Every year, my husband Caleb and some of his friends from High School go on a “guys” hiking trip in the fall.  Let me stress again the importance of the word “guys.”  A year and a half ago, at our wedding, I was told many times that no matter what, the “guys” get their hiking trip every year.  Even clearer was that the “wives” were NOT invited!  Well, this past year one of them made the mistake of getting his wife into hiking.  Needless to say, the “guys” hiking trip went down hill from there.

This brings me to the “Wife” Hike of 2009!  We went during Thanksgiving and hiked about 21 miles of trails in the Smoky Mountains.  Parts of the hike were very intense, but the view made it all worth wild!  The second day was the hardest part.  We hiked 7 miles up-hill.  There was no time for long breaks, due to the fact that camp had to be set up before dark.  As elevation increased, the temperature dramatically decreased.  By the second night, the temperature dropped into the 20’s.

This was an unforgettable trip and I can’t wait for next year!… Well if this wasn’t a one time thing 🙂

Wait an amazing view, with the clouds above and below the mountains.

This is where we started.

Quickly trained a Bear to take a picture!

Hen Wallow Falls

Gotta love a good fire!

Caleb cooking pancakes and Starbucks Coffee for breakfast.

This was beside our tent the first camp sight; what an awesome sight to wake up to!

Accommodations for the second night!

Finally at the top…

On the way back down, we passed this cemetery in the middle of the woods!  What I found odd was that all of the people with actual head stones died in the late 1800’s-1918, except the one in the picture above.  Ella died in 1982 at the age of 88.  She was the last one to be buried there and was the only one that had a rock for her head stone!  Go Figure, maybe that’s what she wanted!

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