Wagers: A Hiking We Will Go

Granna turned 60 this past weekend so we took a little trip to the North Georgia mountains. It was Trenton's first vacation, and boy do we have a hiking man! He loved hiking and never cried (well, really even woke up!) once on the trails. We nestled him into the baby bjorn and since he was nice and cozy we were able to do long hikes each day. Although it was a sunny weekend, it had snowed 8 in. just two days before we arrived in the mountains. This made it even more beautiful but made us more cautious with a baby.

Thursday we decided to explore nearby Unicoi Lake for Opa and Daddy to fish in later. So, Trenton's first hike was the Unicoi Lake Trail, about 3 miles. It was nice and flat and perfect to start the hiking weekend. It was just Opa, Granna, Trenton and Mommy because Daddy wasn't joining us until after work that day.

Then, after fishing Friday morning (Daddy had his first trout catch on his new rod--so Trenton brings good luck!), we hiked Moccasin Creek to Hemlock Falls. It was a switchback trail with wooden bridges crossing the creek. The creek was gushing with water from the snow melt making several waterfalls along the way. However, the trail was extremely snowy, which we could handle, but when it became too icy, we had to turn back. Unfortunately, we were a good quarter of a mile from the main falls and couldn't see it. I'm sure it would have been gorgeous with the water flow. Oh well!

Saturday (Granna's actual birthday) we hiked Anna Ruby Falls and then went to Smithgall Woods. At Smithgall we were planning to hike their trail, but since Trenton's feeding took a little longer than anticpated, the guys ended up fishing in the stream instead. That night we celebrated Granna's birthday at a quaint German restaurant in town. Now that was an adventure! Not only was Trenton's feeding time but there wasn't a changing table in the restroom. It was a butt whippin'! We were passing Trenton around the table like the salt and pepper shaker in order to finish our meal. That's how it is with a baby these days! :) Then, we surprised Granna with a birthday party back at the house.

It was sad when Sunday came around since it was going to be our last day in the mountains. It had progressively gotten warmer, but nevertheless, there was still snow and ice on the ground. We decided to do our final hike at Dukes Creek, which had previously been blocked off earlier in the week due to the icy roads.

We couldn't have asked for better weather or more scenic hikes. It was a fun weekend and we can't wait to take Trenton back!

Mommy with Trenton inside the baby bjorn

Opa, Mommy and Trenton at Unicoi Lake

Granna, Mommy and Trenton at Unicoi Lake

We were shocked that so much snow was still on the ground up there.

Hemlock Falls before the snowy and icy section.

Hemlock Falls about halfway up

Daddy, Trenton and Mommy hiking Hemlock Falls before we had to turn around because the ice was too dangerous.