David Gray's video: Great Smoky Mountains National Park Backpacking TN NC - June 2017

With three hikes in as many months, making for a great start to the 2017 backpacking season, I once again met up with Travis in late June 2017 to do a 3-day, 30-mile hike in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Because of a lengthy closure of the Mt. Le Conte shelter due to bear activity we had altered our original plan to instead do the Big Creek Loop in the northeast section of the park. But just two days before our departure Travis was able to reserve a cabin at the Mt. Le Conte Lodge, fortuitously made available through a last minute cancellation. Travis also worked with the Park Rangers to modify the remainder of our permit, putting us back on our original plan - Alum Cave Trailhead, over Mt. Le Conte, a short section of the Appalachian Trail, then down to Smokemont Campground via the Sweat Heifer Trail with an overnight stay at the Kephart Shelter. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a truly amazing place when you make the effort to get a few miles into the backcountry, away from the throngs of visitors that rarely leave the main roads. Jurassic Park-like vegetation, enormous first growth-size trees, countless streams and waterfalls, and beautiful vistas overwhelm all your senses. When you add the bucket list-worthy Mt. Le Conte Lodge experience and a wonderful night with some great new friends at the Kephart Shelter, this trip turned out to be a very memorable adventure. Similar to my other recent backpacking videos, this one has about 45 minutes of video followed by a 10+ minute still picture slide show with music at the end. It is meant to be an 'immersive' experience that allows you to come along with Travis and I on the trip. If you aren't interested in 'riding along on my shoulder' for an hour long video, just skip to the last 10 minutes of still pictures and you'll get a good overview of our trip. Still Camera: Nikon D810 with Nikkor 20mm f1.8 lens Video Camera: Canon Vixia G40 with Rode Stereo Videomic Pro Video Editing Software: Sony Vegas Pro 13 Music: "Once Tomorrow", "A Song", and "Adventures of the Deaf Dreamer" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/