A Walk in the Woods

It started with a through-hike of the Smokies, and turned into the proverbial labor of love...

Although we have always been avid naturalists, we both had successful careers. Erik has a BBA in Accounting and worked as a Controller for a video post-production house for ten years. Vesna has a BS in Communications and was working towards her Masters in Education. She worked in television as both a reporter and a producer for nine years.

However, our careers became less satisfying and as we struggled to find meaning on this path, our trips to the mountains became more frequent and important.

We began discussing an alternative in which we would be doing something we believed in, raising people’s environmental awareness. We were drawn to the Appalachian Mountains and loved being outdoors, but were unclear of how to make this our life's work, instead of just a passion.

Then in late August of 1996, Erik took a backpacking trip through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park alone. During this vision quest, he found the answer. Why not share this magic with others?  A Walk in the Woods was born.

As children, we had both wanted to become naturalists, but for various reasons had gotten off of that path. We now have come full circle, and invite you to share the wonders that this beautiful park has to offer.

Our guides make A Walk in the Woods the best. We have always had the top guides in the business, known for their expertise in the botany, geology, culture and history of the Great Smoky Mountains. Our mission is raising environmental awareness through direct, fun, positive experiences with nature. Anyone can walk you down a trail through the woods. When you go with us, it will be the best day of your vacation.

Some of our featured guides :

A Walk in the Woods is owned and operated by the husband and wife team Erik and Vesna Plakanis. Between them, they have over 60 years experience in hiking the Appalachian Mountains, covering thousands of miles of trails. They have both been full time trail guides in the Great Smoky Mountains since 1998. These two naturalists have taken courses on medicinal and edible uses of plants, animal tracking and stalking, wilderness survival and primitive arts, as well as years spent studying the natural world from within.  They are also both accomplished storytellers, specializing in Cherokee legends and settler tall tales.  They have been featured in publications including Outside Magazine, Backpacker, National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler Magazine, USA Today, Washington Post, Shape Magazine, Women’s Health, Southern Living, AAA's Magazine Home and Away, and many others.  They have appeared on the Discovery Channel, Travel Channel and NBC Nightly News.

Both Erik and Vesna are Wilderness First Responders, National Registry First Responders and certified in Non-lethal Aversive Bear Conditioning.

Andrea Price was born and raised in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where, as a toddler, she chose to walk after finding that the frigid floors of her family's mountain cabin near Alma were unsuitable for crawling.  Soon, her close friends knew that once a year, on her birthday, they would need to pull out their boots, backpacks and a couple of band aids, because she would take them hiking in the hills, often to some hidden waterfall or remote rocky vista.  By high school, she was regularly working during her summer breaks in the rain forest and wilderness of the Pacific Northwest, building hiking trails and tackling invasive species with fellow comrades of the Northwest Youth Corps.  In 1998, she through-hiked the Colorado Trail, a 500-mile route that travels through six wilderness areas and eight mountain ranges, topping out at 13,334 feet and finishing the last 200 miles alone.

After earning a B.S. in Geology from Colorado State in 2001, excelling in structural geology and geochemistry, her professional endeavors took her around the world from climate-change studies above the Arctic Circle in Alaska to the closure and environmental cleanup of one of America's Superfund sites, Rocky Flats, and even to resource exploration in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.  Her experience as a Geologist is well rounded.  She is most excited about conservation education and believes this is the biggest contribution that she can make for the future of the earth and its inhabitants.

Most of all, Andrea enjoys leading groups in the backcountry and supporting them to pursue their biggest goals.  She sincerely believes that anything is possible and to be self-sustainable, respectful and relaxed in raw wilderness, can give any dream a solid foundation. This winter, Andrea earned her certification as Wilderness First Responder.

Carey Jones is a former Park Ranger naturalist who for 14 years led outdoor programs for students and visitors in the Great Smokies. Always the seeker and discoverer, his experience and M.A. help him glean truths from nature to share with fellow learners. He is a part-time naturalist for the University of Tennessee Smoky Mountain Field School and the annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. His narrator’s voice can be heard on the Bird songs of the Smokies CD set, and the Naturepods ipod tour of Cades Cove. A well rounded naturalist, with a wealth of knowledge of wildflowers, trees and shrubs and wildlife, Carey specializes in Birding and Salamanders.  On occasion, he can be found in costume, singing folk songs and Christmas carols on the main streets of Gatlinburg.

Dana Price was born and raised in southern Connecticut and spent most of his youth learning about ecosystems, aquatic life, tree diversity and wildlife rehabilitation at Ansonia Nature Center state park. He focused on identifying native trees, reptiles, insects, vegetation and anything else he could get his hands on in the local forests. He continued through adolescence participating in ecology workshops and eventually attended Johnson State College in Vermont studying Environmental Science but later transferring to Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina to take up Marine Biology. As life often does, he got sidetracked after school and embarked through a number of different “mini” careers throughout various parts of the US and Caribbean, including 4 years as a massage therapist. Blown into the Smokies by the winds of fate, he met Erik and Vesna in 2006 and began his first full season guiding hikes into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in early 2007. Immersed into the Smokies ecology with Erik and Vesna as personal mentors has been a tremendous journey of learning the range of diversity of flora and fauna as well as the human history of the park. “This was my dream job since I was five years old”.

It is said that the practice of folk medicine may repeat in every third generation. This may be the deep-seeded connection behind Megan Jones’ attraction to herbalism, as her maternal Great-Grandmother was a midwife, healer and herbalist in the Pennsylvania Dutch community.  Megan grew up in a household where daily outside playtime was mandatory and all living things were given great respect. It was not until she obtained a job as a kayak eco-tour guide on the Outer Banks of North Carolina that her interest in plants and their properties became part of her daily life. Her experience as a kayak guide not only brought her closer to the rhythms of nature, but also provided opportunities to study and interpret traditional uses of plants in native cultures. During this time, Megan volunteered for numerous ecological fund-raising events, as a guide and interpreter of the local flora and worked with at-risk children creating educational after-school projects and field trips.  She enrolled at Clayton College of Natural Health, completed her Family Herbalist Certificate and is currently working towards her Master Herbalist Certificate.

Megan relocated to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee (a plant lover's dream!) where she became an assistant to local herbalist Cynthia Johnston at MoonMaid Botanicals. In addition to hands-on experience, she consistently attended (and continues to attend) herbal conferences and workshops around the country. She also began blending herbal and medicinal teas for herself and for friends and family at their request. Her tea blends became popular and in 2007, Taproot Tea Company was born.  Megan recently completed an intensive 8-month Herbal Apprenticeship program with Rosemary Gladstar, at Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center & Botanical Sanctuary, in the Green Mountains of Vermont.  In 2008, Megan joined A Walk in the Woods leading medicinal herb walks and guiding backpacking trips.  

*Note : A Walk in the Woods is a guide service, not a store. Our Walks and Hikes meet at spots convenient to the program NOT at this office. We only meet clients at our office to Rent Gear and for guided Backpacking Trips. Please call for an appointment.

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