Dear Lando

You were only 6 months old when mommy and I took you to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I created this journal to remind us of the details. We also have another stamp for our National Park Passport book. Awesome!

I’d like to get a family picture at all the National Parks. So here is the first one.

Love dadda!

Trip Report

We left for our trip on August 30, 2014 and drove all day. We stopped and camped at a campground south of Louisville, Kentucky. I wonder if mommy remembers the name of the campground?

August 31, 2014 we arrived at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We lucked out and secured a campsite at Cades Cove campground in the park because of another groups cancellation.

Monday –  we got situated in our campsite, secured our back country permits from the ranger station and got familiar with the park. We headed to the trail and camped at the trail head campground.

Tuesday – we hiked out and camped at back country site 36.

Wednesday – we hiked up Mt. Sterling and camped at the junction.

Thursday – we continued to hike up the remainder of Mt. Sterling and hiked down to finish our hike. We left the Great Smoky Mountains and drove to Newport, Tennessee. We found the local Super 8, showered and clean up. Daddy needed to take a picture of the old post offices which is why we headed to Newport.

Friday – we drove to La Follette, another town I needed to photograph the post office. We spent the night at the local Travelodge.

Saturday – we drove to Vienna, Illinois and stayed the night.

Sunday – we drove home

Gear List

• Backpack – Eddie Bauer large pack
• Sleeping bag – Mont-bell Super stretch
• Sleeping bag liner – Sea-to-Summit synthetic liner
• Tent – Six Moon Designs Lunar duo
• Tent Stakes – 8 aluminum
• Stuff Sack – eVac Dry-sack 13L for food
• Pillow Stuff Sack – REI fleece lined stuff sack
• Bandanna – 1 Bandanna
• Stove – JetBoil Single stove/cup
• Fuel – Jetboil isobutane
• Lighter – Mini Bic lighter
• Socks – 2 pair merino wool socks
• Spoon – Orange plastic spoon
• Water Bottles- 2 Liter Platypus hydration bladder
• Water Filer – Sawyer gravity filter
• Underwear – 1 pair
• T-Shirt – generic quick drying shirt
• Jacket – Fleece jacket zipper with hood
• Hat – Discover wide brim sun hat
• Shorts – Blue nylon shorts with pockets
• Camera – Nikon AW100 Water-proof camera, one battery and one memory card
• Headlamp – Black diamond ION small headlamp
• Bear Bell – Callahan bear bell
• Trekking poles – REI Traverse hiking poles
• Knife – Leatherman wave
• Shoes – Merrill Mohab ventilator
• Superfeet  – Green
• Map – Smokey mountain hiking trail map
• Food and water
• Toys for the kid

Notes:

Larger ground cloth to provide extra room at both ends of the tent.

This could also be used for placing on the ground during breaks. You were just a baby and it would have been nice to have a make-shift play area while mommy and I setup camp.

I wish I’d had another foam zrest pad or chair for sitting on rocks and cold ground.

We also wish we had chairs for the car camping part of this trip.

We also need to have the same level of sleeping pad or mattress for sleeping with the kid.