Lookout Mountain 2.23.13

Nance Jo, Nancy, Cathy, Donna, Caroline, Ed & Earl  What a fun day!  It was overcast, foggy and damp, but that didn't stop us.  The temperature was in the mid 40's. We met at Craven's House and promptly headed down the Hardy Trail. As can be seen by a couple of the pictures, it was quite foggy.  Our goal was to reach the bolder that had recently fallen off the mountain and completely blocked the trail.  We intended to then take the Mountain Beautiful Trail up the mountain making a loop and then return to Craven's House.  Unfortunately upon reaching the Mountain Beautiful Trail we found that it was closed.  We couldn't see any problem but rather than chance it we returned down the Hardy Trail to Cravens House and started in the opposite direction than we had planned.  By navigating the Upper Truck trail and a couple of other trails we finally made it back to the parking lot at Craven's House.  One section of the trail was pretty steep so I would rate the hike as moderate to severe.  The distance of the hike was originally planned to be about 4.5 miles, but with the backtracking it turned out to be just over 6 miles.  After the hike we, of course, just had to eat so we all went to the Mojo Burrito in St. Elmo.  If you would like to see a few pictures of the hike click on the Lookout Mountain tab above.