I’m the Saturday Hiker and here’s my story.

My husband and I had little-to-no experience hiking before 2014. Then one day on a little vacation to the North Georgia mountains, we decided to check out the nearby Warwoman Dell Recreation Area. The lush foliage and pretty little stream enchanted us as we walked along the short 1/4 mile trail and afterwards enjoyed a picnic lunch in one of the shelters there. Wanting more, we visited Tallulah Gorge the next day. The view at Tallulah was a spectacle from above and we loved seeing some of the many waterfalls, but the hike back out of the gorge was far beyond our capabilities, so we chose not to go all the way down.

Feeling energized and on a roll, day three found us at Brasstown Bald, the highest point in the U.S. state of Georgia. The altitude was very noticeable as we trekked the short paved trail from the Visitor’s Center to the summit lookout point. We could feel our lack of being in shape for climbing, so we took our time and slowly persevered to the top. The payoff was an awe-inspiring sight of four states with breathtaking scenery everywhere the eye could see.

Concluding what had now become a four day hiking vacation, we decided to check out the Arabia Mountain area just outside of Atlanta to walk the Mile Rock Trail. Standing on the vast, granite outcroppings one can truly imagine what it might be like to stand on the moon…a foreign and seemingly barren landscape. We were hooked. My husband said to me as we gazed wistfully back towards the city: “We should do this once a week. We should take a little hike somewhere, maybe every Saturday.” And since then…that’s exactly what we’ve done!

Every Saturday we take a mini vacation for a few hours by gearing up and casually hiking. We’re out there in the heat or the cold and, barring extremely bad weather, sometimes in the rain. We’ve hiked all over the metro Atlanta area, North Georgia, the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee, parts of Florida and the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina – and we’re expanding our horizons. We used to be middle-aged, non-athletic folks, and now we are middle-aged, healthier and more athletic folks who have loads of fun “Forest Bathing” and hiking every weekend. So I figure if we can do it, you can do it, too. I think you’ll be amazed by what you can see and discover out there.

Here’s my blog with posts on the places we’ve been, experiences we’ve had and pictures of the sights we’ve seen. There are also some great tips about things we’ve learned along the way on the pages of this site, as well as ideas for what to wear and an ongoing list of some good reads.  I hope this inspires you to get out there and take a hike!