after a busy holiday season and then a stupidly snowy january, when the first day of sunshine rolled around (with the kiddos sitting in their desks at school), i hopped in the car and headed to the mountains.
stone mountain is a favorite local hike, and it had been closed for a bit of time after hurricane helene ruined everything, but it recently reopened, and i needed to check things out.
i was even looking forward to the solo one hour drive. anna made me a sweet outdoor/hiking playlist for the musical entertainment, and a found a little coffee shop along the way, for a little extra pep in my step.
i took my usual path, starting at the north-ish end of the loop, and heading clockwise. the first (maybe?) mile is steep and strenuous and quite a cardio workout, but then most of the work is out of the way for the rest of the hike.
i spent a solid amount of time at the top. relaxing. enjoying the silence. contemplating. savoring. photographing. snacking. 🙂
the rest of the hike is just winding slowly back down and around until you reach the waterfall. it was another unpopulated area, so i took the opportunity to hang out in solitude again.
from there, it’s not far until you end up at the bottom of said stone of stone mountain, at an old settlement or whatever. good views of the rock. and i take the fence pic every. single. time.
when i finished the hike, i finally did a thing i always say i’m going to do. i had some extra time, so i drove over to another very short hike (walk?) to widow’s creek falls. i’ve heard it’s good for sliding on in the summer, but i couldn’t really see how, but that might be hurricane related. i had my lunch, again in solitude, perched on a rock, basking in the sun, listening to the peaceful cascading falls. ahhhh. and by lunch, i mean stupid healthy snacks.
any.ways. it was a great day. just what i needed. exercise. sunshine. solitude. nature. escape.
and now i’m plotting the next adventure…