Archive for the ‘Trails’ Category

How Do You Say Appalachia?

If I haven’t mentioned it before, I grew up in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, at the Southern end of the Appalachians. For my entire life, I’ve heard people refer to it at the Appa-LAY-shuns, but my people say Appa-LATCH-uns. And this is the way I prefer everyone to hear it as they...
March 23rd, 2010 | Trails | Read More

1,099 Stairs at Tallulah Gorge State Park

Hurricane Falls Jill and I were so focused on completing the 1,099 stairs in and out of Tallulah Gorge that we completely ignored all other hallmarks of historical and pop culture import here in this North Georgia resort town. A little history First, let’s clarify “resort town.” Apparently,...
November 30th, 2009 | Trails | Read More

After the Flood: hiking the Hooch

Just a short update to let you know that the Chattahoochee River Trails are, for the most part, back open. This press release is the most up to date information I have found about specific parks and parking areas, other than the first-hand account I can give you of the East Palisades Trail in Sandy Springs. First...
October 18th, 2009 | Trails | Read More

The importance of a wilderness wingman.

Hey – remember that guy Lance Armstrong who invented awareness bracelets? Now he has a massive wellness site with stories and videos and ponies and cotton candy for everybody. I was looking through some of the videos on hiking and this one spoke to me (it will speak to you too once you hit play)...
September 14th, 2009 | Trails | Read More

Crossing Muddy Waters: Powers Landing Trail

Friday night it POURED down rain. Luckily it waited until after we got done grilling all the pizzas, and stopped in time to dry up enough so we could hike on Saturday. I was a bit hungover after eating so much pizza, so I begged Jill to do something local and easy. Hooligans on the Hooch We decided on...
August 23rd, 2009 | Trails | Read More

Stone Mountain, Part Deux

This weekend, our Saturday hike needed to be relatively nearby and predictable so we didn’t  get lost and miss the Paul McCartney concert in Piedmont Park (which was, by the way, AMAZING – although we were disappointed that he didn’t sing “Maybe I’m Amazed.”) So,...
August 16th, 2009 | Trails | Read More

Red Top Mountain

Looking for a tough, yet beautiful hike, we headed out to Red Top Mountain State Park in Cartersville, Georgia. Red Top is named for its (red) iron-rich soil. Our goal…to hike the 5.5 mile Homestead Trail. The yellow and orange blazed trail starts at the Visitor Center and follows a one mile path...
August 12th, 2009 | Trails | Read More

Amicalola Falls: Nature’s Stairmaster

I can’t stop saying “Amicalola” it just rolls off the tongue, as a dear friend once said, like when Christiane Amanpour says “Jalalabad.” But the great things about this hike didn’t stop with saying Amicalola over and over until Jill threatened to beat me with her...
July 27th, 2009 | Trails | Read More

Taking Granite For Granted

One of Stone Mountain's many attractions Stone Mountain, the largest piece of exposed granite in the world, yes that’s the WORLD folks, is a mere 15 miles from downtown Atlanta. This five square mile park is Georgia’s most visited attraction. Over the years, for me, an Atlanta native,...
July 26th, 2009 | Challenges, Trails, Training | Read More

Fee Free Weekend on the Jones Bridge Trail

Since our hiking began we’ve learned of this magical thing called the Fee Free Weekend. This weekend we hit the Jones Bridge Trail on the Chattahoochee River during a fee-free weekend. Jones Bridge to Nowhere What is this thing we call “fee free”? It’s a special time during...
July 25th, 2009 | Trails, Training | Read More