President's Day Weekend with the Dames

So, it's the middle of February, and when you wake up, temperatures are in the mid 20's. Most normal ladies would gladly pull the covers up tighter, and would fall back asleep. But not us, we are the mighty Trail Dames!! We are tougher than that (or is it that we may just be a little crazy???) Saturday found us in Smyrna, GA (my hometown BTW) taking on the Silver Comet Trail. The Silver Comet is a fairly new trail that was built over an abandoned rail line. In total the trail is 60 miles long, but today's hike called for us to take on the first couple of sections.

At the trailhead I met up with Catherine who I have hiked with before and 3 first time Dames. Despite the low temperatures, once we started walking, we heated right up. We made it just shy of 3 miles, and took a side trip down to Heritage Park which has ruins from an old mill. After doing a little research, this mill originally produced uniforms for the Confederate Army. I'm kinda a nerdy History geek, so this was way, way cool for me. (and to think I lived the first 42 years of my life just a few miles away, and never even heard of this). Amazing. After a quick snack break, we headed back to the cars. It was a great day, the company was fantastic, and I got my history geek on.

Sunday

Sunday brings temperatures just as cold, but there is not a cloud in the sky. I met 10 other Dames at Red Top Mountain State Park to hike the 5.5 mile Homestead Trail. Another great day, we stayed close to the lake more than half the hike, and I didn't even notice how cold it was. I think my favorite spot was the "butt cheek" rock formation. Being mighty Trail Dames, we just had to stop for a comparison picture. I think this goes down as one of my favorite photos yet.



We all finished the hike in good spirits and headed home. I had a great weekend meeting new Dames and seeing old friends. Can't wait til next weekend!!