October 22, 2016 my friends and I hiked Charlies Bunion trail. This was supposed to be a "fall colors" hike but turned into more of a winter hike. The top of the trail was covered in frost. This made a pretty contrast between the white frost and the colorful leaves.
Today my friends and I hiked to Bote Mountain, near Cades Cove. This hike was just under 7 miles. The first 5 miles are a climb that felt like it would continue forever. Every time we turned a corner I hoped for the trail to level out but it just kept going up. When hiking up hill I like to push on and only stop at natural stopping points where the trail levels off or reaches a clearing, but on this trail the up hill part went on for so long we had to stop a few times. This was a good late-summer hike.
RAGBRAI 2016! My family and I rode the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, RAGBRAI, this summer. We biked 420 miles in 7 days (average 60 miles per day) from Glenwood on the Missouri River (west) to Muscatine on the Mississippi River (east). My dad and brother and I also rode RAGBRAI 2012 and RAGBRAI 2010, and my dad and I rode RAGBRAI 2008.
Today I hiked Chimney Tops. This is a short 2 mile hike to the top, but 1,487 feet of climbing. This was my second time hiking this trail, but the first time I didn’t feel comfortable rock scrambling to the top. This time I climbed along the bare rocky ridge to wonderful views of the lush, green, mid-summer valleys and mountains.
In March 2016 I ran the Atlanta half with my good friend Hannah. We finished in 2:20 with a good 10:41 pace. The weather was nice and cool, and the route went through downtown and some pretty areas.
On Thanksgiving 2015 I ran the Turkey Trot with my family. I had a personal record of 23:29 (7:34 pace). It was a great run with some drum and bass tunes.
Also in Fall 2015 I ran the Farragut 13.1 half in Knoxville. This was a really pretty run through west Knoxville. My time was 2:04:19, with a pace of 9:29. At this point that seems to be my general pace. I finished 8 out of 13 in my group.
Today my family and I went hiking on Roan Mountain. This is a pretty hike, mostly because the trail follows the crest of a grassy bald. The forests give way, and the summit is just a meadow. There are unobstructed views in all directions. Roan Mountain also has the largest natural rhododendron garden which blooms in the summer.
Fall 2015 I ran the Atlanta half marathon with friends in the Bredesen Center. I finished in 2:03:02, just over 2 hours.
July 19, 2015 my friends and I hiked Charlies Bunion. This was middle of the summer, everything was super green and many interesting looking plants were out. The orange vine is a Cuscuta, a parasitic plant that will kill the host, but it looks cool. The Cuscuta will inject itself into the host plant and syphon off nutrients and water.
