Had planned 3 day backpacking trip for from 5-31 to 6-2 on the tecumseh trail in indiana. Weather looked miserable in our area. To new to backpacking to want to tackle several days of rain in a row. Changed plans at last minute to get one day of good weather to hike. Ended up camping at cosby campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National park. Day hiked up and back to Mt. Cammerer. Amazing views, the weather was perfect and the views were well worth the extra drive to escape the abundant rain this weekend. Photos of hike https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/114550164923831988852/albums/5884974951833690753

Raining hard sunday morning we bailed out after one great day.

Still trying out new gear. Having trouble organizing routes, currently doing loops as we are unsure of how far we can go in a day because we are new to nearly all terrain we encounter. Only one vehicle makes nearly impossible to hike point A to point B with overnights as we will always need a ride back to our vehicle. Not nearly as much fun to turn around and hike the same route back every time. Have yet to work out water treatment/filter options. End up carrying excess water I am always afraid to run out. Seams like every trail I pick is uphill both ways all day? Lots of water needed. We had a great time not real sure about the bears sharing their forest trails with us. This trip was 5.5 hrs travel from Louisville KY. Hope with more experience we can backpack with confidence and string some days together. We did about 10.5 miles to the old forestry tower round trip. Took about 8 hours and ten 16.9 oz bottles of water between two people.