Their reservation was for Wednesday, June 10 so Keith and I came on down to the mountain house the weekend before.
As many of you know, I've been making a concerted effort to exercise (every day) and lose weight. One of the reasons is so I can hike with the guys. Well, I now hike with the guys, but I don't do LeConte! I'm content to sit on the deck and look at it!
But Keith and I have been doing a lot of walking and running and hiking. After our arrival on Thursday, we unpacked and headed for the River Walk in Pigeon Forge (3 miles).
Since the weather was very warm and quite humid, on Friday morning we did our favorite easy hike, the Gatlinburg Trail. He ran but I walked and took a detour over to Cataract Falls (4.75 miles).
On Saturday, things got serious. Keith wanted to test carrying the weight of his overnight pack so we headed to Chimney Tops. He went to the top and back but I just did about half of it (2.7 miles). It's beautiful, but a bit challenging for me because there are lots of steps!
On Sunday, we took it easy and went over to check out Mills Park in Gatlinburg. We did the walking trail and the school track. I was kind of glad when it started raining and we ran to the truck. (1.5 miles)
On Monday and Tuesday, Keith went into resting mode in preparation for the trip on Wednesday so I went to the gym and did some strength training and running on the treadmill (3 miles).
Finally, Wednesday arrived and Keith and Jeff headed to LeConte. They went up Rainbow Falls Trail (6.6 miles) and came back on Thursday via Bullhead Trail (7.2 miles). Of course they did some more hiking at the top. They saw sunset at Clifftops (.4 mile) and sunrise at Myrtle Point (1.5 miles). They had a wonderful time in spite of the thunderstorm on the way back down. They had their rain gear and found a rock ledge where they could wait out the storm.
While they were away, I got in a lot of shopping and a pedicure, but I still did my walking. On Wednesday I cautiously walked the loop where we live (1.5 miles). I say cautiously because of the steep hills, curves, and bears. I don't like walking it alone, but I made it without mishap.
On Thursday, I got my walk in early in Pigeon Forge at The Island and the River Walk (3.24 miles) so I could get back and cook those hungry boys a big dinner after their big adventure.
On Friday, I figured the guys would want to rest but, no, they wanted to work out the kinks and go to the Visitors Center so we walked the Gatlinburg Trail again (4.2 miles). On Friday night, Jenny and Bobby came over and after our Low Country Boil, we drove over to Elkmont to see the synchronous fireflies. ( You can read about them in my blog from last year, The Big One, 6/15/14). The show didn't seem as impressive this year. I don't know if the fireflies were past their prime or if our location wasn't as good or if the second time just didn't have that same magic. Anyway, Jenny and Jeff both thought they were awesome. (Maybe I was just tired from all the walking and hiking!)
On Saturday, I got to choose the hike and I picked the trail to the Little Greenbrier School and the Walker Sisters Cabin (3.4 miles). I've been to the schoolhouse, but I never ventured on to the cabin. It was very hot, but this time I made it! Afterwards we had a picnic by the river at Metcalf Bottoms and I stuck my feet in that cold water.
On Sunday, we decided to try something a little cooler. The temperature in Gatlinburg was 85 degrees and we wanted to hike, but it was mighty hot. So we headed up - Clingman's Dome, here we come! Now I bet you think we're just going to climb that observation tower. Well, you'd be wrong. On Saturday night the guys had a pow-wow and decided that I could probably handle hiking to Andrews Bald. Okay Gatlinburg was 85 degrees, at Clingman's Dome (elevation over 6600 feet) the temperature was 62! And it was cloudy and breezy! Can you say cold? I was definitely ready to hit the trail. To get to Andrews Bald, you take the Forney Ridge Trail DOWN and DOWN and DOWN some more. Then you go up a while and then down, up and down some more. The distance to the bald is only 1.75 miles but there is a total of 899 feet change in elevation! In hiker speak, that is challenging! And of course, the worst part is coming back up! I understand now why they had their discussion about my ability to hike it. Well, I made it fine. Don't know that I ever want to do it again, but I can mark it off my bucket list. I hiked Forney Ridge Trail to Andrews Bald (3.5 miles). And was it worth it? You decide.
So there you have it - the hiking diary of our past 10 days. We've seen many beautiful mountains, cool streams and rivers. We've climbed stone steps and crossed log bridges. We've toured old cabins and a schoolhouse. We've marveled at fireflies, baby turkeys, a bear, and a snake. And we spent a lot of time in the hot tub!
And now we're planning our next adventure.