{"id":52928,"date":"2025-04-25T16:38:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T20:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanhiking.org\/?p=52928"},"modified":"2025-04-25T16:38:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T20:38:29","slug":"2025-volunteer-vacation-season-highlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanhiking.org\/2025-volunteer-vacation-season-highlight\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83c\udf3f A Special Start to the Volunteer Season in Nantahala National Forest\u00a0\ud83c\udf3f"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"680\" src=\"https:\/\/americanhiking.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-4424-1-800x680.jpg\" alt=\"Nine hikers and a dog stand in front of a waterfall on the Glen Falls Trail in Nantahala National Forest. Surrounded by lush greenery, the group poses in outdoor gear with backpacks and trekking poles, smiling on a sunny day.\" class=\"wp-image-52930\" srcset=\"https:\/\/americanhiking.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-4424-1-800x680.jpg 800w, https:\/\/americanhiking.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-4424-1-550x468.jpg 550w, https:\/\/americanhiking.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-4424-1.jpg 1284w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The 2025 Volunteer Vacations season began on a high note in the stunning Nantahala National Forest. This first trip of the year was not only productive but also filled with meaningful moments and strong connections among the crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two volunteers celebrated major milestones\u201410 and 25 years of participating in Volunteer Vacations. Their ongoing dedication highlights the great people who continue to show up, do the work, and make a lasting impact on our trails. Over the years, these trips have become more than just service projects\u2014they\u2019ve turned into traditions and opportunities to reconnect with friends made on the trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One participant put it best: \u201cWe had the best, most cohesive and hard-working crew!\u201d It\u2019s this spirit of teamwork, commitment, and shared purpose that makes Volunteer Vacations truly unforgettable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo courtesy of: Bonnie Key<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 Volunteer Vacations season began on a high note in the stunning Nantahala National Forest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":52929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[650],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - 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