avondale training journal, starting Dec. 2018 (comments welcome)

[garneska]

I know august is busy but i felt it was the best option for GTTS road to be open and be able to hike. We tried to get reservations for July but everything was sold out. We are staying in the park so that will help with the timed entry (won't need it since i have hotel reservations). I am still worried about parking. Interesting on Highline because I am slightly less interested in it. I am going to take a look at the pics.

I was considering Siyeh Bend. I think it depends how trained up i can be for that. I also have on my list Cracker Lake.

We have not really hiked since my knee issue. I am cleared to hike but with my mom we can only hike on Sundays. Honestly by Sunday we just want to rest. We know we will have to train for hiking so if we don't start soon we definitely need to start after Marathon weekend. DH and I are doing the half. However Jan to Aug should be plenty of time. I can hike North Georgia so i can get some elevation.

 

[RuntheMouse]

Honestly the Highline Trail was a bit of a disappointment. The exposure and being on the cliff edge is fantastic, especially since it's not really THAT dangerous.

It FELT scary at the time when we did it. I was best friends with the cable for a bit

 

[avondale]

I know august is busy but i felt it was the best option for GTTS road to be open and be able to hike. We tried to get reservations for July but everything was sold out. We are staying in the park so that will help with the timed entry (won't need it since i have hotel reservations). I am still worried about parking. Interesting on Highline because I am slightly less interested in it. I am going to take a look at the pics.

I was considering Siyeh Bend. I think it depends how trained up i can be for that. I also have on my list Cracker Lake.

We have not really hiked since my knee issue. I am cleared to hike but with my mom we can only hike on Sundays. Honestly by Sunday we just want to rest. We know we will have to train for hiking so if we don't start soon we definitely need to start after Marathon weekend. DH and I are doing the half. However Jan to Aug should be plenty of time. I can hike North Georgia so i can get some elevation.

Yeah, parking at the various trailheads can fill up really fast. But, honestly, you need to start hikes really early anyway so that you can be off the trails by ~1pm to avoid summer thunderstorms.

Training is good, but hiking is not a race, so as long as you're willing to be slow, you can do a lot of it with less preparation. I did Glacier before my knee issues, but I don't recall it being the sort of trails with a lot of "giant steps" - just uphill slopes. I find that much easier on the knees.

I'm pretty sure the Siyeh Bend hike we did, we parked at the trailhead and hiked over the pass and ended on Going to the Sun Road at a bus stop, and then we took the park bus back to our car. It really was a pretty spectacular hike.

We didn't do Cracker Lake - don't remember if there was a specific reason, or just that it didn't look better to us than some other hikes/lakes.