This is Danny, I’m an MBA student interning with Abunga this summer. Gavin asked in his post on Tuesday what family traditions everyone observes for July 4. I thought I’d share my family tradition.
My dad and I have a yearly camping trip tradition. This year’s trip occurred on the Fourth of July. My Dad and I packed our camping tent and headed up I-40 to Big Creek campground, one of the best campgrounds in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. If you haven’t been and you like camping, look it up because it is great. The campground is nestled beside a beautiful creek that stays icy cold, even in July. Each day, we went on hikes, chopped wood, cooked dinner, and then headed to the creek to swim.
Our main hike for the weekend was a tough one for us. Our tradition is to hike to the park fire towers, which have wonderful views. So this year, we hiked to the Mt. Cammerer fire tower. It was a total of 12 strenuous miles and a 3,000 foot elevation change, but it was worth it because at the top was a panoramic view from 4,900 feet above sea level. The picture below shows the fire tower. It was built in 1939. Each stone was carried up the mountain and carved on site.
We aren’t avid hikers, so we were lazy the rest of the weekend. Food became the top priority. We stuck with the classics: hot dogs, hamburgers, and Smores. Isn’t it amazing how good a hot dog can be when cooked over a wood fire?
Anyone else go camping over the 4th?
-Danny
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