Training for the Trail, Suburban-Style

We recently planned a hiking/camping/backpacking trip to the Smokies for the end of September/early October! We are super excited but knew that we needed to get in better shape to really enjoy ourselves on the trail, especially considering we'll be taking Amy Grace along too. Our last trip to this area was back in the fall of 2007, which was a lot of fun, but we definitely were not in good condition to do a lot of hiking, like we'd planned.

Luckily, this time around we both have been eating well and exercising for about 3 months and have each lost between 20 and 25 pounds (yay!), so we already had a great head start. However, there is a very steep hill a short drive from our house, and we have been "hiking" up and down it several times a week to help get our bodies used to the demands of hiking in the southern Appalachians.

Just like in the Smokies, you are rewarded with a great view from the top of the "mountain," even if you do have to watch out for cars careening around the curves! From this pic you can definitely tell that the Birmingham area is, in fact, the southern terminus of the Appalachian mountain range. It's like look out over a mini-Smokies, some days even complete with the haze that gave those mountains their name. (For the locals, I believe the last ridge you can see is Oak Mountain, though you can't really see it well here.)

Here is the view from about halfway down: