John, Vineet, and Maurico embark on a 3-day hike in Great Smokey Mountains National Park on the first weekend in June. We did the Big Creek trail on the northeast tip of the park, right on the Tennessee-North Carolina Border. According to James Andrews' book, this circuit is the best overnight hike in the park. It is a 23.3-mile loop with 4,050 feet elevation gain that passes by many waterfalls, and there are great views of the mountains from the fire tower atop Mt. Sterling (5842 ft).

The crew: John, Vineet, and Mauricio.

Before heading into the park, we stock up on some last-minute supplies at Mountain Mama's.

We stop at the first waterfall for snacks and photos.

Mouse Creek Falls cascades 50 feet down the face of a rocky cliff.

On day two, the trail zig-zags across the creek more than a half-dozen times, almost always requiring us to take off our boots to wade through the knee-deep waters. Oh yeah, and the water's damn cold too.

Vineet and Mauricio stand in front of a two-hundred-foot water slide. A thin film of water slides over a dome-shaped edge and pours down the inclined rock to the base of the trail.

After leaving the creeks, we gain another thousand feet of elevation by hiking up, up, up. The air is sweet from the pink flowers which are blossoming on the sides of the cliffs. After many more hours of hiking (which inevitably turns into hiking in the dark), we make it to our campsite on the top of Mt. Sterling.

The fire tower on top of Mount Sterling in the morning.

Mauricio waves from the fire tower.

There are rolling mountains in every direction, which one can see through the hazy, humid air.

Vineet sits by the tent.

At the conclusion of the hike, we pose for a final photo before the 500-mile drive back to Pittsburgh.