We are regularly asked how we decided to begin this project.  Like so many outcomes in life, it came about through a series of small accidental things.  We had worked for the same employer for a number of years when Renée asked Jim if he would be interested in doing hikes with her.  We took our first hike together in November 2012 and found that our gaits and hiking styles were surprisingly well-matched.

As we were both interested in National Park history and the remains of the old homesites, we often used the guidebook "History Hikes of the Smokies" to plan our outings.  These hikes included occasional cemeteries.  At the third such cemetery, Jim remarked off-the-cuff, "Do you want to collect cemeteries?"  Okay, why not?  Our hikes started to include gravesites, but cemeteries were not specifically a goal.  After visiting about ten cemeteries the idea began to gel that we might want to post reports on GoSmokies.  At first we intended to post only about the "lost" cemeteries, as a form of remembrance.

We put up the first post in November 2013, slightly more than a year after our first hike together.  We were newcomers on GoSmokies, registering our account the same day we posted the initial introduction.  Since then we have been embraced beyond our expectations, and are continually grateful for the support and shared knowledge that is so generously provided.

In 2014, we were invited to be presenters at the 2015 Wilderness Wildlife Week event in Pigeon Forge, TN.  We have presented at every WWW since, as well as to other groups and events.  And so public outreach has not only found its way onto our list of project activities, we now consider it an important aspect of the project.

We have progressed from coming home exhausted and feeling tired the next day to being strong enough to go wherever the trail takes us, which is always up.  We may be tired, but it is a good tired.  At least we know we won't have to scratch a cemetery off our list because it is beyond our physical capacity.  The project has proven to be an effective antidote to mid-life crises.

What began as a simple love of hiking, continues as a love of hiking.  What began as a simple love of history, continues as a love of history.  Each visit to a cemetery takes us through a piece of God's Country and reconnects us to something out of the past, something that had profound meaning to those who once lived here.  Moreover, it reconnects us to the Creator as we walk through this natural cathedral.

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