Hitting the trails

Clark and I love hiking. We're not one of those couples that just goes on "extreme walking trails," or goes on the paved hiking trails or anything like that. No. We love to really hike, backpack, and so on. I can't say I'm quite up to speed with camping, but I'm slowly but surely getting there.

We haven't been hiking since August. Now, here's the disclaimer before you call me a liar. We were going on the Tanawha Trail, which we've done before. It's a 13 mile hike one way, so you have to have one car at the beginning and one at the end. We headed out early as responsible hikers should, let a friend know where we were going, and set out. We were beyond excited. Unfortunately, about five miles in, I stepped funny or something and my knee gave way. I've had problems with my knee before, but this was different. I was soldiering on when Clark finally decided to cut through the tree line and call one of our friends to come get us.

Since then, I've had to do some physical therapy with my knee and just slowly work it back into regular exercise. It hasn't been the most fun, since I'm someone who loves to be active and gets anxious if I'm not. Finally, the weather cleared and Clark didn't have to work, so we decided to out and hit the trails.

Yesterday we planned on doing a loop that would have taken about five hours. However, we shortened it to let my knee get used to the strain of hiking again. We went 4.5 miles in about three hours, which unfortunately means we're a bit out of shape. Before I blew my knee, we did a five hour trail in about 2.5 hours. Not too shabby. However, after a six month absence, I'd say we did pretty well. We had an absolute ball, and I shouldn't be surprised if we do some hiking while we're in Georgia visiting family as well.

Clark and I are very outdoorsy. I wasn't able to really claim this until we were married. Although my family did hiking, sports, and so forth... I was never as into it as I am now. I'm thankful for my encouraging husband and supportive father who have made me appreciate the outdoors, and yet thankful for my friends, sisiters, and mother who have made me appreciate getting all "dolled up." I feel as though I am very balanced, if that makes sense.

So, for those of you that have been blessed with some nice weather, get ouside and DO SOMETHING! Even if you don't have easy access to hiking, or if you don't like hiking, there is always something to be done outside that can make you feel good about yourself!