Trail Tuesday – Cookeville, TN

Last month, Heather, Bailey and I went hiking down in Shawnee and had some post-hike beers at Scratch. We were gathered around notebooks and planners plotting future outings when Heather said she wanted to do something fun for her birthday the last weekend in February. Bailey knew immediately where to go and what to do, and so about 6 weeks later we found ourselves traveling 5.5 hours east to Cookeville to chase waterfalls.

Sometimes the best medicine is spending two nights in a cabin that’s tucked away in the rolling hills of Tennessee with your weirdo friends.

(That absolutely includes fits of hysterical laughter, too much sangria, lots of good food, and promises of days filled with putting miles on the car, singalongs, muddy boots, rain kissed hair and that adventure you’ve been craving this long, cold winter.)

2018 has been a unique kind of crazy around here for me. A lot of bad with the good. A lot of off and on winter sickness. Work stress. Worrying about things out of my control. I am a winter lover, but I’m ready for spring and summer more than ever. I need some sun, a gentle 70-degree breeze, and camping. I want float trips, dewy mornings and long days. For now, a much needed weekend away sufficed.

A few times during this trip I had either rain, sweat or tears streaming down my face. I let a lot go on the trails this weekend. While I’m still a little overwhelmed and exhausted, I feel that the disaster that was last week has left the building.

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Photos and links in the order of parks we visited;

Cummins Falls State Park

Savage Gulf State Natural Area

Fall Creek Falls

Piney Falls

Rock Island State Park

Burgess Falls

This was a weekend for the books.

J

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