Wednesday, July 1
Keith and I walked at the River Walk in Pigeon Forge and then checked out Patriot Park (behind the Old Mill Restaurant. There is a nice trail that goes along the lake and around the grassy park area. The weather was quite pleasant so we made several laps. (6.1 miles). Then the rain came big time that night. It was rather cool and instead of grilling, I cooked a pot of chili. (Chili in July!) Jeff arrived that evening.
Thursday, July 2
Since Jeff was "on call" for work we had to choose hikes that were close to civilization (within cell range). So we hiked part of the Twin Creeks Trail and the Bud Ogle Trail. (4.6 miles).
For dinner we grilled Chicken Fajita Kabobs and Seasoned Shrimp Kabobs. The weather cooperated so we ate outside.
Friday, July 3
Since I was involved in a "fitness challenge" and needed to get in a lot of steps on Friday, we did two hikes. First we hiked Old Sugarlands Trail to the Watch Tower (3.4 miles).
Then we went to Ole Dad's for lunch. Afterwards we did our old standby - The Gatlinburg Trail. (4.2 miles). It started to rain during the last 1/2 mile or so, but we were under the cover of trees so we didn't get too wet. On Friday evening we ate out at Holston's in Sevierville and then went to see the TN Smokies beat the Montgomery Biscuits. ( That's baseball if you were wondering). It was a close, back and forth game with the Smokies getting the walk-off win in the bottom of the 9th. We stayed for their usual Friday Night fireworks. Great as always!
Saturday, July 4
Since I had some cooking to do we did a relatively short hike on Saturday. We hiked to Cataract Falls and did part of the Cove Mountan Trail. (3.8 miles). If you ever go to the Smokies and want to see a waterfall, Cataract is probably the easiest to get to. The round trip is less than a mile. The trail starts at the Sugarlands Visitors Center and is flat and easy. Once you get to the falls, you cross the creek to get on Cove Mountain Trail. The crazy thing about this trail is that part of it is on the boundary of the park. Here we are, walking out in the middle of nowhere when all of a sudden we happen upon this house right beside the trail. Since there was a big fence and lots of signage, I didn't take any photos of the house.
On Friday afternoon the rain came (again). First the sun was out and then rain, then sun,.....anyway Keith decided to rig up a tent so that he wouldn't get wet grilling. We had Smoked Ribs and the rain stopped so we ate outside again.
That evening we watched the Gatlinburg fireworks from our deck.
Sunday, July 5
One last day of hiking. We wanted to get in one more hike because Keith was close to getting his 250 mile pin! So on Sunday, we hiked part of the Trillium Gap Trail (4.6 miles). This one was rather challenging because there's not a lot to see and it's rather steep and narrow. But we made it and Keith reached his goal!
So five days of hiking and eating! That was our Marathon Weekend!
(6.1 + 4.6 + 3.4 + 4.2 + 3.8 + 4.6 = 26.7 miles)
