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In the middle of May, we arrive in Damascus, Virginia, just in time for the largest gathering on the Appalachian Trail - the annual Trail Days festival. A two day hiking break for our family includes checking out gear vendors, lining up for free hiker feeds, and visiting with trail friends. Padawan celebrates her 15th birthday in hiker style with cake and beer (root beer) at the Hyperlite Mountain Gear tent.

Every day on the trail offers unexpected gifts, sometimes very beautiful ones. We discover some of Tennessee's treasures and we deal with our family's first trail "injury", which didn't even happen on the trail.

Tenacious bling talks wild flowers, Damien and Renee talk all things feet, and the entire family gets to meet trail angel extraordinaire, Miss Janet and her "bounce box".

Max Patch in North Carolina is one of the renowned "balds" of the southern Appalachians. We hike the bald on a beautiful spring day and share the summit with our hiking friends. The kids answer questions about pack weights, "are your packs heavy?", stream crossings, and hotels in the woods. Our family enjoys a two night stay in Hot Springs, a quaint trail town in North Carolina. Spring's arrival and warmer days brings out both blooming flowers and reptiles. A poignant interview with trail friend and fellow hiker Smokin' Bear helps us appreciate the amazing gift of being on the trail together.

After 166 miles the trail crosses Fontana Dam, the highest dam east of the Rocky Mountains. Immediately after Fontana Dam we enter the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We have heard much about this wilderness gem on the Appalachian Trail. The mountains are beautiful and the park is one the "wildest" places in the southern Appalachian range but the shelter regulations mean lots of hikers crammed together at camp. In the park we meet another thru-hiking family and enjoy hiking with them. We miscalculate the number of days we will be hiking and are thankful for a snack resupply at Standing Bear Farm, just after exiting the park. Geography lessons, an encounter with a bear, sleeping in crowded shelters, making new friends, and beautiful hiking are just a few of the memorable experiences from our Smoky Mountain hike.