I’ve been visiting Stone Mountain State Park in North Carolina for almost 20 years, either with kid in tow, with That Man, or on my own.
My most recent visit was just a few weeks ago – and the mountain was still just as beautiful as I remembered 🙂
Located on more than 14,100 acres in Wilkes and Alleghany counties in North Carolina, Stone Mountain State Park offers cascading waterfalls, cool mountain streams, and quiet forests to explore.
And of course, the massive 600-foot granite dome of Stone Mountain itself.
There are more than 18 miles of hiking and riding trails, and 20 miles of designated trout waters available in the park.
Can you imagine living in the shadow of the dome on Stone Mountain ?
You can also go rock climbing (with a permit) on the towering granite face of the landmark mountain.
Climbers on the dome look down over the Hutchinson Homestead, a restored mid-19th century mountain farm that rests in it’s shadow.
Read on to learn about the park and area history, hiking trails, and great views just waiting for you to visit!
I went back to Shenandoah again this Spring, to hike the Rose River Loop, the Cedar Run Circuit and maybe add some more to my list.
It wouldn’t be hard to do, since Shenandoah National Park offers some of the best hiking in Virginia!
I took a break from hiking to explore the Barboursvillle ruins.
I had spent a great week there a couple of years ago, but the trip was over before I had a chance to complete my list of “must do” hikes – including the Rose River Loop.
And of course the iconic Old Rag hike.
So I had to go back and try again!
Where is Shenandoah National Park?
Shenandoah National Park is only 115 miles from Washington, D.C., 95 miles from Richmond VA, and 250 miles from Raleigh NC.
That’s close enough for a great long weekend or longer family vacation, without the expense of air travel!
My previous Shenandoah visit was for a whole week. This trip was a quick visit of only 3 nights – which was still enough time to get in a couple of great hikes and see some local sights 🙂
Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, is a Japanese form of healing therapy that started to gain popularity back in the 80’s.
No rubber duckies required!
In case you’ve never heard of forest bathing, rest assured you’re not going to need a towel or your rubber duckie.
You also won’t be required to wander the forest in your birthday suit 😉
At it’s simplest level, forest bathing could be described as taking a leisurely walk through the forest for physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits.
Shinrin-yoku in Japanese means “taking in the forest atmosphere”.
Forest bathing is best done where there are a lot of trees.
Research has long shown “green exercise” to have a positive impact on our overall health, and the practice of forest bathing grew out of that recognition.
Promoted by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, the practice has become a mainstay of preventive health care in Japanese culture.
Today, many spas, resorts, and retreat centers across the world offer guided forest bathing experiences as part of their services.
That said, you don’t necessarily need a guide to take a forest bath yourself or with a friend.
All you need is a park or forest, a pair of good outdoor walking shoes, and some simple instructions.
For years, I’ve been driving from my home near Raleigh, NC past the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) in Tennessee for work, but never had a chance to stop and explore.
It was very frustrating… 🙁
The Pulpit rock cairn marks the end of the Bullhead Trail.
But finally, this past summer, I was able to spend a few days hiking in the GSMNP.
It was everything I hoped it would be!
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) was the most visited national park in 2019, with over 12.5 million visitors.
That’s nearly twice as many tourists as the Grand Canyon had that same year!
The Park covers 522,419 acres in North Carolina and Tennessee, making it one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States.
It also straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain.
And as if that’s not enough to warrant a visit, the Appalachian Trail also passes through the center of the park on its route from Georgia to Maine.
Hiking on the Appalachian Trail.
Read on to learn about the park layout, history and the amazing trails that I hiked during my visit… and how you could hike them, too!
We would go on our own, or with another single Mom friend who also had young kids, and make a day of it.
The kids loved the access to the Cape Fear River at the Fish Traps rapids, and scrambling on tree roots and rocks on the trail to the massive Raven Rock.
The trails were short enough that we hardly ever had to carry them back to the trailhead – a big plus, since neither of us were all that much bigger than the kids 🙂
I haven’t had much reason lately to make the 50-minute drive to Raven Rock, since my daughter (though still pretty short) has been out of grade school for much longer than a decade now – and I usually like longer trails.
Trailhead sign at the Raven Rock loop.
I’d also lost touch with my friend, and though we’d comment on social media now and then, hadn’t really talked for at least ten years – no reason, just the kids got older and we had drifted apart.
Then, when I went to wish her a happy birthday, I found that she’d recently passed away.
So I decided to take a trip down to Raven Rock, walk the trails, and remember my friend.
Some things had changed, but the park is still a good place to go for a walk – with your kids or on your own. 🙂
As soon as I heard about the Triple Crown hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I knew I had to do it!
View of the Dragon’s Tooth at the hike summit.
It’s an epic hike within easy driving distance from my home in North Carolina, do-able as a solo hiker – with reasonable precautions – even in the heat of summer.
Most importantly the summer of 2020, the Triple Crown trails and trailhead parking were just re-opened for use.
Effective June 13: The National Park Service has reopened the Appalachian National Scenic Trail in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, including the Triple Crown section of Dragon’s Tooth, McAfee Knob, and Tinker Cliffs.
The Triple Crown hike is actually a group of three hikes – Dragon’s Tooth, McAfee Knob, and Tinker Cliffs – that can be done individually or tackled as an overnight backpacking hike all together.
The Triple Crown trail loop is 35 miles of the best hiking in the Roanoke Valley and arguably some of the best overlooks in the entire state of Virginia.
It’s time to get back in shape after…..whatever happened to make you feel less than your optimal buff self.
Maybe you’ve just been really busy, or worn out from your Summer and Fall adventures, or – like me – you’ve been laid low by allergies or seasonal cold and flu?
Or maybe some of you – also like me – can’t remember how to dress yourself to go anywhere if it’s not 100 degrees and 99% humidity outside?
Author ready for a hike
Well, you’d better get over it pretty quick, because Fall is here, and you know what that means?
Resort travel and Holiday parties. That’s right, and you won’t be able to hide under that bulky “ugly” sweater for all of them.
Some Resort travel will require swimwear (ack!!) and some gatherings will require the dreaded slinky dress.
The Ugly Christmas Sweater isn’t appropriate at the beach…
And then there are all of those relatives and former classmates – perhaps even at the same resorts and gatherings…..
In North Carolina, it’s pretty much always warm enough to get outdoors and exercise – even in the Winter.
So, now that it’s cooled down enough that spontaneous combustion isn’t a concern, I’ll start getting serious again 😉
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Honestly though, I never really stopped hiking.
That said, ever since late May, when I returned from my epic 2-week hiking trip to Greece, I HAVE slacked off on my indoor cross-training – and it shows!
View on Mount Olympus
I worked my butt off for months prior to that trip, so I’d be able to do the 2-day Mount Olympus hike without hurting myself – and it was great!
But that was a few months ago, and now I could use a quick tune-up before slipping into that slinky party dress.
Keep reading to learn more about how I’m doing a quick tune-up for my upcoming Holiday trips and gatherings – and how you could, too!
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 12 mile day hike on New Zealand’s North Island, is one of the most popular day hikes in the country.
New Zealand is where the Hobbits live!
Located inside The Tongariro National Park, the alpine crossing is part of a larger 3-4 day hike that is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks.
Tongariro National Park was made famous – like so many places in New Zealand – by it’s appearance in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
The park’s alpine, volcanic scenery is the setting of Mordor, home of Mount Doom – aka Mt Ngauruhoe – the object of Frodo and Sam’s quest throughout the series.
I had the opportunity to take this trek as part of an active group trip to the North Island early this Spring.
(Fortunately, I was able to return home before travel became restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Here’s how hiking the Tangeriro Alpine Crossing went for me, and some information that will help if you want to go try it for yourself!
We started in Barcelona and made our way across the country to end the tour in Madrid – all in 8 days!
For me, the highlight of the tour was a short day hike in the Aragonese Pyrenees.
Gaudi house museum in Barcelona, Spain
Don’t get me wrong – the rest of the tour was great, too.
But I’m not usually a fan of big cities, even cities as beautiful as Madrid and Barcelona.
I usually like to spend my holiday time away from cities, sweating in a desert canyon, searching for ruins in a rainforest, or hiking up a steep slope to a mountain view.
To be honest, the hike in the Pyrenees was the main reason I signed up 🙂
I’d been planning another trip that cancelled at the last minute, so I decided to take a chance on a different sort of trip for me. I’m very glad I did!
This is the time of year when everyone resolves to somehow change their lives for the better in the coming year.
This past year, my goals were pretty easy to define – at least for the first couple of months.
You see, I’d been battling a really vicious head and chest cold – since late November.
I hiked on New Zealand’s North Island – where all the volcanoes are!
Then, that turned into an infection (of lung and sinus type) for a few weeks and that went away but the original cold came back!
This illness plus inclement weather and Holiday shenanigans kept me from doing my usual basic maintenance workouts or scheduling as many hikes as usual.
So, my goal was to be healthy and strong enough to do all the things in New Zealand without any struggle.
I had about 8 weeks to make that happen. The good news is I did the training, went to new Zealand and had an awesome time hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.
I squeaked back into the US literally hours before they shut down international travel to New Zealand.
Fast forward to now, and we’ve had some version of COVID-19 lockdown in place, limiting our activities, since I got back home in March.
That Man and I had planned a trip to Hawaii – Kauai, to be exact – for April that had to be rescheduled for this coming winter’s Holiday season.
That’s where my training program “8 Weeks to Awesome” – or Auckland, to be specific – comes back into play.
I’ve got to get back on the plan to be ready for the Hawaii trip – assuming we’re allowed to go this time. (As of this writing, prohibitive quarantines and testing requirements are still in place for out of State visitors…)
If you’re looking for a way to get back into shape before the Holidays – even if you don’t have a big trip coming – maybe you’d like to do it with me!
