Smoky Mountain Hiking Blog – Hiking Blog for the Smoky Mountains

April 19, 2008

HikingintheSmokys.com Announces Launch of Web Site

Some of you may have seen the press release announcing the official launch of this web site. The press release was very successful in helping to build awareness of the site within the hiking community. With the help of several organizations agreeing to link to my site, I hope to continue to increase that awareness. As a result of this, I wanted to take this time to thank a few of these organizations.

First off, I want to thank the Graham County NC Travel and Tourism Authority for agreeing to list my web site in the print version of their hiking brochure. The Graham County area is the only section of the Park that I have never been to. Graham County is an outdoor lover’s paradise. The area includes plenty of whitewater and mountain biking opportunities, Fontana Lake, as well as the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Wilderness, known for its beautiful virgin forest.

I look forward to visiting the Smoky Mountain trails in this area at Twentymile and near the Fontana Lake Dam later on this summer.

There are several organizations I wanted to thank for agreeing to exchange links with me. The folks at MainStreet Online have linked to my site from the four web sites they run: Asheville.com, Hendersonville.com, Greenville.com and Spartanburg.com. I can’t speak for the other three towns, but Asheville is a great town to visit. On my first visit to this town, roughly 30 miles east of the Park, I saw Lance Armstrong there during the 1995 Tour DuPont multi-day stage race. The stage for that day began at the historical Grove Park Inn. If you haven’t been there, the Inn is a destination in and of itself.

Friends of the Smokies and the Cocke County Tourism web sites have also agreed to exchange links. Friends of the Smokies assists the National Park Service in its mission to preserve and protect the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by raising funds and public awareness, and providing volunteers for needed projects.

Cocke County,TN encompasses the northeastern corner of the Park as well as the towns of Cosby and Newport. The area includes several excellent Smoky Mountains trails including the Albright Grove Loop Trail and the Low Gap trail that leads up to the restored fire tower atop Mt. Cammerer which offers outstanding panoramic views.

Finally I want to thank Ed Wright over at MtLeconte.com. Ed has compiled a log of his 1306 (and counting) summits of Mt. LeConte, a truly amazing feat. The site also includes diary entries from other hikers as well as for other trails within the Park.