If you haven’t heard of it, here’s everything you need to know about Amazon Prime Day 2023, July 11-12!
What is Amazon Prime Day?
Amazon – the huge online store that sells everything on Earth and delivers it right to your front door – has a humongous sale every year that’s called Prime Day.
The annual Prime Day online shopping event is a major opportunity to nab some major bargains on everything they sell online!
The Prime Day sale is held each year in the Summer to help reduce the cost of back to school items.
But you need to be a Prime Member to get the savings. Click the banner below for your free 30-day Trial:
Products all across the Amazon site are discounted for Prime members already, and new product discounts will be added every day.
This year Prime Day is July 11-12
Everyone needs things for their home, their kids – and of course outdoor gear– and I am a big fan of getting quality items that you need (or even just want) at the best possible price!
This year we’ve had an especially prolonged pine pollen season. It started in February, and was still going strong in early April.
If you’re lucky, it’s just annoying.
Author, out standing in a field – full of bees!
Other people spend weeks this time every year wheezing and sneezing and taking LOTS of allergy meds.
Still another group of people (who never used to wheeze or sneeze in the Spring) find that they suddenly HAVE become allergic to the pervasive yellow dust….or something else, like, say bee stings.
How can that be? What happened?
The truth is that allergies and asthma, including what your triggers are, can change over time and strike without warning.
A busy bee doing it’s thing.
I experienced an unexpected new allergy earlier this year, with frightening and nearly deadly results!
Read on to learn more about my death-defying experience, plus how allergies change, and what you can do about it.
This Week 9 Training Log is a bonus extra week of sharing my daily adventures in sweat!
Why? Because I don’t feel like we’re done yet.
When we last left our training in Week 8, I was trying to work in more vertical-gain training through use of my new Maxi-Climber, treadmill hikes, and more actual uphill hiking.
The uphill hiking close to home is very limited, so I’ll be getting creative with daytrips to uphill trails for the next few weeks – as weather and time allows.
Walking a nearby greenway while my car was in the shop.
So naturally, on Monday I did some yoga and about 5 miles of TOTALLY FLAT urban hiking in my own neighborhood because my car was in the shop again.
Sigh.
But I got redemption Tuesday, when a few of us met at Hanging Rock State Park for nice long steep hike 🙂
Diagram of the hike route at Hanging Rock State Park.
Hanging Rock State Parkis only a couple of hours drive away for me, so very do-able as a day-hike destination.
This was the first out of town State Park trip I took my daughter on, about 20 years ago – when she was just 8 years old – almost at this time of year.
We hiked the Hanging Rock Trail, slowly and with breaks, and her face just lit up when we reached the top.
Hanging Rock SP with Peanut!
She had such a sense of accomplishment and wonder – she was hooked!
From then until the dreaded Middle School years she was my little hiking buddy.
Maybe your kids would like Hanging Rock too 🙂
Besides good memories, Hanging Rock also has some very steep uphills, so it’s a great place to train for my bucket list hiking trip!
View from the top of Hanging Rock.
In fact, I devised this hike route specifically to take advantage of the FULL uphill experience all the way from the park’s Dan River Access up to the tippy-top at Hanging Rock.
So that was fun.
No, seriously, it was fun!
Kiosk at the Dan River parking access.
The hike starts from the river, then crosses the main park road, where it’s joined by the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST).
On the way up there are at least 9 creek crossings (we kept losing count) before eventually reaching Window Falls.
It’s just a hard slog uphill beyond that to the Visitor Center’s parking lot.
Hiking uphill on the Indian Creek Trail.
We took a quick break there, and then found the Hanging Rock trailhead across the lot, and started up again.
The Hanging Rock Trail is paved at the start, and then turns to natural trail heading uphill.
When the trail turns rocky, there are many stone steps to help you go up. It gets very wide, too, made so by the many many visitors that take this trail.
There are wide steps on the Hanging Rock Trail.
There was some significant erosion, too, so when you visit, try to take the steps so you don’t make it worse!
The view from the top is spectacular!
Up top was breathtaking as always, but populated by kids on a fieldtrip who were also enjoying the view.
Squirrely kids near ledges with steep drops made us all nervous, so we didn’t linger very long before starting back down the trail.
The Visitors Center was also very crowded, so we didn’t stop.
Trailhead to Indian Creek at the VC parking lot.
We crossed the parking lot to the Indian Creek trailhead and made our way back down to our starting point at the Dan River Access.
I have to say, going down the trail was a lot easier than going up.
One of the CCC-built picnic shelters at Hanging Rock.
I’m pretty sure I need more vertical training 😉
Wednesday, as you might expect, was a rest day.
Wednesday was a rest day.
Thursday I had scheduled a nice hike along the Eno that includes part of the MST and an old unmarked trail, the Sawmill Trail.
It turned to to be just Holly and I, and we had a great 8.5 mile hike.
Walking on the Old Sawmill ruins on Eno River.
The trail was pretty much deserted except for us – and no traffic noise either, so we could actually hear the river!
Friday was a cold rainy day, so I stuck to indoor training, starting with some longer yoga.
Then I did a quick 15 minutes on my vertical climber – and I do mean quick because I did 4000ft elevation gain!
I followed up with 45 minutes of kickboxing and called it good.
We did a short walk at Falls Lake.
Saturday training started with some yoga, followed up with a 1 hour/3.75mile treadmill hike uphill.
I carried a pack weighted 10lbs and hiked 1800 vertical feet.
Later, I joined That Man and the Puppy at Falls Lake for more uphill hiking, this time outdoors but only 3 miles RT to “our” beach and back.
The wind was high, and the water must have been pretty cold because the puppy didn’t want to swim!
Snow on my deck Sunday morning.
Sunday I had posted a 10 mile hike in Umstead State Park, and a lot of people wanted to join me, but I had to cancel due to forecasted really unpleasant weather.
It was also the day after setting clocks forward for Daylight Saving Time, so probably a good morning to take off anyway…
We lost an hour of our lives overnight!!
I rescheduled the hike for the next weekend, and got some exercise in my home gym with yoga, kickboxing, upper body weights.
So that winds up Week 9.
But, here’s the deal: training never really stops.
Creek crossing on the Indian Creek Trail.
You can focus it more by training for a specific race or hike, or to get in shape for an epic hike or other event.
But that’s not the real goal.
More than tuning up for a single event, we train to be fit enough to enjoy our lives and activities every day.
TAKEAWAY LESSON: We’re really training for life. We all want to be able to do whatever we want to – both ordinary and extraordinary things – for as long as we can. And have fun doing it!
Hiking a greenway in my neighborhood.
I’ll keep posting updates on my continued training for the next couple of months as I get ready for my bucket list hike in Greece.
And I really hope this year’s Awesome training has helped you reach your goals!
Hiking the MST and Indian Creek Trails.
If you’re new around here, but you still want to do the training from the start – you can!
– – Training Week 8 started Monday with some yoga, and I FINALLY had a chance to get back on my new Vertical Climber for a 35 minute session.
Still just lifting my own body weight, but I’ll see how it goes and probably add some pack weight later in the week.
I finally got some time on my vertical climber!
I hiked up about 2000ft, and I did 3lb weights on each wrist to work my arms and back a little bit harder.
This week I needed to “look up” and focus more on vertical gain training, either with actual uphill hikes, or treadmill or vertical climber workouts.
Tuesday was my fun/exploration day because the weather was amazing!
Started with kickboxing in my home gym, then went over to Umstead State Park.
My goal was to take a look at a social trail on the far side of Big Lake that I hadn’t been on for several years.
Hiking a social trail at Umstead State Park.
My time was limited, so I ended up hiking only about 4 miles, but it was good to get out in the unseasonably warm day and see what had happened to the social trail.
Wednesday I led a small but mighty group of hikers on a long hiking route I hadn’t done in a couple of years.
Laurel Bluffs Trailhead at Pleasant Green.
We started from the Pleasant Green trail access on the Eno River and hiked the Laurel Bluffs, Quarry and Pump Station Trail for a 12.5 mile RT hike.
Stopping for a halfway break at the Pump Station ruins.
We also had about 1400ft elevation gain, which I’d forgotten about (ugh!).
But I only had 5lbs extra in my pack, so it wasn’t that bad 🙂
It was a gorgeous hike, and I was also able to take the group on a short detour from the Laurel Bluffs trail to the old Cabe Cemetery site I found a couple of weeks ago.
Headstones in the old Cabe cemetery along the Laurel Bluffs trail.
We stopped for a break along the river at the Pump Station ruins, and then reversed our route back to Pleasant Green.
This hike kicked my butt! So Thursday was mostly a stretching and rest day 🙂
Thursday was mostly a rest day.
Are You Getting Closer to Your Goals?
Subscribe to get the free pdf download of the “8 Weeks to Awesome” training.
It’s Week 8, so it’s time to do a final progress check. (You can click here to sign up and download your FREE “8 Weeks to Awesome” PDF.)
By Week 8:
Your weekly Long Hike should be full goal-hike length, and
Your Strength Building hike should include full goal-weight pounds in your pack.
To Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home Click Here!
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You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:
Your Hike Plan Worksheet
Daily & Weekly Workouts
Weekly Meals tracker
Walking a local greenway.
Friday I had to drop off my car in the morning for some maintenance work, so though the afternoon was nice, I was limited to exercise I could do around home.
So I did some longish yoga, and about 4 miles urban hiking in my neighborhood.
Spring is here in my neighborhood!
Saturday began with kickboxing and upper body weights in my home gym.
Later in the day I met with That Man and the puppy at Falls Lake for some exploratory hiking in the woods.
Hiking the MST towards the intersection with Hwy 98.
We have a short hike that we usually do from the Baptist Rd trailhead to a bench along the lake that’s along the MST.
We wanted to continue from there to the intersection with Hwy 98.
Kiosk at MST Trailhead on Hwy 98
The closest equivalent I could find was MST Hike L, which they say is about 6-7 miles RT.
We thought our route would be slightly shorter because of where we were starting, but…No!
The end point of MST Hike L.
It was actually longer.
We ended up going about 8 miles, which was a very long way for That Man (who is rehabilitating a knee) and the puppy (who has very short legs).
Hiking through the powerline cut towards Hwy 98.
Fortunately the route is mostly soft underfoot with pine needles and leaves, and doesn’t have much elevation gain .
Even so, we barely made it home before sundown and pretty much flaked out for the rest of the evening 🙂
Redbuds blooming on the MST.
Between kickboxing, weights, AND 8 miles of hiking, I think that was just the thing to do!
Hikers on the 1 Mile bridge on the Company Mill Trail.
Sunday I led a big group of hikers on a 9 mile Company Mill and Sycamore loop in Umstead State Park.
The weather was perfect, the pace was good, and everyone had a great time 🙂
Hikers taking a break on the Company Mill Trail.
And so ends Week 8.
Don’t worry if you haven’t reached your goals yet – just because it’s an 8-week program doesn’t mean you have to stop at 8 weeks.
In my case, I still have some training to do in terms of elevation gain.
Maybe you’ve still got some work to do, too?
Fortunately for me, my epic hike event doesn’t happen for about another 8 weeks.
I’ll be hiking Mount Olympus in a couple of months.
So, I’ll just keep training from here – while trying to NOT over-train.
And I’ll bet you thought this was going to be my last Training Log post! Not so fast, Grasshopper 😉
I’ll also keep posting weekly because telling you guys what I’m doing helps keep me motivated- and you know you’re all my accountability buddies.
But I’ll bet some of you are heartily and justifiably sick of these training posts – it’s just too much me, right???
Believe me, I’m getting kind of sick of me, too… 😉
So I also want to get back to writing about great parks and hikes you can try out – we’ve all got that to look forward to!
TAKEAWAY LESSON: For any kind of training – ongoing or towards a goal – it’s a good idea to stop every once in a while to appreciate how far you’ve come. But if you still have a way to go – don’t stop!
Stopping along the Eno for a break.
I hope you’ve found my Training Log ramblings to be helpful in your training process – or at least amusing! 🙂 To see more of them go to my Training Log.
You could also take a look at my Asthma Diet , if you want to see what kind of things I’m eating. It might work for your diet goals, too.
– – Training Week 7 began on Monday with a quick kickboxing and upper body weights session before loading the car and heading for the beach!
Why? Because I needed a change of scene, wanted to spend time with my girls, and had hotel points that were expiring 🙂
On a morning beach hike!
Training shouldn’t be torture, but doing the same thing in the same place over and over again can be just that – so I decided to shake things up for a few days.
Tiny liittle bit of beach view from our lodgings.
I arrived too late at our lodgings to do much but get settled in and cook dinner.
By the time we were finished, it had gotten pretty cold on the beach.
It IS still February!!
So, I had to wait for a beach walk until Tuesday morning.
I did some quick yoga, then went out for an early beach hike before the girls woke up.
Walking North on the beach.
I went North (away from Myrtle Beach) about 3 miles and then turned around, for a total beach walk of ~ 6 miles.
After breakfast, we braved the (horrible) beach traffics to get to Brookgreen, a wonderful sculpture garden, arboretum and Nature conservancy that sits a few miles South of Myrtle Beach proper.
Peacock statues guard the entrance to one of the main paved paths at Brookgreen.
Brookgreen has a couple of very short unpaved “trails” but we stuck to the paved garden paths to see all of the outdoor exhibits.
The girls at Brookgreen Gardens. Aren’t they pretty???
We only walked a couple of leisurely miles before stopping for an outdoor lunch at one of the restaurants on the grounds.
That said, if you were determined to get a workout in, you could certainly plan a much longer route to get a longer hike in during your Brookgreen visit.
Wednesday I let the girls sleep, did some yoga and was out early again – this time for a bit of a longer walk.
It was about 10 miles by the time I was done and perfect weather!
I did learn that one should NOT walk long distance in water shoes – even with a “hiking” sole – because I ended up with a huge blister on the bottom of my big toe 🙁
Another beautiful beach hike!
During my walk I saw an Irish Pub, Molly Darcy’s, right on the beach and thought the girls might like to go there for lunch.
Bonus being we could walk there and wouldn’t have to drive in the terrible traffic…but, no. They didn’t want to walk but we ate there anyway, and it was pretty good. 🙂
Irish Pub on the beach.
There was a bunch of stuff in the air and we couldn’t figure it out – then I realized that Myrtle is a few weeks ahead of us weather-wise, and I checked my car.
Sure enough, my car was covered with yellow dust. It was The Pollening.
Gorgeous sunset at the beach.
That said, it was our last night at the beach, and the sunset was gorgeous. Perhaps partly due to pollen 😉
The next morning, the girls left before sunrise to get home in time for work, and I did a quick beach walk (about 3 miles) to say goodbye before checking out.
My plan was to check out, zip back down to Brookgreen (the ticket is good for 7 days) and get on an early tour of the historical and Nature preserve parts of the garden that you don’t normally see.
The Brookgreen Silent Cities Tour
The tour started from the promenade near the Welcome Center.
There are a few tours offered at Brookgreen that take you to places you don’t get to see with your general admission ticket.
The tours change seasonally – mostly because some of the places are inaccessible during wet weather.
We boarded an open-sided short bus (stop it!) and took off away from the paved garden area.
Our guide narrated local and Brookgreen history and wildlife as we went.
Fox Squirrels inhabit the Nature conservation area o Brookgreen.
Fox Squirrels
I was surprised by a fox squirrel – a creature I’d never seen before – staring at me from a tree limb as we drove along.
It was huge, and seemed a lot more intelligent than a regular squirrel….
Fox squirrels, the largest of all tree squirrels, are the true life ROUS’s.
Described by our guide as a cross between a squirrel, a fox, and a raccoon – because who really know what goes on in those woods at night? – the Fox Squirrel is a relative of the common gray squirrel, but about twice the size.
An adult Fox Squirrel can grow between 20-26 inches in length (tail included) and can weigh up to 2.5 pounds.
Stopping at an English-style walled cemetery.
Aside from Rodents of Unusual Size, this tour focused on the two cemeteries dating back to the 1700’s – one English style, and one slave (Gullah style) cemetery – encompassed by Brookgreen lands.
Alston family tree chart outside the cemetery walls.
Our first stop was at a walled, English-style cemetery from the 1700’s that had been restored by the Huntington’s when they purchased the land.
The original Alston family (previous landowners) were the primary inhabitants.
Alston family descendants also have a right to be buried there, and we did see a headstone from as recently as 2013.
Table and vault-style gravesites.
There were three kinds of graves in this cemetery: the kind of headstones we see mostly these days, “table” memorials, and raised vaults.
Our second stop was a slave cemetery, unwalled, and we followed a short natural trail through the woods to where some of the graves had been uncovered.
Some of the visible headstones from the slave cemetery.
Some of the earliest graves were unmarked save for a metal plaque or just a sack of tabby (old time cement made with oyster shells) without a name – and some with the words “Go Back” inscribed.
According to Gullah tradition , once buried, deceased loved ones would “go back” to where they were originally taken in Africa.
A handmade headstone.
The mourners would never again return to the grave after the initial burial.
And since there would be no spirit there to visit, there was no need for a long-lasting memorial.
That said, there were some hand-made headstones there, and some more modern memorials where descendants of these slaves also had a right to be buried.
No longer following Gullah tradition, these headstones are like you would see in any modern cemetery.
Along the way back, we stopped by the Waccamaw River, across from Sandy Island, home to one of the last existing Gullah communities.
Sandy Island can be access from the Intracoastal Waterway and the Waccamaw River.
Brookgreen is hoping to work out a deal with the community there to allow tours to visit from Brookgreen, but they haven’t worked it out yet.
We returned the way we came – but faster! – back to the Welcome Center.
Informational plaques outside the English cemetery.
I had hoped to get done with the tour and then go across the street to Huntington Beach for a quick hike before heading home.
I had a quick pack lunch outside Atalaya Castle.
But the tour took 2 hours, so I had to settle for a quick pack lunch outside Atalaya Castle before hitting the highway. (You can take tours of the castle, which I’ve done in years’ past, but didn’t do this time.)
So, I guess Thursday was basically my “rest” day.
The Mill at West Point on the Eno.
Friday morning I led a great group of hikers on one of my favorites routes – 9.3 miles on the MST on the Eno river, from the Pump Station trail all the way to West Point on the Eno park and back.
It was a beautiful day, and a great group!
I was ready for a good long hike after a light exercise day and long hours driving Thursday.
View of the Eno River from the rocks along the Eagle/MST Trail.
Saturday was a kickboxing and upper body weights day in my home gym – partly because the weather took a big dip to the colder side, and rain was predicted for most of the day.
It felt good to use my “El Supremo Butt-kicker” muscles again after a few days away.
Workout tools in my home gym.
Sunday morning it was back to a little bit warmer after Saturday’s cold rain, so I had a big group signed up to hike part of the the Company Mill trail in Umstead State Park and some of the MUT.
It was a pretty short hike, but I added 15 lbs to my pack to make it a strength-training hike.
My beach walks were all flat with no added weight.
The extra weight was especially needed because all of my beach hikes earlier in the week were flat, with no added weight!
What a great hike, with a good group of hikers – many newcomers, so that was wonderful to see, too 🙂
So that’s it for Week 7! You did it!
It’s time to take a look at your goals and see what progress you’ve made.
Just think about what you’ve done!
Everyone should be improved somehow from where you started – even if it’s only that you’ve stuck with an exercise plan this long!
Think back to how hard it was to make yourself do SOMETHING every day.
How scary was it at the beginning to take your first longer hike – especially if you were hiking on your own for the first time? But you did it!!
Week 8 is coming up – the last week of the Awesome training!!
You’ve come this far – it should be a piece of cake! Well, okay, maybe no cake.
Just focus, focus focus….. and some longer hikes 🙂
I was told there would be cake!
TAKEAWAY LESSON: Training towards a goal is a planned process, but you should be able to respond to changes in weather or location without giving up your training entirely.
Just keep going – but safely, of course.
If you’re new around here, but you still want to do the training from the start – you can!
If you’re like me, you’re getting tired of this training routine and are ready to move on to something else – hopefully something, you know, easier…
But don’t do it! Keep going, just for a couple of weeks longer.
Just a couple of weeks more – you can do it!
And with that encouragement… on to my Week 6 Training report!
Monday was a beautiful day, so I joined Lenore and a good group of hikers for what I thought was going to be a pretty flat 7-ish mile hike in Umstead State Park on the Multi-Use trails.
Gathering at the trailhead for a sunny Monday hike.
With that in mind, I loaded my pack with 15lbs extra to make it a strength-training day.
But in a mid-hike surprise twist, Lenore handed the reins over to Michael.
We ended up tromping through a less-traveled section of the woods, fording streams and climbing mud banks before we were through!
It turned out to be an 8.25 mile hike in all.
It was so much fun, I hardly noticed the extra weight in my pack 🙂
Tuesday was a kickboxing and upper body weights day in my home gym – despite the wonderful sunny Spring-like weather outside.
A beautiful sunny Winter’s day in Bond Park.
This is because Tuesday was also “refrigerator day” and I was trapped there until my new fridge was delivered and the old one removed.
Colleen, the prettiest puppy!
But it was also Valentine’s Day and That Man and the puppy came to my rescue, just moments after the fridge business was over.
We had just enough daylight left to have a picnic and take a nice 3 mile walk in Bond Park!
Wednesday was supposed to be my “rest” day, but it was another nice NOT rainy day and I couldn’t stand it!
A sunny afternoon in Bond Park.
So after some yoga, I loaded 15lbs extra weight (and a snack lunch) into my pack, and set off to explore a bushwack at Eno River State Park.
A “bushwack” is when there’s no official trail blazed from one point to the other, so you’re just using landmarks or info from other hikers to find your way.
This particular bushwack was an out-and-back from the Cole Mill Road trail access to the Pleasant Green Road trail access in Eno River State Park – about 6 miles in all.
Map of the Cole Mill to Pleasant Green bushwack
Aside from looking for a passable hiking route between the two access points, I was also hoping the find the old Cabe Ford in the river, and the old slave cemetery back in the woods behind the powerline cut.
Cole Mill to Pleasant Green Road Bushwack
I was fortunate to have some guidance from the Eno.com website to get me started on finding a route.
Starting from the Cole Mill Road Loop Parking area, I took the Eno Trace Trail, staying close to the river until it turned uphill to the left.
I went straight ahead, following the river.
At that point, I left the established trail and followed the river bank downriver.
There was still a trail to follow, but it was un-blazed.
Follow the power line cut until it goes away from the river.
I followed the trail south under the powerlines until it turned left away from the river.
I had to cross a small creek – fortunately someone had placed stepping stones to make it easier.
Creek crossing.
After a while I came to the remnants of the old Cabe Ford in the river.
Remnants of the Cabe Ford.
I knew from the map that the the historic cemetery for the slaves of the Cabe family was nearby – supposedly just a a few hundred yards away from the river.
I poked around, but I didn’t see anything, so continued to follow the river.
I noticed some pink ribbons.
After a bit, the trail turned back into the forest, and the way became less obvious and not so well-used.
Then I noticed the pink ribbons tied at intervals to the trees….
At first, I thought it was just some random surveyor’s marks, and I thought they’d stop after a couple of ribbons. But they kept going!
Pink and green ribbons were tied to the trees.
And not only did they keep going, but now there were both pink AND green ribbons tied to the trees.
I’d had my suspicions before, but now I knew for certain – it was Bushwack Fairies! 🙂
And thank goodness for the Bushwack Fairies, because the way became more and more obscure – especially hidden under fallen leaves – so I just followed the ribbons.
I just kept following the ribbons.
After a while, I had to cross a small creek, but couldn’t find a good place, so I followed it up on one side and came to another larger creek, with some little waterfalls.
This would be a good spot to take a break and have a snack on a sunny day.
I found a large creek with a series of little waterfalls upstream.
This was a pretty large creek with a series of waterfalls upstream adding to the water flow.
I crossed the creek on the rocks and kept going, staying on the high ridge and following the pink and green ribbons when I could see them.
I passed a house with a pond just outside the State Park lines, then emerged from the woods to the powerline cut again.
The route goes through the powerline cut again.
The trail goes back into the woods and follows the river.
Along the way, I saw some unexpected waterfalls on the other side!
Eventually, you end up going through some scrub brush along the river to a point where you approach some old farm buildings.
The trail goes through a tunnel of laurels.
Emerging from the bushes you can see the Pleasant Green Road Parking area on the other side of the river.
The Pleasant Green Road parking area can be seen across the river.
About a quarter mile further down, the trail ends at the bridge on Pleasant Green road. This is where you would cross the river to actually get to the Pleasant Green Road parking.
But since the bridge and road were under construction, and there were a lot of cars backed up, I decided that seeing it from across the river was good enough!
I went back down the trail the way I came, with no surprises.
But when I got back to the woods near the powercut, I decided to try again to find the Cabe slave cemetery.
Remnants of stone walls may mark the location of the cemetery.
I found remnants of stone walls in the cemetery location shown on the map.
I don’t know for sure that these were part of the cemetery, but there were no other ruins that I could see nearby.
Old cabin across the river from the Eno Trace Trail.
I retraced my steps back to the parking lot at Cole Mill, then got in the traffic line behind the flag guys on the Pleasant Green bridge 😉
Thursday started with a balmy 9.3 mile hike on the MST at Falls Lake with a great group of hikers!
Cypress tress in the water near Little Lick Creek bridge on the MST.
This hike is one of my favorite sections of the MST, because it’s long enough to know you’ve had a hike, and has some interesting features along the way – including the friendly horses in trail- adjacent corrals.
Feeding an apple to the friendly horses on Thursday’s hike.
Sometimes they ignore me, but this time I was worried I didn’t have enough apple to go around! I’ll bring more next time 🙂
I took my first spin on my new vertical climber!
Friday I finally did take a rest day, and just did some yoga…but I also put together my new Vertical Climber machine and tried it out for about 30 minutes.
The climber folds up and stands in a corner when not in use.
I got the machine because I really need to get more training in really steep vertical gain hikes.
The hike I’m training for has several miles of almost straight vertical climbing up rock faces – almost as steep as cliff climbing.
Saturday was a rainy day, so I did a treadmill climb in my home gym with 10lbs on my back.
I did 2 miles in 35 mins with 1000ft vert gain, then another 2 miles in 30 mins with 700ft elev loss.
We had a great hike on Sunday!
Sunday I led a great group of hikers in what ended up around 9 miles at Umstead State Park.
It was a long hike but a fast one, with an average pace of 3.7 mph.
Next up: Week 7!! Let’s make it a good one 🙂
TAKEAWAY LESSON: Don’t give up if you’re getting bored or worn out in the middle of the program – change it up, make it fun, or take a rest day – but keep on going!
We’re winding down with this year’s 8-week hike training, but you can get started and do it on your own whenever you want!
– – Training Week 5 started with another nice day, but I decided to give my hiking boots a break and do kickboxing and upper body weights in my home gym.
Trailhead at Rock Nut Hollow near Duke Forest.
Tuesday temps were going to be well above freezing and the sun came out again just in time for a short 5 mile hike at Rock Nut Hollow near Duke Forest.
Lenore led the hike with a great group of hikers!
View from the rock scramble.
It’s a scenic and fun route along the creek with a very steep (but mercifully short) hike up a “mountain” with a nice rock scramble on the return route.
I hiked with 10 lbs of extra weight in my pack, and we went at a moderate pace.
Kiosk on the Black Creek Greenway at Lake Crabtree.
Wednesday, still trying to avoid mud, I scheduled a hike at Lake Crabtree where half of the trail is on paved greenway.
The sun came out and it was a beautiful hike!
The natural trails were closed due to mud, but we went far enough to see the eagle’s nest at the pond across Aviation Parkway before turning back.
Some parts of the Black Creek Greenway are still closed due to construction.
In spite of ongoing construction on the Black Creek Greenway, Silvia and I were able to get some time on natural sections of the blue-blazed Lake Trail on the way back, and finished at about 6-6.5 miles.
I carried 15 extra lbs on this hike, and I could really feel it in my legs afterwards!
In case you’re feeling proud of yourself (and you should!), I designed some Awesome T-Shirts to commemorate your training:
Thursday this week was the last day forecast to NOT have rain, so I took advantage to do some exploratory hiking at Eno River State Park.
View of the Eno River from the Cabelands Trail.
It was my “rest day” for the week, so I just did some yoga stretches before heading out, and the hike itself was only a few miles and not very fast.
Exploratory hiking is never a sure thing – it’s more about the discovery than the miles!
This time I started from the Cabelands trailhead on the Eno River.
Who were the Cabes?
The area is called “Cabe Lands” because Barnaby Cabe and his family were settled there in the years prior to the American Revolution.
After America won her independance, the Cabes were patriots and loyal citizens, even representing Orange County in Congress and serving in the militia.
Remains of the Cabe Mill on the Eno River.
John Cabe built a grist mill on the Eno and owned many acres in the “Cabelands” area.
He eventually had 9 daughters (with three wives) and many of his daughters married other mill owners along the Eno River.
Portrait of the owners of Cole Mill, Anothy(sic) Cole and Susan Browning Cole. ca. 1875.
One of the daughters, Rachel, married John McCown and together they built what was to become known as Cole Mill – which is another major trailhead access further downriver in Eno River State Park.
In the hard times after the defeat of Culloden in 1746, family groups – even whole villages – left Scotland for America.
The shipping lists of 1776 show the McColes landing at Wilmington, NC – but we have no evidence that these early Coles ever made their way this far inland, though many other families did.
The Eno River from the Cabelands Trail.
Levi Cole, an older brother of Anthony Cole, said to have travelled from the English town of Leeds, appears to have been the earliest Cole in the Eno Valley.
After her first husband died, Rachel married Colonel Sims and together they owned and operated West Point Mill at Roxboro Road.
This mill is still in operation for demonstration purposes, and is the centerpiece for the West Point on the Eno park.
Grave markers of Elizabeth Arnold McCowan and John Cabe McCowen in the Cabe Cemetery.
In my explorations, I was looking specifically for an old cabin from the 1770’s and also the Cabe Cemetery.
But also in the area are the remnants of the Cabe Mill.
Following the Cabelands Trail from the official trailhead, blazed in red, the map shows a left-hand trail-split, marked by two red blazes.
I followed the red blazes for the Cabelands Trail.
The Cabelands Trail continues downhill to the Eno River – and this is the way I went.
Turning downriver, I followed the trail until just before the two wooden footbridges.
Off to the right through the trees, I could see the well-preserved stone foundations for the old mill.
Two footbridges beside the river cross the old mill race from the Cabe Mill.
I tromped around a bit, but couldn’t find a passable way to the mill ruins, so I continued on along the Cabelands trail beside the river.
Back on the trail, I followed the trail up toward the bluffs, now looking for the old cabin and the cemetery.
As I followed the marked trail uphill, and noticed a long flat area of land overlooking the lowlands below.
Daffodils cover the hillside where the old homestead used to be.
It turns out this was the site of the old John Cabe homestead, but nothing remains of the cabin.
Instead, only a field of daffodils appear in the Spring to mark the spot where Cabe’s daughters grew up playing in the yard.
I (reluctantly) left the daffodil-covered hillside and went in search of the Cabe Cemetery.
The daffodils are everywhere!
I was just about to give up, when I saw what looked like an unmarked trail to the right of the “official” path.
I followed that path straight to an area dotted with old headstones, some illegible and in disrepair, but some easy to read even after all of the years in the forest.
Marker in the Cabe Cemetery.
Friday I led an 8-mile hike that combined the Company Mill and part of the Sycamore Trail in Umstead State Park.
MUT intersection with the Company Mill Trail.
I only carried 5 lbs extra on this hike, and went for speed – rain was forecast to start again at noon, and some of us had meetings to get to as well.
We ended up going about 4 mph!
Saturday the weather was pretty good all day, but I was waiting for some contractors at my house (which is another story!) so I had to settle for kickboxing and weights in my home gym.
Sunday I had posted an 8-10 mile hike, but it was forecast for 95% chance of cold rain (about 40 degrees) and 15-20mph gusting winds for the whole hike.
That really didn’t sound like much fun.
So I rescheduled the hike for next week, and spent a good long time hiking uphill indoors on my treadmill wearing 10lbs extra in a pack.
I hiked 3 miles with 1500ft elev gain in 45 mins, then another 2 miles in 35 mins descending 2162 ft. I’ll be ready for Mt Olympus in no time! 🙂
Next week, the weather forecast is much more normal.
Whatever that means around here…. But, no matter what, we know that:
Are you ready????
TAKEAWAY LESSON: The weather can have a big impact on your workout plans! Have a bad weather workout plan, check trail conditions before you head out, and don’t be afraid to wait for better conditions!
I hope you’ve found my Training Log ramblings to be helpful- or at least amusing! 🙂 To see more of them go to my Training Log.
That means that at the end of the week we’ll have been doing this stuff on purpose for a whole month. Woot! 🙂
I started on Monday with some yoga, and then joined Lenore and some other hikers in a moderate-paced 6.5 mile hike on Umstead State Park’s Company Mill Trail in the afternoon.
Trail crossing sign at the Company Mill Trail.
I carried 10 lbs extra in my pack to make it a bit more strength building for me.
It was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon, and we took full advantage of it before the rainy colder weather set in for the week.
Tuesday, I did an 8 mile hike, again in Umstead State Park, on a route designed to not be too muddy in the rain – this time on my own.
Kiosk and maps at a trail head in Umstead State Park.
I took advantage of being solo to hike at my own fastest pace and try a little bit of a different route than usual.
Wednesday was another cold rainy – and muddy! – day, so it was kickboxing and upper body weights day in my home gym.
Thursday was raining again, ALL DAY, so I went with the “rainy day” vibe and did a long yoga flow and uphill fast training hike on the treadmill in my home gym.
But be aware that paved surfaces have a different effect on your body than softer dirt trails.
Trail marker in Bond Park
“Concrete is the worst surface you can run on,” according to Joseph Herrera, DO, assistant professor of rehabilitation at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
“In general, the softer the surface, the more joint-friendly it is,” says Dr. Herrera.
Uneven dirt or gravel trails also give you more balance exercise and work more of your core muscles naturally during your walk or run, so it’s a better workout.
Harder walking surfaces can be very hard on your knees, hips, and ankles. Be sure to choose the right footwear and stretch when you get home!
Blooming tree beside the House Creek Trail in Raleigh
Friday, I had posted a greenway hike at the North Carolina Museum of Art Park, and a bunch of great hikers joined me!
Hikers braving the pavement at NCMA!
I prefer hiking natural trails, but I was in “mud avoidance” mode.
It was nice to go see what was happening at the NCMA Park, anyway.
They’ve always got something new going on.
We hiked the Park trails, crossed the I-440 pedestrian bridge, and then took a left on the House Creek Trail (also a paved greenway) for something a little bit different.
I’m not a fan of hiking more than a couple of miles on pavement, but when you get so much rain, it’s better for you (AND for the natural forest trails!) to stay away until they’ve had a little time to dry out.
Total distance was about 7.5-8 miles, and I had an extra 10 lbs in my pack.
Construction continues across the road from Schenk Forest.
I stopped by nearby Schenk Forest afterwards to see how the construction was progressing.
Good news! They’ve closed off the pasture again near the main forest road, so the horses are back 🙂
Saturday was another kickboxing and upper weights day for me.
And after that there was a short cold walk in the woods followed by some jamming with musical friends, homemade guac and chips, and beer!
What? I earned it 🙂 Read about how I Hike for Beer. You could do it too!
Coming off of the Company Mill trail onto the MUT on Sunday.
Sunday morning, it was back to the woods!
Though half of the route was on the MUT trails inside the park to avoid most of the muddiness, it was still nice to get back to my favorite forest at Umstead State Park.
I spent a lot of time in Umstead this week – partly due to muddy conditions.
I’ll try to mix it up more next week.
A 6.5 mile hike Sunday morning with 10 extra lbs in my pack and a great groups of hiker friends was not a bad start to the day…
NEW: Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home!
Track your progress towards your fitness goals!
You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:
TAKEAWAY LESSON: Halfway there is also only halfway done – so don’t get stuck – keep going! But also take the time to reward yourself for hard work and celebrate your personal wins at any point in your fitness journey 🙂
I hope you’ve found my Training Log ramblings to be helpful- or at least amusing! 🙂 To see more of them go to my Training Log.
– – Awesome Training Week 3 got off to a great start with some yoga and kickboxing on Monday in my home gym.
Hiking in Umstead on Monday.
Tuesday I led a 9ish mile hike in the morning at Umstead State Park , combining the Company Mill and Sycamore trails.
It was a cold sunny day, but sadly there was bad traffic so only half of my group made it to the hike!
We still had fun though, going at a good clip, and stopping to look at the carved tree art on the multi-use trail in the middle of the hike.
Then Jody showed me an alternative route for part of the return trip to the trailhead, so I learned something new, too 🙂
Wednesday I was kind of a slug. Seriously. But in my defense, I was really very busy panicking.
Detail of the carved tree art in Umstead State Park.
Why? Well, remember when we started this training, I hadn’t decided on my goal hike yet?
Usual “whys” for fitness goals can include feeling and looking better for life in general, or getting ready for a specific event – in my case, an ambitious epic hike!
I’ve been dithering about pulling the trigger on some international travel this year.
Hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in New Zealand just before the pandemic.
Hiking the Pyrenees in Spain a year before the pandemic.
Because it’s so expensive to fly now, I also decided to combine 2 of their week-long hike itineraries for the longest trip that I’ve taken in many years.
Aaaaand my “why” is… hiking Mount Olympus! In Greece!!!
Hiking Mt.Olympus From Refuge A to Skala Peak
The itinerary has us hiking from Prionia up along the E4 to a mountain refuge (6890ft) on the FIRST DAY, and spending the night.
The next day, we’ll hike from there to 2 summits -Skala (9455ft) and Skolio (9550ft) – and then ALL THE WAY back down the E4 from there to Prionia. (See AllTrails description of the summits route.)
Olympus Mountain Refuge A to Skala
Seriously, my knees hurt just thinking about it.
So, immediately after committing and sending the down-payment, I began to worry I’d taken on too much.
So, Wednesday was spent kind of freaking out.
Why? Because the Mount Olympus hikes are just the beginning.
I also want to be in good enough shape afterwards to do the rest of the trip (and enjoy it)!
But then, I took some time and translated the original hike descriptions from km=miles and meters=feet so I could relate better.
I get to hike to the monasteries in Meteora! How cool is that?
Here’s the rest of the trip’s hike itinerary AFTER the Mt Olympus hikes and summits in the first two days (translated to miles and feet):
Mt Olympus (Day 1-2)
Miles
Elev gain/loss
Est hike time
Day 3: Meteora
5 miles
2548ft
3 hours
Day 4: Zagori Mountain
9.3 miles
1765ft
6 hours
Day 5: Vikos Gorge
7.5 miles
984 ft
6-7 hours
Day 6: Travel to Corfu/rest
Miles
Day 7: Stavros-Pelekas
10.6 miles
2133ft
6 hours
Day 8: Giannades-Lakones
8.7 miles
1800ft
5 hours
Day 9: FREE DAY!!! Opa!
Day 10: Angelokastro-Afionas
10 miles
1312ft
5.5 hours
Day 11: Spartilas-NE Coast
9.3 miles
1968ft
6.5 hours
I stopped hyperventilating long enough to compare these hikes to some I’ve done pretty recently closer to home.
View from the trail in the New River Gorge last Summer.
It was then I realized that the projected “miles per hour” on the trip is MUCH slower than I ever go, even on the steepest or longest local hikes.
With that in mind, the freakout dissipated a bit.
I hiked the Triple Crown in Virginia a couple of years ago! It’s a group of three hikes – Dragon’s Tooth, McAfee Knob, and Tinker Cliffs – that can be done individually or all together as a 40-ish mile backpacking trip.
Nothing much needs to change with my training except to increase the degree of elevation gain.
So if I do that and also practice rock some scrambling before the trip, I should be fine.
I could even revisit some of my vertically tougher local hikes, too, like summiting Old Ragin Shenandoah, or head back to the Smoky Mountains for a few days.
Resting at the summit of Mary’s Rock in Shenandoah National Park.
And maybe add some time on the “mountain climber” machine at the gym because it LITERALLY simulates what I’m going to be doing.
I feel much better now 🙂
Hiking MST Hike N at Falls Lake.
Thursday started with a 9ish mile Saturday morning hike hosted by my friend Heidi on theMountains to Sea Trail, at Falls Lake.
Specifically Hike N, which starts at the Cheek Rd MST Trailhead and goes to the Little Lick Creek Bridge.
Trees in the lake at the mid-point of the MST section hike from Baptist Rd trailhead, in Summer.
It was interesting to come at this hike from a different angle, a beautiful sunny day, and a great group!
Heidi led this MST hike at Falls Lake.
I only had a little bit of extra weight in my pack, so the 9ish mile hike was good exercise, but didn’t exhaust me too much!
Good thing, because I had a full day after that with That Man and Colleen (the prettiest puppy), hacking around outdoors and having a pretty great music rehearsal 🙂
Cyprus at Little Lick Creek bridge in winter.
The next day, Friday, I had scheduled a favorite 7-ish mile hike at Umstead State Park, this time on the Loblolly Trail going into Schenk Forest and the Reedy Creek Greenway.
This was to be my main “strength-building” hike for the week, so I had 10 extra lbs in my pack.
It was a great group of hikers and a beautiful day!
Kickboxing in my home gym with my little bro!
Saturday was kickboxing and weights in my home gym before meeting That Man for a frozen (but sunny) test drive on the lake in a pontoon boat.
We bundled up for a sunny chilly day on the water.
I know, in January, really??? But why not? We bundled up 🙂
The next day Sunday, I led a great group hiking on the Eno river, starting from the Pump trail, crossing the river at the Guess Road bridge and continuing along the Sawmill Trail.
This was the trail I scouted last week and it was my first time taking a group on that trail. Everyone seemed to like it!
View of the old sawmill dam from the MST.
We did a out-and-back hike of about 8 miles total.
Next week’s weather forecast is for a LOT of rain.
But don’t panic!
We’ll find a way to get some exercise and time on the trail anyway, and I guarantee we’ll feel better about everything when it’s done.
NEW: Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home!
Track your progress towards your fitness goals!
You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:
A download link in your confirmation email let’s you get started right away. Happy training! LJ
Meanwhile, I’ve got to find out if my gym still has a Mountain-Climber machine….
One of the creek crossings on the Sawmill Trail.
TAKEAWAY LESSON: Don’t freak out if your goal seems unattainable, or the weather is against you! Break your problem down into small do-able chunks until you can see the best way to tackle it. And keep moving forward 🙂
I hope you’ve found my Training Log ramblings to be helpful- or at least amusing! 🙂 To see more of them go to my Training Log.
– – I began the second week of training on Monday – which happened to be Martin Luther King Jr day – leading a great small group of hikers on another 7.5 mile hike on the Loblolly trail into Schenk Forest.
I added another 5 lbs extra pack weight (to make 10 lbs total extra) to make it a “strength training” hike for me.
Service project on MLK Jr Day at Umstead State Park
A lot of people get MLK Jr day as a work holiday, while others choose to use it as a day to get outdoors.
Others do a service project in honor of King’s ideas.
The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr Day is a US federal holiday honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983.
King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his work, and at the time was the youngest person to have done so.
He was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39 in Memphis, Tennessee. Sunday would have been King’s 95th birthday.
“Judge people not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
King preached against racial prejudice and political injustice, a warning politicians and political extremists should still heed today, more than ever.
Other people combined day of service with getting outdoors, as we saw at Umstead State Park on Monday.
Hikers gather before hitting the trail.
Hiking to get in shape is great when you have a day off or on the weekends, but you may be frustrated when you have very limited free time.
It’s true, hiking can be very time-consuming, especially if you:
Take longer hikes or
Go at a slower pace, or have to
Drive any distance to get to a trail.
If you’re constrained by office hours and caring for children, it can seem almost impossible to have time for any kind of fitness training! Believe me, I get it.
A view of Jordan Lake from the trail on the Wednesday hike.
Even if you can just sneak in 1 shorter hike and 1 longer hike per week, your hiking will still improve!
Tuesday was a kickboxing and weights day.
Wednesday was a great, beautiful, fun day!
It began with a 6-mile hike at Jordan Lake recreation area, on a trail I hadn’t seen for a while because it’s a longer drive from home for a regular workout hike.
Stopping at the overlook.
But it was worth it to get together with some other hikers, led by my friends Heidi and Jody.
Anyway, this time I hiked it with 10 extra lbs in my pack again. Yay 🙂
Sign in front of the farm.
Because it’s a longer drive, I decided to add another event on after the hike as long as I was down that way, and make a visit to the Carolina Sunshine Alpaca Farm.
(Carolina Sunshine took over the location after M&M Alpacaclosed.)
Heidi joined me for the visit, and it was a lot of fun.
They all ran over to take a look at us.
There aren’t so many animals in the herd right now – though they’re expecting more than 10 babies this summer! – but the alpaca that are on the farm all have a lot of character 🙂
This alpaca boy looks a little bit angry to me…
For sure I’ll go back again after all of the babies arrive!
Thursday was another beautiful day, so I did some yoga, then took the weights out of my pack and set out to look for an old unmarked trail on the Eno River.
The dam at the West Point on the Eno park.
I started at the West Point on the Eno Park, and hiked a known trail along the river for a while, then set off to explore!
I found a trail that looked used, though it wasn’t marked.
The Old Sawmill Trail goes right along the river.
It traveled along the river, and was supposed to only be about a mile long, but kept going.
Time finally made me turn around, but I’ll hike that trail again for sure, and maybe take it all the way to the end!
Friday I led a favorite 9ish mile hike out at Falls Lake on the white-blazed Mountains to Sea Trail, which will lead you all the way to Falls Lake Dam if you take it that far.
Colleen, the prettiest puppy!
Later I did another 3-ish miles on the MST in the other direction with That Man and the puppy.
So Saturday was a rest day. 🙂
Sunday had been forecast to rain all day, and lately I’ve started to hate indoor workouts, so I decided to have some fun with it!
Another view of the Sawmill Trail.
I posted a 6-mile Rain Hike on the dirt and gravel multi-use trails in Umstead State Park.
The idea was that we would hike in the rain on purpose and test out our rain gear. (I put the extra 10 lbs back into my pack for this hike.)
Well, we did it, and it was fun – and most of us only got wet on the outside!
So……drumroll please… 39+ miles of hiking this week! Not a bad Week 2, though I kind of slacked off with the kickboxing.
Every day is a new opportunity – keep it going!
But I’m still good with the New Year goals, and (so far) I’m still doing better than the 11% who quit before the end of the first month.
Tell you what, though, the motivation really flags sometimes – strangely enough it’s worse when I have a lot of time.
Like if there’s no urgency, I have the leisure to procrastinate until there’s no time left. Not good.
Buddha Quote: “The trouble is, you think you have time.”
I think if you’re having trouble doing the exercise you’re “supposed to” be doing, you need to forget about that, and seize any opportunity to work out that seems more fun – so you’ll actually do it.
Whatever gets you moving is your best workout option!
TAKEAWAY LESSON: The right workout is one that you not only have the opportunity to do, but actually want to do. So be ready to seize the day and try make your workouts fun!
NEW: Track Your “Awesome” Progress at Home!
Track your progress towards your fitness goals!
You’ll get instructions and three printable trackers:
![[42+] Patience Grasshopper](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-na.ssl-images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2FA16aOZsqa6L._SL1500_.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=27d1f4e4f450dca640d2dbd925545ca88638125e3d5cd2b77ab44cc7f01bd3a9&ipo=images)
But in a mid-hike surprise twist, Lenore handed the reins over to Michael.
