Come on, guys, he has his gear already. He wants a new pack for hiking in North Carolina.

jgrey, take your gear down to an outfitter and start trying out packs. If you wait until you get to Boone, they have a great outfitter right off campus (Footsloggers.) $300 is plenty to buy a pack.

Some ideas:

I use a Six Moons Designs Starlite year-round in NC and VA. It's large enough for my winter gear, but weighs under 2 pounds, carries well, and isn't too large for summer hiking at about 3800ci.

The REI UL 60 and 45 packs are popular and inexpensive. Neither is really big enough for winter around here (except for dedicated ultralighters), but the 60 is less than $150 and is fine for 3+ season use, depending on your gear.

Many people like Granite Gear packs, and ULA packs get very high marks. (Note that ULA and Six Moons Designs are available mostly online.)

If you have mostly traditional heavy gear (big 2-person double wall tent, white gas stove, monster cook kit, 20-F synthetic bag, etc) you'll need a bigger pack, but you'll figure that out when you're at the outfitter.

Good luck.