Some places are worth working for. Mount LeConte is one of them.

We'll start with a night in Gatlinburg: good food, a few laughs, and a chance to settle in before heading into the mountains the next morning. From there, we'll shoulder our packs and make the climb to Mount LeConte, hiking roughly five miles and gaining more than 2,700 feet along the way. Our destination is LeConte Lodge, a rustic backcountry lodge sitting high above the Smokies with no roads leading in. Everything the lodge needs comes up the mountain by llama. Everything we need comes up on our backs.

We'll spend the night on top of the mountain with simple food, good conversation and very few distractions. No luxury. No rushing off to the next thing. Just a group of good men sharing a hard-earned night in a remarkable place. The next morning, we'll wake up in the mountains, have breakfast and make our way back down. Two nights. One mountain. And a reminder that some of the best places in life still have to be earned.