This weekend, my daughter planned an incredible get away/hiking adventure. Tucked away in the Tennessee/North Carolina border, we stayed just outside the little town of Roan Mountain. She found us an Indian themed cabin, that was cozy if not just a little over the top.
This was my actual bed.
We gave the kids the queen room since they brought their dog, and JG slept on his inflatable on the kitchen floor. It was way more comfortable than it looks.
Anyway, on Saturday morning, she took us to a section of the Appalachian Trail that was a view seekers paradise. If you have hiked the AT, you may know this spot – it was quite popular on this crisp September morning.
The hike starts off on an easy trail through the forest. . .
and brings you out onto the first of three bald knobs.
It just gets better from here. If every hike had this many views, I would never stay home.
But the most fun for me, was hiking with family. We don’t get to do this very often and even though the kids go much faster than we do (and end up waiting on us) I think they enjoyed showing us this part of the AT that was new to us.
Grand dog Stark, had a good time as well. He can’t believe how high up he is.
On the return trip, the clouds were moving in, but we did not get any rain. I was so taken with the ridges and how they interacted with the sky – what a fantastic setting.
We were all pooped by the time we returned to the cabin, especially Stark. We had a quiet evening in. This morning we had breakfast together and then parted ways. I mentioned to JG that if he wanted to pull over for a quick hike on the way home, I did have a clean hiking outfit.
He took me up on it, and we stopped for a short loop at Grayson Highlands, where autumn has arrived a little earlier than the rest of the state.
What a perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Taking back roads home, I took this shot as it looked like we were driving into a major storm. Turns out we just got the tail end of it.
I love that our family enjoys these adventures together. What fun things do you like to do with family?
The Unassuming Hiker 
So inspiring! I have to put it on the list of family hikes we love to hike and eat together and once we’re tired and full we play cards
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We ended up playing cards at the cabin as well. I love the taste of food after a long day of hiking. You would enjoy this hike and it’s not too far from you.
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You got some great photos there Karen – especially those ridges going off into the distance for forever – and the tail end of the storm makes me wonder what the front end looked like! How cool was your bed – sleeping in a covered wagon would be fun wouldn’t it – as long as the horses aren’t tied on 🙂 When my family gets together we rarely do much more than sit around nattering and drinking endless cups of coffee – except for when we get up and head off for a walk on the beach, but that usually involves a lot of chatting too…….
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Chatting is good too, whatever brings you together. That bed was a trip! With the amount of water on the road, I would say it was a pretty good storm.
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Hi, Karen – Hiking (a section of) the A. T. gets higher and higher on my bucket list every time that I read your posts! 🙂
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Great! The more I hike on the AT, the more I like it.
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I love it when my kids (well teenagers) come out hiking with me too. Just spent our weekend camping & hiking as a family. It wasn’t a big hike but I was happy just to have them out there with me. Great post 🙂
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Thanks! One of the best things about this trip was NO INTERNET!
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Ha ha Yes 🙂
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Once we enjoyed these trips, despite my fear of heights. You are looking so fit
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Thank you Derrick!
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Beautiful photos, Karen! That cabin – oh my! It looked cozy though. Love hiking with family. Glad you had such a great weekend.
Deb
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Thanks Deb, you know I don’t camp, so this is my compromise. It was actually pretty fun.
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That bed! Oh my … glad it was more comfortable than it looked!
The image of the clouds and mountains with grasss in the front offers a wonderful layered effect. Super shot! This is a perfect example of why clouds make the difference.
I rode home under clouds as in that last photo, but thankfully they only opened up on me for about 10 minutes. Soaked but happy!
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Getting in and out of the bed was a bit of a challenge, but it had a good mattress. I pretended like I was getting an MRI, ha. Yes, I love the clouds! We completely missed the rain, but the roads were soaked. On the bike or on a hike, the rain is just part of the experience.
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Your bed is hilarious!! I can imagine that getting in and out was … shall we say, interesting? 😆
You already know that I’m sooo jealous of your access to the AT. Sigh. Thanks for sharing the photos. I’ll just have to appreciate it from afar 🙂
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It was a trip! Glad you are enjoying the views from afar. Some day. . .
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How nice that you were able to share your hike with loved ones. That bed was so funny… I think I may have been a little claustrophobic in there. I like to have my nose and feet out in the fresh air. Those storm clouds are wonderful… we don’t get anything like that around here.
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I’m usually very claustrophobic, but the canopy was very high, there was a window right behind the bed, so I had fresh air, and I untucked everything before I got in. Clouds have really been fascinating lately.
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Yeehaw! What a fun, funky cabin.
The hikes look spectacular, and what a great way to spend time with family!!!
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Thanks Cindy! It was really fun.
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What a fun trip! I’m glad you all had fun together, although sleeping under the “covered wagon” will be hard to top for future trips. LOL I’m glad you were able to “outrun” the storm. It’s been an active summer.
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Thanks Alys, I’m so glad we’ve found an activity we all enjoy doing together. Have your storms finally calmed down? What a stressful year you all have had.
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We’ve been on high fire alert this week due to high winds, dry conditions and of course “fuel” after six months without a drop. The big fires are out. October is historically a terrible month for fire storms (Oakland Hills, deadly) and last years Coffey Fire, also deadly. We’re holding our collective breath.
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