Tag: hiking
Trip planning take 2: Rockies or Ontario?
I’m still in trip dreaming and planning mode over here in icy Virginia. J and I are tossing around the idea of doing a Big Trip late this summer; in the past we’d done a Big Trip every two years (#1 in 2016, #2 in 2018, #3 in 2020, and #4 in 2022), but this
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Planning again: future three-weeker in the Northeast
I started writing this post in the spring of 2025 and am revisiting trip planning while dreaming about escaping the East Coast ice. I had such fun planning a three-week trip for last May that I planned two routes–one heading south mostly staying in the Carolinas, and one into Upstate New York and New England.
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Two nights in Hendersonville, NC—Thanksgiving Mountains loop
We visited Hendersonville as part of our Thanksgiving Mountains loop in November 2025. Hendersonville is only twenty miles from Brevard, our previous stop, and only thirty miles from Asheville. We could have easily visited as a day trip from either of those places, but we are so glad we spent two nights in Hendersonville instead.
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Two nights in Brevard, NC—Thanksgiving Mountains loop
We visited Brevard as part of our Thanksgiving Mountains loop in November 2025. Read about our first Brevard visit in May 2025 here. I had one primary goal for our second visit to Brevard: to spot a white squirrel! White squirrels are the mascot of Brevard, and since we didn’t get to see one our
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Two nights in Townsend, TN—Thanksgiving Mountains loop
We visited Townsend as part of our Thanksgiving Mountains loop in November 2025. Townsend had been on our radar since we researched a Smokies trip in 2020. Of the Tennessee-side gateway towns to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it appealed most to us as a base from which to explore the Cades Cove section of
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One night in Morganton, NC—Thanksgiving Mountains loop
We visited Morganton as part of our Thanksgiving Mountains loop in November 2025. After leaving my sister’s in Burlington, NC, we drove two hours west to Morganton. Morganton had been on our radar since our second Black Mountain visit in May 2024, when the chef at Pure and Proper recommended we visit Fonta Flora Brewery.
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One night in Bryson City, NC (visit #2)–October WV/NC Mountains loop
We visited Bryson City in October 2025 as part of our October WV/NC Mountains loop. Read about our first Bryson City visit in May 2025 here. From Waynesville it was a pleasant 45-minute drive to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park parking area near Bryson City. We’d gotten up early and were fortunate to snag
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One night in Waynesville, NC–October WV/NC Mountains loop
We visited Waynesville in October 2025 as part of our October WV/NC Mountains loop. Waynesville is the largest town in North Carolina west of Asheville, a fact that surprised me. It’s thirty miles west of Asheville, and two hours southwest of our previous stop, Banner Elk. Waynesville has a picturesque downtown with shops and restaurants,
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Two nights in Banner Elk, NC–October WV/NC Mountains loop
We visited Banner Elk in October 2025 as part of our October WV/NC Mountains loop. I loved Banner Elk. It’s a tiny town way up in the mountains of northwest North Carolina, beyond the larger towns of Boone and Blowing Rock. The Appalachian Trail passes close to Banner Elk, and it’s home to two ski
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Two nights in Bryson City, NC–May Carolinas loop
We visited Bryson City in May 2025 as part of our May Carolinas loop. Read about our second visit in October 2025 here. Bryson City is a small town tucked up into the mountains an hour west of Asheville, 20 minutes west of Sylva, 40 minutes north of Franklin, and 1.5 hours northwest from our
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