About the Course
11.3 figure eight two night camp.
Cold Mountain is the sister circuit to the Mount Pleasant hike on the next ridge. If you are looking for a slightly longer hike, or a backpack, consider combining this hike with the Mount Pleasant route for a combined 11.3 mile figure eight circuit.
Combining the two hikes of Cold Mountain and Mount Pleasant. Friday night we will hike in to the shelter on the Cold Mountain Trail. Saturday we will hike to the Mount Pleasant camping area and return to the cars on Sunday morning.
Your Instructor
Richard Garyantes
Upon retiring from a long career in the military and law enforcement, I found myself wondering what I would do with my time moving forward.
I began hiking in 2007 and became more serious about it over the years. I have sectioned hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to New Jersey, and am excited to begin to tackle the northern sections as time allows.
Many people that I have met have expressed interest in backpacking but admit that they are afraid about going out on their own, or don't have the proper equipment to start. This helped me to form the idea of starting a business to provide the basic backpacking essentials for people who are interested, as well as to guide them on backpacking trips that can be tailored to various abilities and skillsets.
Helping people become more comfortable with overnight backpacking trips will allow them to decide if they truly enjoy backpacking and will give them a baseline of what supplies they will need to purchase for their own personal backpacking adventures.
Allowing people to explore nature brings me joy, and will also, hopefully, bring them joy as well, for many trips to come.