Never Grow Bored

Once and a while you come across a hidden gem in almost plain sight.  This is the case with the rarely visited Coyote Falls.  Located only a 1/4 down Hwy 107 from the very popular Silver Run Falls turnoff, Coyote Falls remains seldomly traveled.   I was making plans for a weekend of hiking one evening, and speaking to my friend and fellow explorer Leslie about some Cashiers/Glenville area hikes when she mentioned Coyote Falls.  I had never heard of this falls, so of course, like any other person these days in the age of technology, I googled it.  There was NOT much information available online, but I was able to find GPS coordinates for the trailhead, which is really all I needed.  There were a few photos, but nothing on AllTrails and a little on google.   This particular early Saturday morning, I had planned to hit up High Falls near Lake Glenville, then Silver Run Falls, and if time allowed, possibly Coyote Falls.  After a great visit ...

The day started off as many hikes do with a bit of doubt, worry & small fear of the unknown.  Today I was driving further than I have previously for a hike since moving to the Carolinas. I have seen several photographs and trail reviews for the Linville Gorge Wilderness and was planning on visiting for a while. Today was the day! The weather was sunny with only a few clouds as Gus and I made our way for the 2hr 15min drive north past Asheville to Linville Gorge. We had a few hikes on our agenda which was ambitious, but doable.  Upon arriving in Linville Gorge we by happenstance ran into a Park Ranger. I asked several questions regarding the hikes since he had the most intimate knowledge of the area. I rattled off my shortlist and he advised me to maybe skip one due to the high amount of foot traffic from tourists and I would be likely disappointed. However, the first two hikes I mentioned he said were "must dos". The first hike was Table Rock Moun...

Recently, I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to travel to Iceland during February as a great chance to relieve stress from work and daily life, but mainly to check out the Aurora Borealis or more commonly referred to as the Northern Lights. I had only seen the Aurora once previously when I was living in Montana traveling north towards Canadian border near the small town of Glasgow, MT.  They were magical and I longed to see this natural chemical reaction phenomenon once again!   Kayla had added me a tad late, but conveniently had an amazing schedule planned out in advance for our daily travels of sights to check out and some must-do's while in Iceland.  I will share our day-to-day adventures below.  I will also link several Google Map locations incase you want to check out these places for yourselves or get directions.  Day 1:   Reykjavik, Churches & Northern Lights We arrived in the capital city of Reykjavik at 5AM i...

Don't you feel like good surprises are bonuses provided at the most unexpected times?  I recently had this experience on trail checking out some waterfalls in Sumter National Forest. Gus and I set out on a clear blue sky day to hunt down Miuka Falls (also referred to as Cheohee Falls) and check out Secret Falls too.  Looking at AllTrails site, the directions generated by other users were unclear, terrible photos and pictures and even worse trail recordings.  We needed to get outside after all the recent rains we were having for two reasons:  the "Cabin Fever" had set in and the Falls should be full! We packed up and headed down the road.  Upon arriving to the designated parking area off the side of the road, we started on a small slightly overgrown trail taking us into a closed for the winter campground, then finally to the Winding Stairs Trail.  This was supposed to be a down and back 6.9 mile hike, however several people had apparently made a...

There comes a point in things we do even though we enjoy them, we find ourselves getting a bit jaded and passive.  I don't know about you, but I personally almost get dismissive too (which is a really bad habit).  When I look back at this, I get disappointed in myself for allowing me to get this way.  However, these things happen is such small little unnoticeable steps, that by the time we are away from where we started, we didn't even realize how far deviated we've gone.  I'm sure you can relate. This happened to me most recently with hiking and waterfall chasing at the beautiful Long Creek Falls in Oconee State Park, South Carolina just a bit past Clemson. Gus and I had just completed a great challenging hike watching the leaves change at Table Rock State Park and we were pretty much counting the hiking season as "done".  However, for some reason I kept coming back to Long Creek Falls on my AllTrails "Favorites" app.  The hike didn't s...

We should all challenge ourselves from time to time.  This could be setting personal records in the gym, running a faster split time, making a better creme brûlée, or hiking longer distances. I recently was able to throw down a 11.2 mile hike.  This is a much further than the other hikes I've been completing as of lately.  To be honest, afterwards I was a little proud of myself. 😊 I have been to Jones Gap State Park several times in the past year since moving to South Carolina. The park is always buzzing with people to see some of the waterfalls Jones Gap State Park houses. The main of these we have previously talked about is Rainbow Falls. However, this particular day we had set out to hike the Jones Gap Loop Trail.  Typically this trail is completed by starting in Caesars Head State Park / Mountain Bridge Wilderness, going downhill for their first section, then through Jones Gap State Park for the second section, and finally rounding off the th...