Training.

It's been great to be able to get out and get some hiking done over the past few weekends.  I'm really hoping this trend continues!  We are still trying to choose moderate trails as we work ourselves back to better condition.  This week I stated my goal was to hike the Hospital Rock trail in Jones Gap state park.  It is listed as one of the toughest trails in the state.

Unfortunately, I was informed this week that the trail has been "indefinitely closed" due to mud slides last year.   That term doesn't give me much confidence that I will be able to get on that trail anytime soon, or possibly ever.  But I didn't let that get me down.  I'm going to keep training for this difficult trail with the hopes that volunteers can work to do some repairs and open it back up.  When they do, I'll be the first one out there.

This past weekend we headed up to Keowee Toxaway State Park.  There are a few great trails in this park and it's not a very well known park so you can usually hike it without seeing many people.  Another good thing about this park is that its trails are not closed.

The trail totaled about four miles and wasn't too bad of a hike until the end.  That's the part where you have to hike straight up the side of a mountain where you parked your car.

We had great views of the lake from high up on some rocks.

Some of the wildlife we discovered along the trail included snails.

Getting out to this park was worth getting up early on a Saturday for.

At this point we may have graduated up from moderate and are ready for something more challenging.