4, Roger (aka The Camel) speaks about The Chilkoot Trail which is a 33 mile route that starts in Dyea, Alaska (near Skagway) and ends at Lake Bennett, British Columbia. The Chilkoot Trail is a walk back in time. It follows the trail that the stampeders used to reach the Yukon River and float their provisions to the gold fields of the Klondike over a hundred years ago. Many artifacts from the 1890’s still litter the trail and there is great diversity along the way including … [Read more...]

Protected: Big Johnny – Now That’s A Piece Of Meat

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