Meet the Adventures Southeast Guide Team
The Right Guide Can Change Everything
The mountains, forests, rivers, and coastlines of the Southeast are extraordinary—but it is often the people leading the journey who make it unforgettable.
At Adventures Southeast, our guides do far more than navigate the trail. They are educators, problem solvers, wilderness professionals, storytellers, naturalists, and hosts. Their job is to help you feel confident, cared for, and connected to the places you’re exploring.
Whether you’re joining a backpacking expedition, a wilderness basecamp, or a lodge-based adventure, you’ll be traveling with guides who are passionate about sharing the outdoors and helping every guest have an exceptional experience.
What Makes an Adventures Southeast Guide Different?
Our guides aren’t simply experienced hikers—they’re experienced leaders.
They know when to teach and when to let the landscape speak for itself. They understand that every group is different, and they know how to balance challenge with encouragement, safety with adventure, and education with fun.
Every guide is selected not only for their outdoor skills, but for their ability to create meaningful experiences for people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experience levels.
Experience You Can Trust
Our guide team brings together decades of experience exploring the Southeast’s most remarkable landscapes, including:
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area
- Pisgah National Forest
- Shenandoah National Park
- Everglades & Biscayne National Parks
Many of our guides have spent years backpacking, leading wilderness trips, teaching outdoor skills, and exploring these places in every season.
Safety Comes First
Adventure should feel exciting—not uncertain.
Our guides are trained to manage changing weather, route decisions, group dynamics, and unexpected situations while helping every guest enjoy the journey with confidence.
Depending on their role, guides may hold certifications and training in areas such as:
- Wilderness First Aid (WFA)
- Wilderness First Responder (WFR)
- CPR and AED
- Leave No Trace principles
- Natural history interpretation
- Backpacking and expedition leadership
We believe preparation creates freedom—the freedom to fully enjoy your adventure.
Meet the Team
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.
Ansley Still
Ansley has lived in southern Appalachia her whole life, from Georgia to Western North Carolina. She has always found the woods a place of peacefulness and wonder, from the amazing views to the little critters in the moss. She loves sharing her passion for the natural world with fun facts, stories, and book recommendations. She has thru-hiked the Colorado Trail, John Muir Trail, and the Long Trail, and while she has hiked all around the U.S., the Smoky Mountains always call her back home. If she isn’t hiking, Ansley can be found whitewater rafting, skiing, or studying for her master’s degree in Outdoor Education. Ansley has been guiding since 2019 and was our guide of the year in 2024.
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 and Adventures Southeast.
Erik Plakanis
Erik Plakanis has spent nearly three decades guiding, teaching, and advocating for the wild places of the Southern Appalachians. After a ten-day solo backpacking trip through Great Smoky Mountains National Park inspired a major career change, Erik and his wife, Vesna, left the Atlanta area for Gatlinburg and founded A Walk in the Woods, where they began guiding full-time in 1998. Since then, Erik has developed a deep knowledge of the Smokies’ natural and cultural history, including animal tracking, edible and medicinal plants, fungi, primitive skills, and Leave No Trace practices. An outdoor educator, naturalist, and longtime conservation advocate, Erik loves helping people slow down, notice more, and build a meaningful connection with the mountains (and fungi!).
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 and Adventures Southeast, 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, cooking and foraging.
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 rambunctious boy, wife to an outdoor enthusiast and dog mom of 2. 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!
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.
Vesna Plakanis
She also advocates for the Smokies, having spoken before the EPA, worked with Tennessee Senators on clean-air standards, and co-founded 321 Action to stop the widening of Highway 321. Her work has been featured in Outside, Backpacker, National Geographic, USA Today, The Washington Post, Southern Living, and on the Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, NBC Nightly News, and PBS.