Smokies Watercolor Backpacking

April 25-27, 2025

Heidi Nisbett, an accomplished backpacker and talented artist, will guide you on a 3-day backpacking trip in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and teach you the basics of watercolor painting and painting outdoors along the way. We've kept the mileage pretty low - around 15 miles total - to leave a couple hours each day for painting. You'll leave the trip with at least 2-3 finished paintings (and the materials you'll need to keep painting on your future hikes), drawing inspiration from subjects including waterfalls and the beautiful spring wildflowers. This is a beginner-friendly trip, or a chance for more experienced backpackers to try something new. No prior painting experience is necessary. Trip price includes a trail-friendly watercolor kit for you to keep!

Weather in the mountains can be unpredictable. Hikers should be prepared for cold temperatures overnight, especially at higher elevations. Temperatures on trail can be 15-20 degrees cooler than in Hot Springs, NC.

"This experience taught me a lot about how to properly backpack, and I look forward
to more adventures with them in the future." - R.R., Intro to Backpacking, April 2023

Cost:

$825 per person
Payment Plans, Scholarships, and Sliding Scale Fees are available for this trip. Please email our office at trips@blueridgehikingco.com for more information.

This trip will run if there are a minimum of 2 participants signed up. If the minimum has not yet been met, we'll contact participants two weeks before the trip to discuss options. The maximum group size is 6 participants. If you are traveling in a party of 4 or more hikers, we encourage you to consider a private backpacking trip. You can find more information about our private trip offerings by sending us an email.

In addition to your guide, this price includes backpacking gear, food while you're on trail, transportation between the meet-up location and the trailhead, a trail-friendly watercolor kit, and any necessary backcountry permits and fees. Price also includes access to a pre-trip Zoom call, where you can ask questions about your upcoming trip. It does not include personal items or gratuity for your guide.

Sign-Up Details:

In order to sign up for this trip, please go to our Trip Calendar and select the trip start date (April 25, 2025). You will find the trip listed there. 

A few weeks before the start of the trip, we will be in contact via email with an information packet for you to fill out. This includes a waiver, health form, and gear request form. At that time we will also send a detailed packing list and any trip-specific information.

Itinerary:

This trip meets at 9am on Friday April 25 in Asheville, NC.

You will meet your guide at our shop in downtown Asheville (70 College Street, Asheville, NC 28801). Your guide will hand out your gear and food, go over necessary packing items, and discuss safety, weather, and logistics for the trip. They will walk you through how to properly pack your pack, and may look in detail at the items you've packed to make sure you're not carrying too many extra items. 

Around 11am, you'll head to Deep Creek, where you will start your hike! You'll hike in to your basecamp, passing several waterfalls along the way. Once you set up camp, you'll receive an intro to watercolor. The second day, you'll hike to a few beautiful painting spots and return to the same campsite. Daily mileage ranges from 2.5 to 8 miles per day, on mostly wide and well-graded trail.

Hike generally finishes around lunchtime the last day. Itinerary is subject to change based on a variety of factors, including weather, trail conditions, and participants needs and abilities. Please inform our admin team or your guide ahead of time if you have a time constraint the last day of your trip.

Trip Difficulty Rating:

Participants on this trip should have a minimum fitness level of 3 out of 10, and this trip is ideally suited for hikers with a fitness level of 4 out of 10. This is a Beginner trip, meaning hikers don't need any previous hiking or camping experience. For more information about our difficulty and experience level ratings, please see our Trip Difficulty Page.

Guide:

Your guide for this trip will be Heidi "Sketch" Nisbett. Heidi grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is proud to call North Carolina home. After graduating from Winthrop University with a BFA in Painting and Printmaking, she found herself falling in love with hiking and the outdoors. She thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2018 and kept a detailed sketchbook of watercolor paintings to document her travels. She has since hiked a number of shorter trails and enjoys finding new ways to incorporate her creative practice into hiking. Her artwork can be viewed at www.sketchingsummits.com.

What we Provide:

Food: BRHC provides all on-trail food. You will have the ability to choose your own food from our wide selection, and you will carry your own food during the trip. We do our best to cater to requests, though it is important to keep to lightweight foods appropriate for backpacking. If you have food allergies or dietary restrictions, please inform our team in your pre-trip paperwork.

Individual Use Gear: BRHC provides high quality, ultralight, cottage industry backpacking gear to make your experience as comfortable as possible.  We offer the following five pieces of gear at no additional cost:
Backpacks - We use a lightweight 60L pack. We will ask for your height and weight in order to fit the pack appropriately to you.
Tents - We provide a one-person tent, or and two-person tent if you are sharing with a partner or friend.
Sleeping Bags - We use a 20 degree synthetic sleeping bag with sleeping bag liners.
Sleeping Pads - We provide hikers with a closed-cell foam pad, for its excellent combination of weight and durability. Inflatable sleeping pads are available for an additional rental fee.
Trekking Poles - These will provide you with some added stability while hiking, and may be used to set up your tent.

Community Gear: BRHC provides all community gear for the trip, including water filters, camping stoves and fuel, bowls, utensils and cups; trowels, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer; first aid kit; and navigational aids.

What to Bring:

We will send all participants a detailed packing list a few weeks before the trip. You are expected to bring your own clothing/footwear, a headlamp, two 1L water bottles (Nalgene or disposable Smart Water bottles are good options), personal medications/toiletries, and approved optional items. Generally, comfortable trail shoes are better than heavy hiking boots. Please pack synthetic or wool athletic clothing rather than cotton. Cotton does not dry quickly and will not keep you warm when wet. For most trips you will need only one outfit to hike in, one outfit to sleep in, a raincoat, and a warm layer. A beanie and lightweight gloves are appropriate in most seasons as temperatures cool down in the mountains at night. You will not need a new set of clean clothes for each day, make-up, hair products, scented products or deodorant. Just bring a toothbrush and toothpaste and enjoy going all natural for the trip!

Cancellation Policy:

Trip cost includes a 15% non-refundable administrative fee. Hikes may be cancelled up to 1 month before the trip for a refund (minus the 15% admin fee). Within 1 month, a 50% refund will be offered. Within 1 week, no refunds will be offered. If Blue Ridge Hiking Company cancels the trip due to severe weather, we'll offer a refund less the 15% admin fee. We are unable to offer exceptions to this policy; we strongly recommend all hikers purchase travel insurance to cover their trip.

Hikers may reschedule their trip once (at least 1 month before their trip) free of charge. Additional changes to their reservation date may result in a rescheduling fee.

We hike rain or shine! While it is incredibly rewarding, backpacking is an endurance sport, and it can be challenging and/or uncomfortable at times. Maintaining a positive mindset, even when it is uncomfortable, is key to enjoying your time in the wilderness. With our focus on lightweight gear, our goal is for your pack to weigh around 25lbs (or no more than 25% of your body weight).

If your guide does an exceptional job, please show your appreciation with a tip. Our team of highly trained professional guides never expects but always appreciates a tip. Industry standard gratuity for a guided backpacking trip is 20-25% of trip price.

If you have any questions regarding this trip, you can reach our office by phone at 828-713-5451 or by email at trips@blueridgehikingco.com.