Well, today is the day that all my wisdom teeth get removed from my head. So far, my plan is to recuperate with lots of movie watching and Nutella and banana smoothie drinking. My movie of choice is my current go-to feel-good, Austenland. Although, I am not completely against the idea of marathoning a new show on Netflix- any ideas of a good one?
Enough about oral surgery, let's talk the Appalachian Trail, shall we?
Hiking on the Appalachian Trail was one of my big life goals and my big summer goal was being able to go camping. Both were accomplished in two days and it was incredible. First off, if you are thinking of doing this, I would highly recommend not listening to people when they say how hard it is; of course it is difficult, you are climbing a mountain. But, it is totally worth it.
We ended up camping at an incredible camp site in the Smokey Mountain National Park called Cosby Campground. It was beautiful and secluded and has some of the biggest camp sites in the Smokey Mountains (so I have heard). There are also like a billion trails going off the campsite and each is worth a trek down.
For our big hike day we chose Low Gap Trail. It was the one that got us to the Appalachian Trail the fastest (about 3-miles) and I had read reviews saying it was nice. Turns out, the reviews were completely correct! After hiking less that a half mile we reached the most beautiful waterfall I could ever imagine near a campground and got to cross it on a neat-o hiking bridge that made me feel like a real, legitimate hiker. Things that did not make me feel like a legitimate hiker, however, were the dying phone, compass that was out of battery, and lack of knowledge about wildlife.
Turns out that bears are not the only dangerous thing in the Smokey's, they also have giant rattlesnakes. The hubs found one when he went to pick up his walking stick. It started rattling and we ran. Unfortunately, we ran before snapping a picture of it (mistake), so I have no proof to show you, but the part of it that we saw was about four-inches in diameter! Thankfully though, we met the snake on the way back down. I am not sure if we would have made the 12-mile round trip if that was the first (and only) bit of wildlife we saw.
The hike up to the Appalachian Trail was a massive climb that left my legs feeling like jello. Low Gap Trail was the steepest incline and most of the area of the Appalachian that we were on was flat. The views on the trail were incredible, but nothing was as awe inspiring as being at the top of Mount Cammerer. That view and the feeling of complete significance and insignificance all at once was worth any amount of soreness in the following days.
Mt. Cammerer has an elevation of about 5,000 feet and includes a lookout at the top! According to the handy little info board, the lookout was made in 1934 and all materials (boulders included) were brought by hand, horseback, or Jeep. This made me quite happy that the only thing I was carrying on our trek was a backpack with emergency supplies, sweaters, and water. No rocks.
After hanging out at the mountain top for a while, we packed our things and started the trek back home to the campsite. Funny, but I thought the going up bit would be the hardest. I was wrong. Going down is way more difficult and used muscles I am quite sure did not exist prior to that day. Everything was sore for a few days after the trip, but every muscle ache was completely worth.
The entire hike took about 7-hours with several sitting breaks mixed in. I had heard that the view can be a bit overcast and clouded in the morning so we opted to leave around 11:30 after having a nice breakfast and relaxing wake-up. This got us to the top around 3:30 and home around 6:30. Granted, our pace did quicken a bit after the whole rattlesnake incident.
I know this post is ridiculously long and kiddos to you if you have managed to read it all the way through. It was just such a fun trip that I needed to share it with you! The main take-a ways from it are:
- Go climb that mountain... or any other goal you may have. You can do it!
- If your goal is to climb a mountain or Hike part of the Appalachian Trail, Mt. Cammerer or Low Gap are some great options for getting there.
- Bring a compass and charged phone. Also, refer to this list of things to bring.
- Enjoy the journey. The hubs had to stop me a few times because I was so excited to get up the mountain that I was missing the beauty around me. This is so true of life as well. Sometimes, I just need to remember to enjoy life instead of continually striving for the next accomplishment.
Hiking the whole Appalachian Trail is about 2,200 miles, we trekked about 5 of them :) After only 5-miles on the Trail I totally have the hiking bug! My aunt has had a fantastic idea of taking a weekend every year and hiking part of the trail with a group of people. We would all come together and have a goal of, one day, hiking the entire thing, one year at a time. If we were able to hike 80-miles a year, it would only take us 28-years! Sure, everyone may not be able to finish, but I seriously cannot think of a cooler goal to start at this point in my life. Who's in?
