Hiking Around Stone Mountain

It seems like all my posts these days start off with the phrase “A few weeks ago...” dot dot dot. And it’s true, I am slightly behind on things I would like to blog about, but that’s ok. We are just in a busy season of life and I am grateful for any time I can find now to sit down and blog. I still love to do it, despite the fact that I can’t post as often as I used to. So hang in there with me?

Ok so back to the story at hand. A few weeks ago, Kyle and I took a day trip to go hiking around Stone Mountain. We went to break in my new Columbia hiking boots so I wouldn’t be wearing them for the first time on our camping trip (which actually happened this past weekend, more on that soon!), and so Kyle and Doc could hike to the top of the Mountain for the first time. I can’t believe Kyle grew up so close to Stone Mountain and had never been to the top! It's not a particularly difficult trail or anything like that, it's just the views of the Atlanta skyline and the mountains in the distance that make it worth it.

Ironically enough though, when we got to the walk-up trailhead, we were disappointed to see a huge sign reading NO PETS, among other things. Kyle and I looked at each other and decided we would just pretend we didn’t see it, but apparently Stone Mountain planned ahead for people like us. Every few trees or so we saw the sign again and again, some even getting as specific as saying NO DOGS. Kinda hard to pretend we couldn’t see it. Can I get a womp womp?

So after debating for a few minutes whether Kyle would just continue hiking to the top by himself since he hadn’t done it before or stay together and hike the other trails that allowed dogs, we decided to just stay together as a family. Way to ruin our day trip, Stone Mountain! Just kidding, it wasn’t totally ruined. We actually really enjoyed the Cherokee Trail that went around the mountain for 5 miles. Here are a few pictures from our hike:

By the end of the 5 miles, we were exhausted. We would definitely come back and hike this trail around the Mountain again, though Kyle and I are due for a trip sans the pup so he can finally make it to the top. :)

P.S. If you want to read more about our camping trip this past weekend, check out Amanda's blog!