Off we headed again to one of our favorite vacation spots. Pup was all in (as you can tell from the photo) and if you look carefully, you will see that we actually transported another friend with us this time (peep Beckett on the right). They were literally awesome the whole trip. We love traveling with our pup(s).
One of the things that we love most about Rabun County (have I mentioned this before?) is the simple way of life. We literally love being lazy while we are there. We typically sleep in, cook a big breakfast (eggs, bacon & oatmeal anyone?), pack a simple lunch for our hike and then spend the afternoon hiking. We typically get back early afternoon, shower, cook a big (early) dinner, then binge watch every Netflix movie that has come out since the last time we were at the cabin. No joke. We were here for 5 days and watched 17 Netflix movies. (You do the math!)
We tried some new hikes out this trip, and I just wanted to share them with you!
Alright, I am not sure if this one is new or not, but one of our all time favorite trails to take pup on is this Black Rock Lake Trail at Black Rock Mountain State Park. It is less than a mile, but winds and curves back around the lake. We love that it is flat and that it is easy for pup to walk. Cincy loves the fact that it is near water, because he is quite the swimmer. It is rarely crowded and the terrain is still decent, even on rainy days!
This new hike was a super fun one. We went into Moccasin Creek State Park is not far from our cabin, so we headed that way. There is a one mile wildlife trail that loops through some forest. There are a few cool photo ops, and one little fort that you can climb up and see over the landscape. We enjoyed this walk because it was not crowded and easy to follow. Hemlock Falls was the second hike (after about a .75 mile walk) right past the entrance of the Wildlife Trail. There is also a street that you can drive down to park at the trail head, but you know us - always trying to get our miles in. Hemlock falls was a beautiful two-mile hike that is not too hard. There was some elevation, but the falls were so fun. Instead of a tall waterfall like you normally see, these are a little shorter, but oh so strong coming down. What is fun, though, is that you can basically just swim at the base of the falls (which you know that pup loved).
After you walk these trails, make sure you take a few minutes to check out the Burton Trout Hatchery. There are thousands of fish there from super tiny, to big trout. It is really cool to walk around and see how they grow them. The only downside is that pups aren't allowed, so we did a quick walk through to check it out (while we left pup in the car with the air on to cool down after our nice walk).
Another new adventure was to Anna Ruby Falls and Unicoi State Park. We did two different hikes this day. The second one was actually the hike to Anna Ruby falls (after a short drive through Unicoi State Park). The hike isn't too bad, but it is steep so make sure you wear decent shoes. We liked that it was short (less than a mile) and that it was paved! This helped since it had rained our entire trip to the park. The only bummer with this trail is that is does cost $3 a person to enter the Anna Ruby Rec Area.
Y'all. This picture doesn't nearly do it justice. The views are stellar and completely breathtaking.
P.S. If you are wondering why I am wearing hats in all of our pictures...it was tick season and Josh said, "I'm tired of picking ticks out of your mane." So there it is.
This is where you can find me during any daylight hours when we are home at the cabin (typically with a book in hand)!
<3 <3 <3,
Hilary & Josh
