Life’s a hike !!

I always want to come up with some kinda interesting catch phrase for my post and given all the covid -times, this thread has been most dearest to me honestly which has kept me going for so long. So indeed "Life" is a Hike.

Since this blog has always motivated me personally and became a self-rewarding morale-boosting interest-building exciting activity for me, "Tangy notes" has taken several turns from a cooking blog to travel to fashion and now to life. 

I am no blogger or writer by any means but also I have never hesitated in trying anything new - I will give that much credit to myself :) that is why Tangy notes will be a special place for me to document some precious ME moments that I want to look back and smile to. 

Coming to hikes, I now consider them as a sanity building fitness activity that we have been enjoying as a family (obviously mixed with some dragging, crying, huffing and puffing from my 2 little hikers). Personally, all the hikes have given me time to be with myself, run through my deep emotions while walking and then finally a pat on the back towards building some kind of consistency in a group physical activity.

So here are my lookout points in the hike of life that I wished to explore !!

Shals

Conway Robinson State Park: This was a flat trail and a closed loop. It was a great find with a muddy biking path. 
http://www.dof.virginia.gov/stateforest/list/conway-robinson.htm

 Raven Rocks: As the name goes, this trail was 5.3 miles of pure hard work with a rewarding view of the extremely beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains via the Applachian trail.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/virginia/raven-rocks-via-appalachian-trail

McKee Beshers: This is not a trail but if you are looking for a beautiful sunflower display, you may want to check it out. Be sure to check out the full bloom time before you plan.
https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/publiclands/central/mckeebeshers.aspx

Billy Goat Trail: A very flat 4.7 mile of a beautiful river channel alongside which has plenty to see.
https://www.hikingupward.com/OMH/BillyGoatTrail/

Beaver Dam: Short and sweet trail in our backyard. Loved the beautiful views of kayaks, paddleboards and fishing in the ware body.
https://www.novaparks.com/parks/beaverdam-reservoir

 Hollow Brook: Medium level hike to reward the hikers with a beautiful waterfall.
 https://www.hikingupward.com/OVH/HollowBrook/

Bull Run Occpquan trail: The loveliest of all trails in Manasas. Various lookout points, perfect for overlooking the river path.
https://www.novaparks.com/parks/bull-run-occoquan-trail

 Bears Den: There was no bear but a great view definitely caught our attention.
https://www.bearsdencenter.org/

Harepers Ferry: Our all time favorite Church that lead to a beautiful trail over Loudoun heights. 
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/west-virginia/loudoun-heights-trail-to-split-rock

Aldie Dam: So close and so beautiful. An evening stroll lead to a beautiful find. No wonder it is crowded with Loudoun residents. There is a beautiful "beach" and a "swing" to complete the scenery.

Crabtree Waterfalls: My love for waterfalls is not a joke and it was worth the long drive to discover this beautiful hike and a very steep trail.

https://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/crabtree-falls-trail.htm

Leesylvania State Park: We really needed to record a hike on the last of August to complete a challenge and achieve our limited edition badge in our watches and We did it! 

https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/leesylvania 

Manassas Battlefield Park: For years of just passing by and admiring a small little fort from the traffic light stop, finally we made our trip to beautiful battlefield park on a pleasant  cloudy day. The park is an historic site and is loaded with history of civil war. The park is marked with number of signboards depicting the details of the battle of Manassas and is a great find. 

https://www.nps.gov/mana/index.htm

Triple Falls on Bruce Creek TN

While in the mountains of TN, it made sense to explore a little and record an entry to visit some beautiful waterfalls and to our luck we had a very beautiful not one , not two but a triple waterfall creek. It had lookout points to see three waterfall points with an amazing uphill hike. 

And yes BE #fearless ! 

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/tennessee/triple-falls-trail-on-bruce-creek

Cove Lake State Park, TN

Another of a close by trail from our vacation house which led to the beautiful scenic lake view points. 

#Mindovermatter

https://tnstateparks.com/parks/cove-lake

Mountain Calling ⛰ TN

We always look for moments to breakthrough into a positive vibe and the change of scenery helps. But, more important thing is to have a breakthrough of mindset. Traveling to the mountains in Gatlinburg, TN was the step in that direction.

In my self discovery I learnt that the mountains are exact representation of life - The “peace and quiet” of the mountain is what we look for to achieve the calmness and stability in life. The “uphill and downhill” represents the movements in life that never stops. The “lookout points” are a perfect stopovers in life to appreciate and admire and count the blessings. Watching sunrise and sunset are the hopes and dreams that we cannot survive without. 🤓

This trip also came at the right time to celebrate something really important to me so having a great family time was all in my agenda. Exploring little trails and short hikes were a perfect way to enjoy the beautiful week of October. 

Gatlinburg has also a great downtown which offers plenty of tourist activities which we didn’t do at all. 

The skybridge and visit to the Ole Smoky Moonshine distillery did the trick to give the perfect TN feel :)

While driving back, we made a pit stop at blackbird donuts and relished hash brown casserole and lemon glazed donuts in a small town called Bristol which is the “Birthplace of country music” and is on the border of TN and VA. Pretty cool ..