Hiker Release Program - Big Loop Hike @ Big Ridge State Park

It's been a couple of months since our last hike, and with Robin in her 9th month, there's not much chance she'll be visiting any trails in the near future (unless of course we go for a short walk on the Songbird Trail at Norris). Since our last hike was in June, I've been jonesing to get into the woods for a walk. Like a crack addict, I was willing to go off without my trail partner and tramp around on my own. I had hoped to do this the prior weekend but a little cold virus got in the way of that. It was more or less God's way of telling me I ought not leave Robin home to go play forest boy.

This past weekend however, I was determined to get out no matter what. I had originally planned on going on a much longer hike than the 6 miles I actually did. The original plan included 10+ miles of hiking at Big Ridge State Park and covered all but two trails in the park and half of the Lake Trail. By the time all was said and done, I ended up cutting out over 4 miles. For one, there was weather imminent and I didn't want to be caught in the rain. For two, it was 11am by the time Clover and I reached the Dark Hollow/Big Valley Junction. I wanted to be off the trail by 1pm at the latest so I could get home and be available to assist Robin's dad in troubleshooting our water heater (he's got more plumbing experience than I do).

Something is Smelling a Bit Fishy to Me

Have you ever wondered how or why you happen to have such good fortune? You know when everything seems to be going just right? As though the stars just happen to be properly aligned or something like that for you to receive a bounty beyond your imagination? Maybe I'm exaggerating a little here. The past couple of weeks we've had the fortune/misfortune of ending up on a couple "Best Of" lists and I've seen a couple others pop up here and there for the outdoor (e.g. hiking, camping, backpacking, etc.) blog world.

The first was last week sometime when we received an email that we had made it on to the Top 100 camping bloggers list hosted by justbackpacksonline. It goes on to say that they are going to widdle the list over the next few weeks from 100 to 75 to 50 and so on until they arrive at the best blog and award said blog a gift card (btw, I've yet to receive any notification as to whether we've made it to the next round or not). The criteria that the site mentions for widdling down the sites is a combination of content updates, and traffic sent to their site through the award badge they've provided for your blog. I have since removed the badge but have included the image here for you to see.

Roane County "Run for your Health" 5k report

I really didn't hype this race or anything on Facebook or Twitter like I did when I went to run in the Coalfield 5k or when I ran the Man Run with the kiddo. Maybe it was because I wanted to make sure I met my goal so I didn't want to jinx it by talking it up. More than likely it's just been the fact that we've been so busy with doctors appointments twice a week, baby shower, nesting, etc. etc. With all that's been going on, we really haven't had a whole lot of time to do much in the way of the blog and because of that, the social network aspects of the blog and our lives in general have "suffered?".

Well I don't know that that is totally a bad thing, you know not spending the majority of our time on Facebook, Twitter, Google +.... you get the drift. After all, we are outdoor bloggers and Robin's been on to me for quite sometime about this social networking addiction I have. Something along the lines of, "people will see right through you if all you do is spend time on Twitter and Facebook. How can you enjoy the outdoors like you blog about if you are consumed?" Yes, the lesson is definitely being learned. Because I've not put so much time in front of the computer, I can tell a difference in myself and in the relationship with the family. I'm more present and I can tell they like it.

Thank You October, Hello November

We hope that everyone had a wonderfully spooky Halloween. You should all be well on your way to hiking off all those extra sugary calories that have been consumed by the mouthfuls the past couple of days. Of course if you aren't then we completely understand. We had a good Halloween as always, complete with some pumpkin carvings and the girls getting dressed up to get some loot. Kiddo went this year as a Panda Bear and the Joders went as a Kitty Cat. Next year will be a different story as Dinah will be here and will be almost a year old. I wonder what we will dress her as? I guess we will find out next year.

With everything going on we haven't really had time to post or have time to do things to post about. Regardless though we are still getting traffic to the blog and that in a large way is due to you our fellow bloggers who link out to us. That's right, once again it's time that we show our bloggers some love and say thank you for all that you do. So without further ado, we'd like to thank the following for the traffic they generate for us:

- The Adventures of Tom and Atticus
- Outdoot Blogger Network
- Diary of a Day Hiker
- Trail Sherpa
- Live Free and Hike New Hampshire
- Hiking in the Smokys
- Meanderthals
- Two Heel Drive
- GPS Track Log
- Mamabug's Nature Photos
- Owl Jones
- High on LeConte
- My Life Outdoors
- Mountain Ultralight
- Hiking the Trail
- Section Hiker
- Backpacking North
- Brian's Backpacking Blog
- Husky Hiker
- Hiking Fiasco
- Hiking Finland
- Blue Roads to Hiking Trails
- Marking My Territory
- Metro to Mountain
- Fat Man of the Mountains
- Our Appalachia
- Take A Hike GPS
- The Adventures of Jobiwan
- Family Wilds
- Your Outdoor Family

Again thank you all for doing what you do, getting outside and sharing it with the rest of us. Here's to a fabulous November, and be sure to stay warm.

Happy Trails,
Tim and Robin