Throwback Thursday: Camping

Back in the day we used to camp and hike. A lot. When we were first married, it was an every weekend affair. After we moved to Charlotte, we still did it but the regularity diminished – thank you house renovation. In recent years (besides living in a campground for 3 months), camping has become more of a yearly thing, if that. Case in point, our last camping trip was to the Sipsey Wilderness in 2011.

So I can't tell you how excited I am that we are doing a quick overnight camping trip this Friday. It will be a first for Jack – really for all of us since we have never camped with a baby before. I cannot wait.

I thought I would share a couple of our early camping experiences with you...

One of our very first camping trips (after we were married) was to the Virgin Falls Pocket Wilderness Area located south east of Sparta, TN. On this particular trip, Daniel's sister Amy came with us. It was July, 2003 and I believe we were celebrating Independence Day. The main thing I remember from this experience was getting severely dehydrated and getting sick once we got off the trail. We have been to Virgin Falls several times and as long I stay hydrated, it is a great camping trip (or a good hard day hike – it is about 8 miles round trip and all uphill at the end).

Another camping experience that was significant to us was celebrating our first anniversary and New Year's (January 2004) by hiking part of the Appalachian Trail in the Smoky Mountains. We took the Anthony Creek trail (out of Cades Cove) up to connect with the AT. Our second night on the trail was spent in an AT shelter with a group of Eagle Scouts. Happy Anniversary! I was the only girl. The Anthony Creek trail was a tough ascent up but once we were on the AT, we had some really incredible views.

After we moved to Charlotte, we fell in love with Mt. Rogers and the Grayson Highlands in Virginia. If you didn't know, Jack's middle name is Grayson because of our love of this area. Our first trip to Mt. Rogers was in March of 2005. There was a huge storm while we were on the mountain and we were not exactly prepared for the crazy weather. We loved the area, but after spending the night huddled in a shelter, we cut our trip short.

Our longest hike/backpacking trip to date was in the Jefferson Wilderness Area in Virginia. In July of 2005, we drove to Damascus, VA where we had a shuttle drop us off 40 miles from town. Over the course of 3 days, we made our way back to our car and civilization.

I have really missed backpacking and truly hope that as Jack gets older we can make more of these kinds of trips. If you are interested in some of our trips since I started blogging regularly, you can read about them here: Linville Gorge (2007), Gabes Mountain Trail (2007), Turkey Creek (2008), Carver's Gap (2009), Bob Bald (2010), Sipsey Wilderness (2011)