#11 escape to stone mountain

#11 happened on a spontaneous trip to atlanta, georgia to visit a dear college friend. i had been wanting to pay xan a visit for quite sometime. so two days out i thought, why not? yolo, right? kidding. but really... yolo.

for a trip with zero preparation, everything was going smoothly. i even made it to the airport early. that never happens. with time to kill, i pulled out my lap top, found an open outlet and parked it on the floor. after about 15 minutes i felt a pair of beady little eyes on me. they followed me as i lined up to board the plane. every step i made, they made too. i made my way to an open row and had a seat. my shadow sat right next to me. i immediately knew what was going on. i was katniss everdeen and she was my rue. after chatting i found out 'rue' was traveling alone for the first time. for whatever reason, she clung to me. she was timid at first but judging by the way she was sound asleep and snoring on my shoulder mid-flight, she felt comfortable in no time. once we landed, in true katniss fashion, i made sure 'rue' found her aunt who was waiting for her at the gate. then, my mini vacay began!

after a quick google search for activities in atlanta, i stumbled upon stone mountain. i had heard about stone mountain for some time. i thought it would be just another mountain to climb, but nope. it's an entire theme park. there are festivals, special events, a golf course, sky rides, zip lines, camp grounds, laser shows and so much more. it is pretty incredible. upon entering the park, you are charged a minimal fee (about ten bucks for the day) and handed a map. i may be directionally challenged, but xan is not. with map in hand, we got lost. we ended up taking the scenic roundabout route to find the mountain. can't complain-- i got to see plenty of park! 

once we found the mountain, we hopped out of the car and started the trek! the first stop was at the goodie goodie gum drop tree. it's not really called that, but it should be. i'm not sure how this became a thing, but apparently sticking your chewed gum to this tree is a georgia tradition. so i got a stick of gum from a fellow hiker, popped it in my mouth and started chewing. when in georgia...


as i got closer to the tree i realized that this tree was a giant germfest. think about it... the goodie goodie gum drop tree 
is the tree o' saliva.  but on with tradition! once i chewed up my gum i stuck it to the tree. as you can see, i did well hiding my disgust.

after my gum adventure i decided to start jogging the trail. the first half of the mountain is pretty rocky and it is more of a hop, skip and a jump than a walk. the second half goes at a steady incline and turned out to be a fun run. at a particular point on the mountain there are guardrails to hold onto because the mountain becomes very steep. running up that part of the mountain was a workout. (using the guardrails are a definite necessity on the way down)

feelin' the love

the sweet lovebirds

the view from the mountain top is beautiful. you can see all of atlanta. it makes the hike up there well worth it. aside from the breathtaking view, the first thing i noticed once at the top was this adorable couple sitting side by side just soaking up the scenery. i creepily took some pictures of them then got the courage to ask them if they would like me to take some of their own. the woman, beaming with joy, smiled at me and proudly said, "we've been married for 29 years now. we would love that." i took a number of pictures for them, even egged her husband on to give his lady a smooch on the lips for a picture then headed back over to join my hiking buddies. we took some pictures of our own, i was pretty proud of my l.o.v.e. (above) and from the corner of my eye i could see that sweet couple hugging, smiling and pointing at their new pictures. that right there was the highlight of my climb. seeing two people so happily in love and just living in that moment. it was so refreshing. truly, a beautiful sight.

can't climb a mountain without a photo-op

i jogged most of the way down and stopped every now and then to play on or admire the rocks. many of the stones have carvings on them. family names, so-and-so loves so-and-so, symbols, etc. some of them are actually pretty intricate and impressive. definitely adds lots of character. the mountain as a whole is not a tough climb. i'm fairly confident that any level climber, beginner to expert, could conquer this one. the park itself would take an entire weekend to explore. i'll be back one day for the light show, that's for sure. we had some lovely cool georgia weather the whole day and our hike was very enjoyable. turns out the odds were ever in my favor.

to learn more about stone mountain click here:
stone mountain park

the earth laughs in flowers.

e. e. cummings