Pining for the Fjords

Just some father/daughter bonding at the cabin in Townsend Howdy, all!  In case I haven't mentioned it on the blog yet, in early October, Chris and I are heading to Scotland (my third trip there, his second), and part of our adventures will include hiking the "Highlands" section of the West Highland Way .  We're working with a baggage transfer company that will move our luggage from one night's lodging to the next (no camping/backpacking for us this time, I'm a bit cranky for that), and we'll be completing around 36 miles of trekking over three consecutive days.  To ensure we're ready, we've been gradually increasing our trail mileage, and to further help us prepare, the week of the 4th of July found us packing up the girls and heading to a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains .  Our plan was to hike three days in a row, to simulate our upcoming time on the Way, and the Smokies gave us plenty of trail options from which to choose. Although the Smokie...

Did you read Part 1 ? Getting ready to hike the trails at Bardstown Community Park We didn't sleep as well at White Acres Campground from Thursday to Friday as we did the prior night, as it was quite a bit warmer, and we missed the rain softly drumming on the roof of Zelda the travel trailer.  When we made it out of bed, we once again did coffee/tea and warmed up breakfast casserole with biscuits, and then it was time to hit the trails!  While there's not a ton of hiking near Bardstown, the Community Park just outside of downtown has a few trails that total around 3 miles or so.  This sounded just right to us on this particular morning, so off we went! Although it didn't rain on Thursday, the Wednesday evening deluge meant the trails were still pretty soggy, so we did a fair bit of slipping and sliding as we hiked.  Part of the trail system includes one along a ridge that borders the Heaven Hill Distillery , and we were able to see the facility at work - truly, ther...