Introducing the Norris Trio: The Trek

Hello fellow outdoor lovers!

We are the Norris Trio! This blog post is to give all of you beautiful people an insight into who we are and what we will be taking on in the coming months. The Norris Trio is made up of Cody Norris (me), Alex Norris (my wife), and Turkenna Norris (the best puppet). We all love the outdoors and each other and thought what would be better than spending the next 5 or 6 months together immersed in nature. It must be said that we are normally a quartet. We have another dog, Skamp, ​​but the poor guy only has 3 legs so he felt he wasn’t up to the trip. He has decided to go in another direction and take a long and much-needed vacation with one of our close friends.

Starting our adventure

The Norris Trio has been having adventures for many years. Alex and I met in college while I was going to school to get my bachelor’s degree in nursing and Alex was going to get his master’s degree in mental health counseling. We dated for a few years and after graduating, we got married in 2020. We got Turk and Skamp shortly after our wedding and have been living together ever since. For the last 4 years I have worked as a travel nurse and we have been exploring different parts of the country, with contracts lasting between 3 and 10 months. Our enthusiasm for the outdoors and our love of exploring has definitely blossomed over these last 4 years.

Inspiration to take a hike

It was during our contract in Western North Carolina, where we took jobs as whitewater raft guides at the Nanatahala Outdoor Center, that we were introduced to the world of long-distance hiking. Hikers who stopped by the NOC shared their stories, their ambitions, and their enthusiasm for backpacking. Alex and I loved going camping and hiking with our dogs. However, it wasn’t until we met the hikers that the idea of ​​one day doing our own hike began to take root. By the end of the 2024 rafting season, we had gathered enough gear to start doing our own backpacking trips. We started small 3-4 day trips, mostly under 30 miles. Then we went to California for the winter and tried more strenuous trails, increased our miles, upgraded some gear, and started figuring out what worked for us on the trail.

Newbies only

That said, we’ve never done anything like Appalachian Judgment. This will be our first long ride, our first big hike, and our first time writing a blog. But if there’s one thing we’re always looking forward to, it’s a new adventure! We have much to learn and much to hope for. We hope this blog can serve as a platform to share our journey with our existing community, and we welcome anyone who wants to follow us!

The Blog

Throughout this trip we will post updates about our adventures. Since we are a trio and we all have to carry our own weight, we will share the blogging responsibilities. Not all blog posts will come from me (Cody), there will be some from Alex, and you may even get some ‘updates’ from Turkenna.

The Norris Trio (TNT)

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