Hi Troup198, your're right, we both love the desert and the southwest. I think maybe because its much easier to find places there with minimal human impact (or at least modern humans - I like what the old folks did to the place
). We have a lot of Texas SPs on our bucket list but those in the more isolated areas are at the top. I somehow missed your Big Bend Ranch SP in my previous posting. I'm an old farm boy that grew up with livestock but had never seen wild burros much less a calico one until our visit there - neat place.
We day hike in the Smoky Mtns several times each year but usually camp in Nantahala NF when in that area. Most of the NPS campgrounds are over crowded on weekends and we're out your way if we have a week or more off. Oh, we do like trees - creek that runs beside our campsite in the Slickrock Wilderness.
Al