"Bartram Trail maintenance on the side of Wayah Bald with the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy. We drove a gated private road to a cabin, then hiked a side trail to the Bartram Trail. Jim and I hiked to the Appalachian Trail and back, while other teams hiked the opposite way on the Bartram Trail. We cleared many blowdowns from Helene and lopped overgrowth. We saw lots of trilliums, bear corn, and beautiful vistas." — davidensley • May 10, 2025

"Delightfully brisk and windy day to link up 6 highpoints in Hanging Rock State Park. It was sunny, with great visibility. Not a ton of people until I reached the Hanging Rock Trail. Lots of birds. About 11.5 miles rt from the campground." — beaucheminjess • Dec 12, 2024

"Drove through first open gate and parked near second closed gate. Hiked up dirt and gravel road to peak of Panther Top, then climbed fire lookout tower stairs halfway up to landing." — davidensley • Oct 18, 2024

"AT lash Day 1: Winding Stair Gap to Standing Indian Mountain, with side trips to nearby peaks along the way. Lots of Blowdowns in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness post-hurricane. There’s a clearcut path up to Pinnacle Mountain, no bushwhacking necessary, though there isn’t anything up there. Albert Mountain has great views despite the tower being locked. Easy bushwhack to Little Ridgepole. Made a half-hearted attempt at Little Bald, purely because it’s on the NC AT Peakery challenge. After a half mile of brutally thick bushwhacking through face-height pricker bushes and wall-to-wall laurels, with no end of the mess in sight, I turned around. Not sure why this one is on the list given its distance away from the trail, difficult approach for the average thru-hiker, and seemingly zero redeemable qualities. Won’t be going back for this one. Spent the night atop Standing Indian, which IS a wonderful blue blaze from the AT." — wacbravo • Oct 9, 2024

"Spent most of the morning trying to find a pancake place in Pigeon Forge that didn’t have a half hour wait (daddy promises were made and I had to pay up). Then took the Blue Ridge Parkway out for a long haul to the highest mountain east of the Mississippi. Mount Mitchell was the highest mountain of the United States until 1845 when Texas joined the Union and Guadalupe Peak became the highest mountain of the USA. We cheated and drove to the top, then walked the 300 yards to the observation tower." — wiweasel • Nov 25, 2023