Outdoor Adventures | 2015 edition

When Daniel and I were first married we spent a lot of time in the woods together, logging a lot of miles. Over the years we have added paddling and biking to our adventures. We continue to attempt to get out at least once a month and do the things we love. Here is a quick recap of the outdoor adventures we went on last year:

January

Hike to Rainbow Lake | Signal Mountain, TN

March

Green Gorge Trail | Signal Mountain, TN

April

Paddling North Chick | Hixson, TN

June

Green Gorge – Isaac's First Hike | Signal Mountain, TN

September

Lula Lake Land Trust | Lookout Mountain, GA

Neighborhood Bike Ride – Isaac's First | Signal Mountain, TN

Stringer's Ridge (me time) | Chattanooga, TN

October

Stringer's Ridge | Chattanooga, TN

 

Prentice Cooper | Signal Mountain, TN

November

Guys Hike North Chick | Soddy Daisy, TN

I didn't write a post about this, but Daniel and a couple of his friends did this hike. It's on my list for us to do when the weather warms up.

December

Laurel Falls | Great Smoky Mountains National Park

 

Christmas Eve Neighborhood Bike Ride | Signal Mountain, TN

I'm looking forward to trying more new trails in 2016, and just spending as much time outside with my guys.

Hiking While Pregnant: Green Gorge Trail

When I was pregnant with Jack, we hiked quite a bit: Walls of Jericho, Mount Tom,  Mount Washington, DeSoto State Park and Cloudland Canyon. 

Hiking during this pregnancy has been a bit more of a challenge due to winter weather, all of us being sick at various times and Daniel's crazy work schedule (he's been working 12-15 hour shifts with no days off).

Earlier this year we did a quick hike to Rainbow Lake and yesterday we embraced the sunshine and took Jack to Green Gorge Park behind our house. 

The last time we visited Green Gorge was a year ago and I was actually in the early stages of pregnancy before I miscarried. It's been a long year.

Anyways, it was a blessing to have Daniel home all weekend and the sunshine was calling our names, so we did a short 1-mile walk in the woods with Jack. 

I am so proud of our little guy, he walked until we were almost done.

He had a blast balancing on rocks at various cross water crossings, blazing his own trail, being the leader and stomping int he mud.

Every time we stopped, he wanted to know if we were going to have a picnic. Next time we will have to remember to bring snacks.

His favorite thing was crossing the swing bridge. Which translated to us crossing the "wobbly bridge" multiple times.

I am so thankful that he enjoys the activities that we enjoy and we look forward to more hikes after baby #2 gets here.

Outdoor Adventures | 2014 edition

A look back at our adventures in 2014. With a toddler, biking was top on our list of fun things to do as a family, followed by paddling. I think we only went on a couple of hikes all year.


March
Green Gorge Trail | Signal Mountain, TN

April
Bouldering | Our Front Yard
Biking the Riverwalk | Chattanooga, TN
Biking Shoal Creek Road | Signal Mountain, TN

May
Biking South Chick Greenway | Chattanooga, TN
Snooper's Rock | Signal Mountain, TN
Biking Tennessee River Park | Chattanooga, TN
Paddling Wolftever Creek | Harrison Bay, TN

June
Trek Demo Days at Enterprise Park | Chattanooga, TN
East Brow Bike Ride | Signal Mountain, TN

July 
Riverwalk | Chattanooga, TN

August
Paddling Chickamauga Lake | Hixson, TN
Watched TKO in Prentice Cooper | Signal Mountain, TN
Nickajack Bat Cave | Nickajack, TN

October
Biking St. Joseph Peninsula | Cape San Blas, FL
Snorkeling with Dolphins | Panama City Beach, FL
Camping at Harrison Bay State Park | Harrison Bay, TN

Outdoor Adventures | 2011 edition

I spent a good part of 2011 pregnant, but that didn't stop of from having adventures. I also ran my first half marathon!


January
Snowboarding | Sugar Mountain, NC
Grandfather Mountain | Linville, NC

February
Training for Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville, TN
Backpacking Trip in Sipsey Wilderness | Sipsey River National Forest, AL

March
Half Marathon Training Progress

April
Paddling the Flint River | Huntsville, AL
Walls of Jericho | Skyline Wildlife Management Area, AL
Country Music Half Marathon | Nashville, TN

May
Little River Canyon | DeSoto, AL
Rural Road Biking | Hollywood, AL
Mount Tom | Woodstock, VT

June
Highest Point in New Hampshire | Mt. Washington, NH
Quechee Gorge | Quechee, VT
Paddling Lake Sunapee | Lake Sunapee, NH
Dolphin Tour | Port Aransas, TX

July
Paddling Tennessee River from Mud Creek | Hollywood, AL
Lost Falls and Laurel Falls | DeSoto State Park, AL

September
Paddling at Lake Guntersville | Scottsboro, AL
Paddling from Bellefonte | Hollywood, AL

October
West Rim Trail | Cloudland Canyon, GA

November
We had a baby!

Cloudland Canyon: West Rim Trail Revisited

About this time last year Daniel and I went out to Cloudland Canyon for a day hike. Unfortunately we were short on time and were only able to hike 2.5 miles. Today we had a bit more time and were able to complete the entire West Rim Trail – approximately 5 miles.

It was the perfect day for a hike – 60ºF and sunny. The trees are just starting to change color. This hike will offer some spectacular views in a couple of weeks when the colors really start to peak.

The first 3+ miles were along the rim with awesome views. The end of the hike was in the woods. Hiking in the woods has its own charm, providing lots of time to think. 

Being 37 weeks pregnant I am a bit slow, but we managed to complete the hike {with stops for photo ops} in about 2 hours. We can't wait to be able to take our little boy hiking with us. Even better is the fact that Daniel can carry him instead of me lugging him around in my belly.

DeSoto State Park

Daniel and I have been itching to go hiking, but the south is WAY TOO HOT in the summer to hit the trails {especially if one of you is pregnant}.

 

Yesterday we had a cold front move through that cooled things off tremendously. It was in the 70s this morning and we decided that if we wanted to hike in July, we better find a place to go.

We wanted to stay within an hour's drive of our house, but this seriously limited our hiking options. 

 

We decided on a waterfall hike in DeSoto State Park. Namely because it was featured in Backpacker Magazine and had received a rating of 4/5 for scenery on HikingChattanooga.com.

I think we are spoiled because the best we would have rated this trail was 2/5. 

 

To be fair it would be the perfect place to go mountain biking – lots of old growth trees and well groomed trails without a lot of technical parts {Daniel won't let me consider mountain biking right now... I can't wait for spring to get here}. For hiking, this trail was a disappointment.

Since it was overcast and very few people were on the trail, we let Sophie run off leash for a while but ended up revoking her off-leash privileges when she ran away and wouldn't come back. Daniel had to chase her down and found her laying in a creek next to a family that was hiking the trail.

We completed a 3.5 mile loop that included a stop at Lost Falls and Laurel Falls. Due to low water levels, they weren't much to look at. 

I am really missing the open balds of North Carolina and Virginia and would be in heaven if we could do a big mountain hike out west... that is just not in the cards for us right now.

While the weather was cool, the humidity turned out to be wretched. I was glad to get off the trail, but thankful that at 23 weeks pregnant I can still get out and hike.

I Wanna Go Hiking

Our first day in Vermont, we were still recovering from travels, so we took it easy. After breakfast at the Farmer's Diner, we visited a local strip mall selling various items. 

First up was the Cabot Cheese Shop. They make some seriously good cheese. There was an entire table devoted to cheese samples. Daniel says that this is a called a loss leader – meaning the free goods are sacrificed in hopes that you make a purchase. The cheese was delicious, but I wasn't compelled to buy. Daniel however, after eating several spicy kinds of cheese {including jalapeno and chipotle} found himself buying a bottle of apple juice, so I guess it worked on him.

Next up was an antique shop – lots of lots of little booths with old stuff for sale. While wandering the aisles I overheard a kid impatiently say, "I want to get out of here. I want to go hiking already!" I feel the same way kid...

After leaving the antique store {not really our thing} we made a pit stop at our house where we researched local trails before finding ourselves heading for Woodstock, VT to hike Mount Tom.

Mount Tom is 1,250 feet high and offers great views of Woodstock and the valley below. The Faulkner Trail totaled 3 miles. It was a good way to end our first day in Vermont.