What's Your Favorite Outdoor Adventure?

So I'm new here on Wix, my name is Miranda. I'm from rural East Tennessee. My little family and I love our outdoor adventures. I'm a single mom to an almost 11yo, who has been hiking with me since he was 5 (we will call him Pepperoni here in this blog).

Who We Are

This summer, Pepperoni will be starting to backpack with me. I am 42 and have a couple older kids that don't enjoy hiking as much as we do. I use a High Sierra 30L pack. While Pepperoni has a Ozark Trail 20L pack. I carry 80% of our food. He carries 20%, we each carry our own sleep systems. Hiking is our passion.

Forgot to mention that we are hammock sleepers, to keep weight down to a minimum.

My next blog post will be about packs, and how to get a good fitting bag that won't break your back!

I'll be using this space to record our adventures, trials, and tribulations too. My point of this blog is to help you spend time outdoors, with your family, and how perfect or imperfect that can be... No two trips are ever the same!

So here we are; we are 2 Humans, 1 Adventure!

Sometimes we add the German Shepherd Dog to our day hikes. My son and I ride bikes, we hike, we kayak too. We're just all over the place! Sometimes we go camping in the backcountry, hiking to campsite required, which is my favorite. We do occasionally go to a campground for camping. We also do dispersed camping too! We love roughing it, I guess. We definitely love our outdoor adventures, for sure!

What We Do

We are fortunate to live about an hour away from the Smoky Mountains! All National Parks are different though, so this is where plan and prepare comes into the mix. I'll go over this more later. The Smoky Mountains are the most visited National Park in the US, with 14 million visitors in 2021. But the terrain and weather can be brutal!

I do love spending my time hiking there though. The backcountry camping fees are reasonable! They have recently implemented a parking pass system for the Smokies. Here's a link to the NPS backcountry fees. Also info on the parking pass can be found here.

IN EVERY WALK WITH NATURE ONE RECEIVES FAR MORE THAN HE SEEKS. ~John Muir

We spend most of our time kayaking Cherokee Lake during the summer. Also like to spend some of our time accessing TVA BLM (bureau of land management) property for camping around our local lakes.

We spend alot of time walking around in the Townsend and Cades Cove areas also. Pigeon Forge is great, but I'm lucky to find space and freedom in these mountains! These mountains have played a huge part in my life. So I'll share below my tips for any outdoor activity.

Here are my top 5 tips!

1. Prepare and plan, extensively, for every trip... have a back up plan! No matter what activities you're participating in. Things can change rapidly! Weather, injury... you just never know!

2. Acquire the basics. BackPack, water filtration, fire, shelter! Carry them with you, every trip. No matter where you're going. Kayaks require a dry bag.

3. Start building up your body before you venture out! Walk, bike, hike; just be active... start small and work up from there!

4. Leave No Trace; if you brought it in, you bring it back out.

5. Have an emergency back up plan! Let two to three trusted friends know your exact locations and when to expect you there. And what to do if you don't show up. Give your friends contact info for the closest Rangers Station. Plus your last known location.

My Dad always taught me to be prepared for any situation, and this is one of those things that it is important to overprepare and it be unnecessary.

So if you are so inclined, follow this blog.

Please enjoy the ride along with us! And feel free to comment below with your favorite outdoor adventures.