A Long Way Yet to Go

My camera has a tendency to flatten images, yet clearly here you can see the incline to reach this point on the AT.

Wisconsin, Illinois, doesn't matter. These hikes I've done this Spring and Summer have been the minor leagues. Heck, many not even that. Perhaps the Rookie League, or Little League. Tee-ball even, if I'm being honest about Moraine Hills State Park.

This realization hit me about halfway up the Slaughter Creek Trail. The trail, which is almost 3 miles long, goes from the edge of Lake Winfield Scott up to a junction with the Appalachian Trail near its approach to the summit of Blood Mountain. As such, it's pretty much uphill the entire way. Despite taking frequent breaks, my legs were beginning to feel tired from the uphill grind. I moved at a snail's pace, and yet I struggled mightily to get up to those white blazes, where a slackening of the difficulty was promised by the hiking book.

AT's AT Hiking Training Plan: Weeks Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen

Weeks: June 17 - July 14 (28 Days)
Miles Hiked (June 17-30): 15.25
Miles Hiked (June): 30.50
Miles Hiked, (June Goal): 40
Miles Hiked (July 1-14): 17.3
Miles Hiked (July): 17.30
Miles Hiked, (July Goal): 40

Miles Hiked (Yearly Total): 105.30

Pounds Lost: 3.4
Percentage to Next Milestone: 56.60%
Pounds Lost (Total):  6.0
Weekly Goal Met: Yes
Nights Camped (Weeks): 3
Nights Camped (Total): 5
Nights Camped (Backpacking): 0

As you can see from the title of this post, I didn't keep up with my weekly recaps. This was due in large part to failing to do official weigh-ins on either Monday or Tuesday, preparing for a vacation in early July, and actually going on that vacation. However, that trip is finished, I'm back on a pretty regular schedule, and it's time to get these back on track. And things almost entirely to that vacation, things are looking pretty good.

Hiking the Lists #10

Hike: #10
Title: Sosebee Cove Nature Trail 
Location: Chattahoochee National Forest
Hike List: North Georgia
Difficulty: Easy. It's uphill for half of it, but it's so short that doesn't really matter.
Duration of Hike: Walking straight through would take maybe five to ten minutes. More if you take pictures or just want to experience the serenity of nature.

The Sosebee Cove Nature Trail is a short trail, so this will be a short entry. It's not difficult to walk, and is over almost as soon as it begins. When I walked it, it was still winter up in the mountains of North Georgia, so the large trees had no leaves, and the wildflowers were still a couple months away from blanketing the hill side.

Hiking the Lists #9 - Amicalola Falls Loop

Hike: #9
Title: Amicalola Falls Loop
Location: Amicalola Falls State Park
Hike List: North Georgia
Difficulty: Easy, then difficult, then hundreds of stairs, then a moderately easy walk back down hill
Duration of Hike: Two-three hours of hiking, depending upon how many pictures (and rest stops) you take. Be careful, a side trail can take you six months (one way) to finish.

Some of the hikes in this series, particularly the ones in a certain state that rhymes with "thrillinois", are not the most interesting to write (or read) about. They may just be nice walks in the woods, or a sweaty tromp through prairie grasses. They can be a slog to get through, and often put this feature in jeopardy of getting behind.

Hiking the Lists, #6: Springer Mountain and Benton Mackaye Legacy Loop

Hike: #6
Title: Springer Mountain and Benton Mackaye Legacy Loop
Location: Springer Mountain and surrounding land, Chattahoochee National Forest
Hike List: North Georgia Mountains
Difficulty: Moderately Difficult
Duration of Hike: A few tough hours

This marks the first of the hikes in this feature to already have been written about before. There isn't much in the way of specifics to add to her tale. In short, the hike is well worth your time, is moderately challenging, and lets you say you were a section hiker on two different long distance trails on the same day. Since time has passed since that hike, I thought I would add a few additional thoughts.

Darn...and Hooray!

Just got the 2nd Edition of 50 Hikes in the North Georgia Mountains, and two of the hikes I walked in the 1st Edition were cut, with none of the new ones being trails I've hiked. Oh well, I'll still be writing about those hikes, and both books are valid in my "Hiking the Lists".

Also, I just discovered that the L.P. Michigan book has 60 hikes, like the Wisconsin one. So instead of 317 hikes, it's more like ~335 hikes.

Just means more hiking for me, I suppose.