Meet Your Guide
Our Award Winning Trail Guides are the Secret Ingredients to your Smoky Mountain Adventure!
Bob Miller
Bob has been recognized as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People” in the Smokies’ development, growth and protection. He came to A Walk in the Woods following a 38-year career with the National Park Service. This includes 23 years as a Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Bob was a member of the Park’s Management Team as a Smokies’ Public Affairs Officer.
If you’re interested in what makes a national park tick, Bob’s your ticket.
Deb Troutman
A former Park Ranger and current Girl Scout leader, Debbie loves sharing the natural environment with all who want to explore its beauty. Coincidently, one of her first seasonal ranger positions was here in the Smokies. Deb volunteers for Citizen Scientist projects in the park and art outreach classes at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. She enjoys canoeing and rafting with her family. Her life goal is to visit all 400 plus National Park units in the USA. Deb has been a guide with A Walk in the Woods since 2016.
Ben Wolfe
Meet REI Top Guide 2023, Ben Wolfe! Ben knew from an early age that he would count on the natural world to guide him throughout his journey. Ben received a B.S. in Geology and Environmental Studies from the University of Tennessee with a minor in Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Science. He has worked as a Research Technician with the Department of Plant Sciences at UT since 2013. Ben has Outdoor Guide Certification from the University of Wyoming and is a Certified Interpretive Guide from NAI.
Beth Wolfe
Beth Wolfe has always enjoyed staying active outdoors as she grew up in East Tennessee. She has a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee where she gained research experience in the hybridization of minnows in the Clinch River Valley. While the mountains are home, Beth loves to travel and explore new places as much as possible. She enjoys running, cooking, and spending time on the water.
Raechelle Landers
Raechelle grew up in Northwest Pennsylvania and attended the University of Pittsburgh. After several local trips to Ohiopyle and the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, she journeyed out west to explore Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, Coyote Gulch, and more. Outside of hiking and camping, Raechelle enjoys reading, sci-fi, and has a deep love for animals of all kinds. She spends her downtime with her partner and their adopted 80-lb brindle mutt who they renamed Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Ansley Still
Ansley grew up in the city of Atlanta and spent weekends and holidays in the southern Appalachian mountains. After college she worked in Wilderness Therapy in the North Carolina mountains with troubled youth. In the winters, Ansley goes out west to Utah to ski. She has hiked all around the United States, but the Smoky Mountains always call her back. Her favorite activities include, rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, rafting, scuba diving, yoga, canyoneering, skiing and of course backpacking.
Jack Lloyd
Jack Lloyd was raised in Shelby, North Carolina. He grew up playing in creeks and chasing critters in the foothills of Western North Carolina. Before coming to A Walk in the Woods, Jack was a head guide for the Nantahala Outdoor Center, leading ziplining trips and guiding rafts down the river. Over the winters, Jack is a ski instructor working with kids on the slopes. As an avid whitewater paddler, he loves spending hot summer days on the water. He also enjoys gardening and foraging.
Cade Smith
Cade is from Mississippi and grew up backpacking and fly fishing in the Smokies. He and his brother spent most of their childhood searching for salamanders in the Little River. Cade graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from Mississippi State University and became disenchanted with the traditional 9-5 grind. In an effort to reestablish his identity outside of a career, Cade ran away to thru hike the Appalachian Trail. When Cade isn’t hiking he enjoys fly fishing, reading, and playing with his dog Lady.
Luci Breeding
Luci has loved and cherished the Smoky Mountains her entire life. She completed her undergraduate degree in elementary education from the University of Tennessee and completed her Master’s Degree from Tusculum University. Luci retired in May of 2022 with 35 years of teaching elementary children. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, camping, journaling, and reading. Luci has completed over 500 miles in the Smokies, having also done some hiking in Colorado, Wyoming, North Carolina and Virginia.
Ken Voorhis
Ken Voorhis has been connecting people and nature for 40 years. He has worked for and led a number of environmental learning centers across the county. Ken has a M.S. in Experiential Education and a B.S. in Nature Interpretation. He recently retired from Yellowstone Forever, the park’s educational and philanthropic partner. Before that, Ken was Executive Director at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont for nearly 30 years. Ken was named as one of the “most 100 influential people” in Park history.
Nicole Lowder
Nicole is a 2024 graduate from Appalachian State University with a degree in Biology concentrated around ecology, evolution, and environmental science. She grew up on a farm in rural North Carolina where she developed a love for all things outdoors. Currently, Nicole has three cats and roughly 20 reptiles! She can somewhat play the banjo, enjoys folk music and going to concerts. Nicole has also spent a lot of time in the Smokies doing research with salamanders!
China Whitmire
China Whitmire, a Chattanooga native, spent 15 years in Chicago working in non-profit theater and higher education upon completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago. In 2021, China returned to her Appalachian roots by thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Now, leveraging her skills, China brings a unique blend of creativity and expertise to her role as a guide. Her love of storytelling and connection with the southern Appalachian region ultimately led her to A Walk in the Woods.
Kelly Hiscock
Kelly (or Kels) loves being outside! She went to school for Wildlife Sciences and spent her time then working with inner-city children, getting them outdoors. Since then, she has worked at nature centers, group camps; anywhere to stay connected to the outdoors. Kelly is a mother to a 2 year old boy, wife to an outdoor enthusiast and dog mom of 3. Kelly likes whitewater paddling and rock climbing. When not outside, she’s finding fun projects to get into, playing video games and reading books past bedtime!
Brian Thomson
Brian is a former state park ranger and middle school science teacher with a passion for outdoor interpretation. He loves sharing science and history facts, with an emphasis on Native American culture. Brian has a deep commitment to wilderness conservation. As a native to south Florida, he fell in love with hiking, camping, conservation and exploration through the Boy Scouts, attaining rank of Eagle Scout. Brian is excited to bring his love to camping, guiding and teaching to this incredibly biodiverse region!
Joel Ossoff
Since retiring from a 36 -year career with the National Park Service, Joel has been spending a lot of time on the trails. He finished hiking all 800 miles of trails in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Joel began his career as an interpreter at Mt. Rainier and Everglades National Parks. After assignments in three other NPS areas, he completed his career at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Joel has a B.A. degree in biology-geology from Colby College and developed two of their self-guiding nature trails.
Andy Troutman
Andy Troutman has been living an outdoor lifestyle his whole life. Having grown up in National Parks such as Kenai Fjords, Arches, and the Great Smoky Mountains and visiting over 60 other national park units he quickly fell in love. Before coming to A Walk in the Woods, Andy worked as a naturalist at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. Additionally, he also worked as a multisport guide at the University of Tennessee.
Jeff Rodgers
Jeff grew up in Western Kentucky living on a small farm. His love for the outdoors grew as he spent holidays camping, fishing, hiking, and biking with family. Jeff graduated from Murray State University with a degree in Physical Education. While working on his Masters degree, he took an environmental class that raised his love for nature and the environment. Jeff has hiked and enjoyed numerous state parks in Kentucky, the Smokies and out West. He also worked as a wrangler trail guide for three summers.
Keith Watson
A native to Sevier County, Keith has over 40 years of national birding experience. He began as a conservationist and birder in the mid-1970’s, at the University of Tennessee. During his career with the NPS and US Fish and Wildlife Service, he advanced bird conservation in many places. He developed an Avian Conservation Implementation Plan for each unit in the southeastern region of the NPS. Keith also established the Southern Appalachian Bird Conservancy.
Jacob Black
Jacob grew up on his family farm in Portland, TN. Many holidays with family were spent near Gatlinburg, developing a strong love and sense of home in the Smoky Mountains. Jacob has hiked over 1200 miles within the Blue Ridge mountains. He is also an Appalachian landscape/wildlife photographer with a degree in Horticulture and a focus on organic agriculture. Jacob’s other hobbies include drums, producing music, listening to bluegrass, studying nutrition and traditional medicine, and learning how to be a pilot in Flight Simulator.
Raena Caton
Raena was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and got a B.S. in Adventure and Outdoor Programming from the University of Utah. She has been guiding since 2012, starting with trips in Italy, Iceland and Hawaii! Since then she has continued to guide canyoneering, kayaking, backpacking and hiking trips during the summers and travel or ski during the winters. For a personal hobby, she loves rock climbing above all! She spent about 2 years living in a small bus with her husband and dog then traveled out to the east coast where they got married and decided to settle down (kinda;)!
Anna Conard
Anna grew up in Atlanta as a full-blown city slicker. But every summer she attended camp in the mountains of North Georgia, which planted a tree-hugging seed in her subconscious. Many years and one pandemic later, she returned to North Georgia to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2023. Since then, Anna has been balancing her career as a pastry chef with her love for backpacking and all things outdoors. She now lives in Brevard, NC where she works away at hiking all 400+ miles of trail in the Pisgah National Forest with her dog, Blue.
Meet Our Leadership Team
Mike Matzko
Michael grew up in western Pennsylvania. He developed a passion for wild places while exploring Yellowstone National Park. After graduating from Hocking College with a degree in recreation and wildlife, he became an Outdoor Instructor. Michael led adventure based activities at Lindsay Outdoor Center. He also worked at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont as a Teacher Naturalist where he gained a love of the Smokies. Michael enjoys playing music, hiking and backpacking.
Samantha Suttles
Born in Louisiana, East Tennessee didn’t start calling to Samantha until her parents began vacationing here during middle school. In 2009, Samantha received her Bachelor’s Degree in History from the University of Tennessee. She then completed a Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation from the Savannah College of Art & Design. Samantha loves the Smokies. Not only for all its beauty and opportunities for outdoor education and recreation, but its vast cultural history as well.
Patricia Kersey
Raised in the shadow of Smoky Mountains, Patricia spent her free time exploring the mountains on foot and horseback. As an adult, Patricia took her love of the mountains and equines and became a trail guide for a local riding stable. She’s now a mother of two young hikers, miniature horses, a goat, cats and dogs. When she’s not juggling her job at AWITW, she enjoys hiking, horseback riding, gardening, DIY projects and spending time with her family on their small farm.
Jacob Judd
Jacob was born in Ohio and later moved to TN. He spent his childhood years hiking and exploring the Smokies. Most of his adult life was spent traveling and living all over the country. Jacob is a whitewater guide, musician and videographer. He now spends his days working and building his off-grid homestead in Del Rio, TN. Jacob enjoys gardening, beekeeping, fermenting, carpentry and most things creative.
Meet the Owners
A Walk in the Woods is locally owned and operated by the husband and wife team Erik and Vesna Plakanis.
Between them, they have over 70 years experience in hiking the Appalachian Mountains, covering thousands of miles of trails.
Both have been full time trail guides in the Great Smoky Mountains since 1998. Therefore, they are experts in leave no trace, medicinal and edible uses of plants, animal tracking, wilderness survival and primitive arts.
Additionally, Erik and Vesna are accomplished storytellers, specializing in Cherokee legends and Settler tall tales. Similarly, they love teaching classes on wild edibles, fungi and primitive skills. They are also certified by the Humane Society in non-Lethal Bear Aversion techniques. Techniques taught by the famed Bear Whisperer, Steven Searle.
Fighting For Our Environment
In 2012, Erik was given the coveted REI Top Guide Award! Erik was proud to take part in a winning lawsuit in 2009 that forced the TVA to clean up their power plants. This forced TVA to take 16 of the worst ones off line. As a result, the win measurably improved air quality in and around the Smokies from 2010 on. On a side note, Erik, a confirmed descendent of Daniel Boone, is a real fun guy and loves his mushroom puns!
Continuing Their Efforts
Meet the Hospitality Staff
Maggie Plakanis
Our full time office dog! When she is not answering your Smoky Mountain questions her main role is as an educator. Maggie loves teaching bears, raccoons, possums, squirrels and UPS drivers about property rights and respecting boundaries. In addition, she loves long walks, playing frisbees, canoeing and cuddling on the couch. Maggie is a very good girl!
Little Bear Plakanis
The brains behind the operation. As the manager, she keeps all of the other office dogs in line and makes sure that our staff has plenty of chances to pet her. By the way, Little Bear enjoys long walks on the beach, relaxing by the pool, canoeing and licking faces. She is a very good girl!
It started with a thru-hike of the Smokies in 1996, and turned into the proverbial labor of love...
Although Erik and Vesna have always been avid naturalists, they 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 ten years.
Their careers became less satisfying and they struggled to find meaning on this path. As a result, their trips to the mountains became more frequent and important. During this time, they saw how quickly their daughter, Tara, was growing up. They became more desperate to do something as a family.
Lightbulb Moment
Erik and Vesna began discussing an alternative.. Raising people’s environmental awareness, while spending more quality time with their daughter, seemed like a win, win. They were drawn to the Appalachian Mountains and loved being outdoors, but were unclear how to make this their life’s work, instead of just a passion.
In the summer of 1996, Erik took a 10 day solo backpacking trip through the Smokies. During this vision quest, he found the answer. Why not share this magic with others? Hence, A Walk in the Woods was born.
As children, Erik and Vesna had both wanted to become naturalists, but for various reasons had gotten off of that path. In 1998, it all came full circle. They invite you to share the wonders that this beautiful park has to offer. Although the company has grown from their little family to a larger group of talented and passionate guides, they work hard to maintain the small family atmosphere they started with. We work to ensure that your trip to the Smokies will be the best part of your vacation!
Interested in joining our team? Head over to our Careers Page for more information on what it takes to guide with A Walk in the Woods.