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By Kevin Allen
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
One of Rappahannock County’s native sons is using the outdoor skills he developed growing up in the county to help others make the most of Rappahannock’s famous backyard, Shenandoah National Park.
Teamlink and Shenandoah Mountain Guides, founded in 1993 by Flint Hill native Andy Nichols, has grown into one of the outdoor leaders in the region.
For the past two years, SMG has guided climbing, rapelling, canyoneering and hiking trips in Shenandoah National Park through an agreement with Aramark, which operates the park’s lodges.
The park had been relying on rangers to guide hikes, but they do not have the time nor the funds to provide what SMG does.
The guiding service is something Nichols, 50, says he has always wanted to do. After returning from Desert Storm in the early 1990s, the former Naval officer decided it was time to realize that dream.
. Growing up amid Rappahannock’s scenic beauty and rugged, open spaces fostered in Nichols an intense love of the outdoors. The 1975 graduate of Rappahannock County High School talks nostalgically about
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