Hubby and I took a quick weekend trip to the Smoky Mountains. We drove down Friday, hiked a gorgeous hike on Saturday, and drove back Sunday. It was a lot of driving, but oh-so-worth it!
We Went to the Smokys last June with the whole family. I was only a few months into my weight loss journey, and was probably sittin’ not-so-pretty at roughly 260. I hiked once with the family–it was a short one–and it was rough. I have always loved hiking, but it was so difficult. This is me last summer.
We hiked Andrew’s Bald that day and also went up Clingman’s Dome. I was beat when we were done.
Here I am this year. We hiked my absolute FAVORITE hike. We started on Alum Cave Bluff trail at 6:20. That was an hour and 24 BEFORE sunrise. 🙂
Arch Rock, 1.4 miles in.
After Arch Rock, we continued up to Alum Cave Bluff to watch the sunrise. This was 2.3 miles in.
We continued on our way. I was rocking my MO’ Cowbell half marathon shirt. I even scored a compliment on it! People love that SNL skit! We finally arrived at the lodge which is 5 miles up from the trailhead.
We were feeling better than ever, so we decided to head to Cliff Tops–another .3.
Still feeling awesome, we ventured farther up the mountain than EVER before! This was my 4th trip up and my hubby’s 5th. We made it to the summit.
There were no views at the summit, but we hiked a bit farther–.7 miles from Cliff Tops–to Myrtle Point which was absolutely gorgeous.
After taking in these b-e-a-UUUUU-tiful views, we headed back to the lodge for a sack lunch that consisted of a bagel with cream cheese, summer sausage, oreos, a fruit roll-up, trail mix, and hot cocoa. It was delicious.
Nom Nom…
The trip down was nice. We saw a TON of people though. On the way up we were virtually alone, but the trail was packed late that afternoon. Hubby twisted his ankle pretty badly, but we still got a ton of great pictures.
I felt like I was flying. I was so light on my feet. I was sure-footed. I didn’t feel like I would keel over dead at any given second!
In years past, I would be dragging my exhausted body up to the lodge around 3-5 pm. This year, I bounced up the trail and made it to the lodge at 10am! In fact, when we made it back to the parking lot after the hike, I was sad to see it end, whereas with all my other hikes, I was dying to get in the car and get my boots off! This was an amazing day made possible (or at least more enjoyable!) because of my weight loss.
#LiveLifeHappy
Healthy living, folks! 🙂 Do it.
Fat to Fit 