#overlandlife #4runner #5thgen4runner #toyota #camping
Welcome to our memory lane! This will probably be our last trip before we heed the call of military life and move to a new location.
This is our first time following an established trail system like the Smoky Mountain 1000. This trail was initially made for motorcyclists, but the roads were wide enough, which later on was utilized by offroad enthusiasts with 4wD vehicles. Spanning over 1000 miles of paved and unpaved roads connecting five National forests (Chattahoochee, Cherokee, Nantahala, Pisgah, and Sumter) around or near the Smoky Mountain National Park.
Our first day covers a 6-hour drive weaving through traffic to the Cohutta wilderness area. We hate going to established campgrounds as experience taught us that established campgrounds are nothing more than a day out in your backyard in a busy neighborhood, as we have proven again on our first night in Lake Conasauga campgrounds. But leaving after work with a 6-hour drive on a busy weekend, reserving a camp has its perks! That's alright, as we still enjoyed paddling along its lakes the next day.
This was our most expensive trip yet as Dad crashed our drone and backed the 4Runner onto a tree, leaving a dent in the hatch. But we paid to play, and we had fun!
Thank you for riding along. Stay wild!
Chris, Judy, and Max