AA^3: The Great Smoky Mountains Hiking

While in the Smokies, you must go hiking and see all its natural beauty.  Chivo would like to hike to the top of a mountain, so we gotta make this happen.  Right now, I'm just prepping my body to be ready for these hikes!  I recently started the paleo lifestyle but allowing myself 2 cheat meals a week.  I've heard great things about the paleo lifestyle and I want to see if they are true.  Chivo is a crossfit fanatic, eats paleo most of the time and in awesome shape.  Me on the other hand, I workout, but more weights than cardio.  I've started training for a 5K cuz I figure it will help me with the hiking and so far I'm feeling leaner so I think it's working.  Chivo has also started to teach me some crossfit moves and challenged me to 25 push-ups and 25 air squats everyday.  Game on!

Here are some trails that look pretty cool. 

Hiking - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

- Grotto Falls. You can walk behind it. Off Roaring Fork Motor Trail.

- Laurel Falls. 2.6 mile walk. Paved trail. 80 ft cascade. Arrive early to miss the crowds.

- Abraham Falls. 5 miles round trip. The most water, the deepest pool. Cross a wooden bridge.

- Chimney Tops. A challenging trek to a bare rock summit with a 360 degree view. A couple miles up, over wooden bridges and along streams. They say the last mile is intimidating. *the trail is only open Friday thru Sunday due to a major facelift.   I love climing up rocks, so I'm game for this and this should hit the spot for Chivo - the top of a mountain!

-Mt LeConte. Hike up with an over night bag to see breathtaking views.

Book ahead of time at LeConte Lodge, they say it books up quickly. $126/night per person for a cabin.   You can also make this a day trip and call ahead to have lunch up there - the call these Day Hikers (ppl who do not have overnight reservations).  Day Hikers can purchase a sack lunch for $10.  They also have a souvenior shop up there.  It sounds a little pricey to stay up there, although it may be worth the extra money.  We will have to think about this one. 

Either way, I wanna go up there whether its to stay the night or just a day hike.





I may need to invest in some hiking boots/sneakers.

I'll probably look at other trails on this Hiking in the Smokys website.

AA^3: A Week in the Mountains

So I've started planning a new trip! This trip will be without Stella. It will be myself, Chivo and possibly 2 of his friends. If you've read my previous blogs, you may have seen Chivo's name here and there. We were friends, that started dating this past December. I must say that I'm very happy and I feel pretty lucky to have a guy like him.

His goal was originally to go to Alaska to do some major outdoor activities and hike to the top of a mountain but he decided to do something closer. He has a friend with a timeshare that has some pretty cool destinations to choose from. We originally thought about going to Breckenridge because my good friend Jenn lives in Colorado and we all know about the mountains and outdoor stuff to do there. But we learned that May is a tricky month to visit Colorado. They call May - Mud Season, because its almost the end of the snow season so the snow is melting and creating a muddy mess. There is also the possibility of snow....in May! He really wants to hike to a top of a mountain and that just doesn't seem to be fun in the mud or very easy in the snow.

This vacation is kinda of a celebration vacation for Chivo. He's graduating college!! I'm super excited for him and a little jealous. I have another 3 years to go, as I am going part time. I'll finish eventually! This trip is going to be awesome!

So we've decided to go to ..........The Great Smoky Mountains!!!!! I'm beyond excited about this. As you know, Stella and I stayed in the Smokies on our way to Maryland in December 2012 and fell in love with it immediately. We are staying at Westgate Resort. It was one of the places on his buddies list of timeshares to pick from. It looks pretty cool - indoor water park, it's super close to a lot of awesome things.

So now what types of things can we do in the Smokies??
Zip lining, hiking, horseback riding, Pigeon Forge, floating on the river, whiskey distillery, trying moonshine, Tennessee country bar, maybe camping....but I'm kinda of afraid of running into a bear, wildlife safari park, glass bridge, eating Tennessee BBQ, and eating other local cuisine. This is my type of vacation!!! Lots of awesome adventures.

I forgot to mention! This is another road trip. Although I've driven the route to the Smokies before with Stella and by myself, it will be a new with Chivo. Im not sure if he has been on such a long road-trip before and the route to the Smokies isn't all that exciting. Good thing I'm kinda awesome so I know we will have a good time. This will be my first big vacation with Chivo but I'm confident that it will be lots of fun. We've talked about what type of stuff we'd like to do on the trip and I feel like we are on the same page and like to do the same type of stuff. I just hope that I get to hang out with his friends some before the trip so it will be more comfortable and fun. I've met his friends before but I don't know them all that well yet. But if they are anything like Chivo, I'm sure ill get along with them. I'm pretty laid back and get along with most people.

Now we just need to starting finding locations, companies, and prices of the stuff we'd like to do. To be continued.......