Everett and I headed up to the Ocoee River area for some hiking, trail running and mountain biking. The boys had a four day weekend off from school and Jansen needed some down time to himself, so Schmev and I hit the road.
The drive up was awesome and Everett and I got caught up on all of life's craziness, then he napped until we stopped at the Ocoee Whitewater Center to fuel up on some Ben and Jerry's ice cream before hitting the trail. Yum!! Cherry Garcia ice cream bars ROCK!!
The river was as amazing as ever and we really wished we were able to fit the kayak on the car, but that will have to wait until next time.
This is where some of the Olympic paddling events were held when the games were in the states. The water won't run in the 'play area' until March, I think. This entire area is just one big outdoor playground and a total blast for a weekend.
We ran/hiked on Friday, then pitched the tent at the Thunder Rock campground. (only three sites are open during the winter and the other two were occupied by retired motorcyle travelers) One of the motorcyclists was practicing his travel skills before he headed west on his motocycle. He had a new jet boil stove and started dancing when it fired up on the first try. I think he is going to have a great road trip!
We had a great campfire and made Sugar Chickens for dessert. (this is a strange dessert created by Alison, Aimee and probably a few other badlasses, after much wine comsumption.....it is a marshmallow torn in two, with a piece of dove chocolate in between, then a refridgerated croissant is wrapped around the outside and all is toasted over a campfire) Croissant on the outside gooey goodness on the inside. Though Alison is the queen Sugar Chicken maker, and I do not nearly have the patience that she posses to evenly roast the croissant, they were still pretty darned yummy!
More to come on just how long it takes to roast the left over croissants.......
When your mom forgets the forks, you whittle some sticks, which work great!
The proper technique, as determined by Everett, to eat Ramen noodles with a stick.
We had a great ride up the mountain on the Chilhowee trails. The climb is not very long and levels off often for recovery, then the top has a pretty little pond and camping area, followed by a really great downhill back to the parking lot. Clemmer up, Clearwater Creek down and hitting everything else we came across made for a fun ride.
Great trails:
Great views:
A good mix of smooth trail, sand and rock gardens made the trail more fun.
We finished the loop earlier than expected and decided to head to the river to chill out for a bit before heading back to set up camp.
This time we pitched a tent in the woods and found a rock ring set up by previous campers. Another awesome fire.
Chillin' out in the evening.
This time dessert was a dove chocolate inside a marshmallow.
On Sunday morning we hit the Tanasi trail system and got in a few hours of singletrack with a bit of double track, thrown in there, too.
As we neared the end of our ride, we came across Zeke hiking up the trail with a pair of clippers and a huge machete type knife or such. He said he had been watching this downed pine tree, that was across the trail, all winter and was going to take care of it on his day off from training. As only Zeke can do, he pumped us up for the rest of the ride by telling us about his latest trip to Utah, then gave Everett some advice about college, then sent us down the mountain. I wish I had got a picture of him in his cool winter hat with earflaps. We seriously need to take him up on his offer to hit the mountains with him as our tour guide, soon.
Everett was having sinus issues, so we changed after the ride and decided to head south for me to get in a trail run, so we would be closer to home.
I got in a great little trail run at Blankets Creek, which included the new Van Michael trail. I ended up with a steady 7 mile run on some great trail and was very happy and ready to sit in the car, again.
We finished up the weekend by stopping in for a little impromptu tour of a couple local colleges. Everett decided he liked one and definitely did not like the other, so it was worth the stop, for sure.
Shey, Jansen and Jafer had headed to the mountains for a long ride and they passed us on the highway near our exit for home. So, we all got back at about the same time that evening, which worked out great.
Fun times, all weekend, with a really fun guy!!!
:>)
The drive up was awesome and Everett and I got caught up on all of life's craziness, then he napped until we stopped at the Ocoee Whitewater Center to fuel up on some Ben and Jerry's ice cream before hitting the trail. Yum!! Cherry Garcia ice cream bars ROCK!!
The river was as amazing as ever and we really wished we were able to fit the kayak on the car, but that will have to wait until next time.
This is where some of the Olympic paddling events were held when the games were in the states. The water won't run in the 'play area' until March, I think. This entire area is just one big outdoor playground and a total blast for a weekend.
We ran/hiked on Friday, then pitched the tent at the Thunder Rock campground. (only three sites are open during the winter and the other two were occupied by retired motorcyle travelers) One of the motorcyclists was practicing his travel skills before he headed west on his motocycle. He had a new jet boil stove and started dancing when it fired up on the first try. I think he is going to have a great road trip!
We had a great campfire and made Sugar Chickens for dessert. (this is a strange dessert created by Alison, Aimee and probably a few other badlasses, after much wine comsumption.....it is a marshmallow torn in two, with a piece of dove chocolate in between, then a refridgerated croissant is wrapped around the outside and all is toasted over a campfire) Croissant on the outside gooey goodness on the inside. Though Alison is the queen Sugar Chicken maker, and I do not nearly have the patience that she posses to evenly roast the croissant, they were still pretty darned yummy!
More to come on just how long it takes to roast the left over croissants.......
When your mom forgets the forks, you whittle some sticks, which work great!
The proper technique, as determined by Everett, to eat Ramen noodles with a stick.
We had a great ride up the mountain on the Chilhowee trails. The climb is not very long and levels off often for recovery, then the top has a pretty little pond and camping area, followed by a really great downhill back to the parking lot. Clemmer up, Clearwater Creek down and hitting everything else we came across made for a fun ride.
Great trails:
Great views:
A good mix of smooth trail, sand and rock gardens made the trail more fun.
We finished the loop earlier than expected and decided to head to the river to chill out for a bit before heading back to set up camp.
This time we pitched a tent in the woods and found a rock ring set up by previous campers. Another awesome fire.
Chillin' out in the evening.
This time dessert was a dove chocolate inside a marshmallow.
On Sunday morning we hit the Tanasi trail system and got in a few hours of singletrack with a bit of double track, thrown in there, too.
As we neared the end of our ride, we came across Zeke hiking up the trail with a pair of clippers and a huge machete type knife or such. He said he had been watching this downed pine tree, that was across the trail, all winter and was going to take care of it on his day off from training. As only Zeke can do, he pumped us up for the rest of the ride by telling us about his latest trip to Utah, then gave Everett some advice about college, then sent us down the mountain. I wish I had got a picture of him in his cool winter hat with earflaps. We seriously need to take him up on his offer to hit the mountains with him as our tour guide, soon.
Everett was having sinus issues, so we changed after the ride and decided to head south for me to get in a trail run, so we would be closer to home.
I got in a great little trail run at Blankets Creek, which included the new Van Michael trail. I ended up with a steady 7 mile run on some great trail and was very happy and ready to sit in the car, again.
We finished up the weekend by stopping in for a little impromptu tour of a couple local colleges. Everett decided he liked one and definitely did not like the other, so it was worth the stop, for sure.
Shey, Jansen and Jafer had headed to the mountains for a long ride and they passed us on the highway near our exit for home. So, we all got back at about the same time that evening, which worked out great.
Fun times, all weekend, with a really fun guy!!!
:>)
2 comments:
Man quit posting about riding sick trails. Making me super jealous!
Hmmm... coming from the guy with the sickest trails right in his backyard. :>) Hope you will be available to play tour guide for a long weekend sometime this spring. Kari
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