‘Know what you don’t know’
: New book aims to stop backcountry emergencies before they start

During his 30 years living and teaching in Western North Carolina, Maurice Phipps has heard countless tales of tragedy and near misses set in the Southern Appalachian backcountry — people falling off waterfalls , shivering in the cold  while awaiting rescue after a wrong turn on the trail, or logging hair-raising experiences with wildlife .

Campground, RV moratorium passes in Maggie Valley

Anyone looking to create a new campground or RV park in Maggie Valley is out of luck. For the next six months, the town has a moratorium on RV parks, RV Planned Unit Developments, RV storage and campgrounds. 

Maggie Valley will discuss restricting campgrounds, RV parks

Maggie Valley will discuss restricting all campgrounds and RV parks after newly-elected Alderman Jim Owens recommended the move during his first board of aldermen meeting. 

Two injured in bear encounter: Parkway logs first bear attack in at least 25 years

Trail closures and food prohibitions are expected to remain in place on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville through the end of the week after a bear attack sent two people to the hospital last week. 

Our epic RV adventure

This week’s column comes to you from a campground picnic table in Hershey, Pennsylvania. My boyfriend and I are on a weeklong RV adventure with our cumulative seven children. In January, we decided against a yearly beach trip and instead created a plan to visit three different amusement parks via giant recreational vehicle. 

A new chapter for Max Patch: Forest Service issues two-year camping ban for iconic bald

Following an explosion of use at Max Patch, the U.S. Forest Service is prohibiting camping and fires on the iconic site, among other new restrictions now in effect for the next two years. 

A shared space, a shared responsibility

By Casey Quarterman • Guest Columnist | For six years I have been working as a Wilderness Ranger in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. I devote my time, blood, sweat and energy into keeping wild places as wild and natural as possible. 

This must be the place: I awoke and faintly bouncing round the room, the echo of whomever spoke

The air was cool and the sleeping bag warm when I heard the early morning loon from across Buck Pond. 

Opening the back(country) door: Beginner backpacking trip highlights OMC’s new mission

The morning fog is barely lifting at 8 a.m. when a group of five women meet outside Kathy Odvody’s home in Waynesville. I add my fully loaded backpack to the pile accumulating in the rear of Outdoor Mission Community’s lumbering 15-passenger van, and after a brief exchange of names we buckle in for a 36-hour wilderness adventure. 

For at least a while, all the noise stopped

Short escapes from all of the noise coming from everywhere are so refreshing, so worthwhile. 

The holidays were a fantastic time at our home. Lori and I and our children and their partners had been spending time together since the pandemic started, had been tested, and so we felt safe getting together. My birthday is Dec. 18, a week before Christmas, so from then until New Year’s Day we had children visiting, excursions out and about, long dinners and a relatively busy holiday. Great times, especially in this year when so much was not normal.

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