a few days back, it was “cardio day” on my workout routine, so i packed my standard cardio items to go to the gym after i dropped off the girls at school. then, on a whim, i grabbed some bare minimum hiking essentials also. i literally had no idea which activity i planned to do, until i made the turn out of the school parking lot.
it was a beautiful day. i didn’t want to be inside on an elliptical machine. i didn’t want to go to the park to just walk three boring loops and get stuck talking to (being talked AT by) the maintenance guy. so, i drove out to stone mountain. again. pretty much my go-to at this point.
usually, i do the stone mountain loop, which i think is around 4.9 miles and not quite 1000′ elevation gain. and i always think that maybe “next time” i will add one of the little side trails, but then i never do. well, on this day, i did. i started out by hiking the wolf rock trail, which lead to this beautiful spot.
from there, i opted for the longer blackjack ridge route to get me back to the stone mountain loop, which all together added about two and a half-ish miles to my hike. i did not see a single other person on this part of the hike, but i did walk through no fewer than 38 spider webs.
when i went in february, everything was gray and dreary, but this time it was all green and springy and the flowers were beginning to do their colorful thing.
the extra loop i added bypasses the the old homestead, but i backtracked just a get a look at the namesake of the park, stone mountain itself.
and then, i continued along the trail. in order to add the extra trail to the front end of my hike (so i wouldn’t skip it), i had to hike the loop in the opposite direction than i normally do. i vaguely remembered this being quite miserable, but i was also waaaaay less fit when i did that, so it ended up not being so very bad at all.
the next amenity i hit was the waterfall. i had myself a little break down there, gearing up for the many stairs awaiting me on the other side. i saw a huge snake in the water and i have no idea if it was a dangerous snake or a friendly one so i steered clear.
once i had taken my nice little refuel break, it was time to head up the stairs. i think there’s like 800 total in the park. a huge chunk of them climb from the bottom of the falls to the top. i always take this pic from the top of the falls, because it looks so unassuming, but it’s basically death should you go one step past there. i think the falls are like 200′ or so?
then the loop gradually climbs to the peak of stone mountain. when you go this direction though, you get a little glimpse of it from another view, just before you arrive.
before i knew it, i was there. i found a nice little spot and set up for awhile. i’m trying to do better about savoring the tops and not being in a rush to get back down (make good time). i had more snacks. and even a little treat. and journaled. and sat. and maybe instagrammed a pic or two. and then just chilled for a bit. (and set up the tripod to pretend like i had a friend who captured a candid picture of me, even though i didn’t and also there were literally no other people up there at all).
anyways. then there was the steep trip down. this was also less brutal (on my knees) than i remembered. probably thanks to the 60 fewer lbs slamming down on them on every step and the added muscle in my legs these days. i always love the views as i’m coming down the cables part of the hike.
it was a lovely day. a much better cardio day than going to the stupid gym and watching a show for sure. here’s the details. more for me to remember than for you to study. i’m pretty proud of my sub 20 minute pace (when i wasn’t resting on a peak), especially because this counts stopping to take flower and scenery pics, and taking short “get the spider web off my face” breaks, and checking the trail map, AND coming down steep sections that i have to be a little bit more tactical about, lest i roll an ankle.
so. thank you stone mountain. for another day of exercise, dopamine, seratonin, vitamin d, beauty, and solitude.