This post is a result of Sidney being out of town visiting family until Oct. 22. A good friend of mine David insisted I go hiking with him on Saturday as a way to get out and enjoy God's Creation. I agreed to go with him for an afternoon hike. He picked me up around 9:30 and it was off to the Great Smoky Mountains. Along our way we started talking about a trail to take,we went over some various options, and agreed on Bote Mountain Trail close to the Treemont Institute. Being my first hike in nearly 7 years I was looking for something kinda short and easy. When we got to the trail I noticed the distance there and back was around 5.6 miles, really more than I was wanting to do considering the time frame of my last hike. We discussed it for a bit and I agreed to give it my best attempt. Let me add David knows how to motivate someone,encouraging me that I could do it.
We began our hike on a pretty average width path up hill,then we started going around the mountain,I guess the name holds true. We continued going around the mountain,then up,around again,and so on until we reached a camp ground. The camp ground was aprox. 2 miles form where we started. We decided to eat lunch at this point as we were getting hungry,nothing pb&j and granola bars couldn't fix After lunch I had almost decided I was done and ready to head back,considering I looked ahead and noticed the trail once again climbed up and around the mountain. David assured me I could finish so we continued,approx .6 miles later we reached our destination. It was a great since of accomplishment reaching the top considering I was ready to throw in the towel. We took in the sights realizing how beautiful God's creation truly was,then it was time to head back. We began our trip back ,this time, most of our trip was down hill,which really brought me some encouragement. On our journey David being the friend he is found me a fantastic walking stick to use on the trip back. We finally made the trip back and it was so nice to see the sign welcoming us back. The motto of this post is don't give up when you feel you want to,keep going towards your goal.
