One month of walking!

 In my walking and tracking of miles for the month of January, I have covered a total of 35.24 miles. I had hoped to go farther in each month, but I forgot that I’m not actually on a trail, living the life of a hiker who has nothing else to do except walk daily. I am a grandmother, and I spent a week with my toddler grandson. I am sure I used a lot of energy, but not many miles were logged. We walked to the local park from our house several times, bringing memories when my children were that age. Walking has always been a part of our family life. 

We also had our coldest winter since moving to Alabama, and one day I found myself walking in deep snow with our doggie. She was uncertain about this new development. I know she loved the cold, and she bounced happily in the piles of snow, but after a time clods of snow froze to her fur around her feet. I brought her home and had to work hard with a towel to free the frozen ice off her legs.  I’m not sure I have seen such good deep snow in years, not since living in West Virginia. Who knew it would happen in Alabama?

Yesterday’s walk was in the evening, after a gardening class. I took the dog with me to the park where I recycle. She and I walked around the baseball field then crossed the street to a new neighborhood. We passed many houses, each with their one front yard tree, similar porches and minimal landscaping. The houses were built close to each other, some with privacy fences for the backyard. At the end of the neighborhood I saw a stand of trees and walked towards that. As I got closer I thought I saw a boardwalk built into the trees, and I was excited. First, trees are kind of rare in my area of Alabama. This was an over farmed section of the state. Second, I hoped to find a long nice nature trail. Getting closer I saw a sign, and it did say Nature Trail!  Wonderful!  I reached the boardwalk. It was built into the woods, about 30 feet, widened to a view of the trees, and ended. I’m not sure how that qualifies as a trail, but that’s ok. We returned to the car as the sun set, just enjoying a nice night in short sleeves. Last week we were trudging in snow, this week short sleeves.

I have been watching Youtube videos of AT through hikers , and using them to trace my hike. Man, the mountains of N Georgia are beautiful in the winter. Rhododendrons line the trails, roots and rocks exposed along the way. Winter hiking in the south is fantastic, you can see farther. Tall dark trees create lines and shadow patterns on the soil, the fallen leaves and the trail. Clear creeks flow, and the trail crosses over them many times on narrow footbridges. The hikers all talk about being cold, they all are wearing gloves, jackets, knitted caps and more. Everything looks so familiar, as I have hiked a lot in these mountains. When a youtuber climbed Blood Mountain, saw the rock shelter and the great view from the huge boulder covered top, I remembered doing the same. For me it was summer, and extremely hot, and for this through hiker it was freezing and windy. Georgia has so many exposed rock mountain tops with lovely views.  From Springer Mountain to Neels Gap is 29.3 miles. I guess I have walked 6 miles past Neels Gap, the famous store along the trail. Let’s see how February goes.