Every Trail Is A New Adventure!

 Middle Prong Trail- Panther Creek junction When I was growing up, my family spent a lot of time in the mountains, and GSMNP in particular. Hiking was sort of a first love for me in terms of outdoor activities and adventure. By my teen years the trips to my beloved mountains had slowed down. Everyone was so busy with everything else.  In my mid twenties I began to miss hiking, and decided to start going again as often as I could, even if it meant going solo. I picked it back up slowly at first. Eventually I was doing one to two hikes per week. Then, unfortunately, my trips became more sparse again.  A few years ago I decided to start a new birthday tradition. So now, every year on around March 8th, I take a drive out to GSMNP and hit the trails. I have done some reasonably long hikes the past couple of years. 8 miles round trip to Ramsey Cascades with snow on the ground at the top in 2019. 10 miles round trip from the Abrams Creek Ranger station out to Abrams Falls in 202...