In December Fred and Kathy Brannan of Candler, NC along with their family from Chattanooga, TN celebrated their 1000th Geocache find on our Family Adventure Island. They were kind enough to post this photo on our page at www.Geocaching.com and we wanted to be sure to share it with all of you. If you’re not sure what Geocaching is all about, check out their website and join us in all the outdoor fun!
At Rafting In The Smokies, you know we’re all about all things outdoors, and we love to learn more from our friends who are just as passionate. So we contacted Fred and Kathy and asked them about a few of their other favorite outdoor places in and around the area and why they love Geocaching!
RITS: Did you guys start our Geocaching with such a lofty goal in mind? Or did you just love if so much that suddenly one day you realized that you’d done a heck of a lot of Geocaching?
FRED & KATHY: Our children gave us the GPS for Christmas four years ago. One of our sons-in-law had done a little Geocaching and we quickly got hooked – have way outdone either of our children! And that’s pretty good for some folks who just celebrated 40 years of marriage.
We’re really not into the numbers; we just love Geocaching because it has taken us to so many neat, beautiful places we never would have gone otherwise. We usually try to pick caches with something neat to see or do. We thought the younger grandchildren would love the swinging bridge and the island and not find this cache hunt too challenging. The island is a neat place with fun things to do.
RITS: Where are some of your favorite spots to hike, see waterfalls and wildflowers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park?
FRED & KATHY: For wildflower viewing in the springtime, we hike Baxter Creek, Porter’s Creek, and Big Creek. There’s also a great wildflower display at Chimney Rocks picnic area. No one will tell us where to find the Yellow Lady’s Slippers though! The Kephart Prong trail offers a beautiful cascading creek and is also a favorite for flowers.
We enjoy hikes to Gregory Bald when the azaleas are out and to Mt. LeConte…although they are a bit crowded.
RITS: When not in the Great Smoky Mountains, where else do you like to hike and vacation?
FRED & KATHY: We’ve taken a couple of trips out to the Rockies and have hiked the Swiss Alps. The mountains surrounding the Smoky Mountains area where we live is perfect for our love of outdoor beauty – the mountains, wildflowers in the spring, waterfalls, magnificent views, exploring back roads…we really just enjoy vacationing around here practically in our own backyard!
