First Day Hike 2026
After visiting family for the holidays, I knew I wanted to go somewhere, but I was struggling to decide where. A friend of mine has often suggested Stone Mountain State Park, but usually I decide against the 5 1/2 hour drive (slightly longer with my dog.)
I was a little stressed & overwhelmed with a list of things to do & places to see. I had a full day to unpack, do a load of laundry, repack, and head out. I tried not to overpack; mostly just packed too much food. It’s’ easy for the mentality to be “if you have the space, take it. Why not?” I do not personally love this mentality although I do embrace it sometimes. I prefer to keep things as simple as possible.
We were a little later heading out than I wanted but soon we were on the road and arrived at Stone Mountain State Park close to 6 pm. Just in time to take George for a short walk, feed him, heat up my HEARTY VEGAN CHORIZO CHILI, and enjoy the quiet. After dinner, I made a quick bucket list, took George for another quick walk by the creek that ran beside my campsite, gazed at the near full moon, and climbed in bed.
The plan was to hike to the falls, then see how I felt about hiking the summit. Well, when you park at the original parking lot (Upper Falls) but the trail to the falls is under maintenance and the stairs to the upper falls are being repaired, you have no choice. Hike to summit! Okay, we did have a choice. We could have driven to the other parking lot and hiked to the middle and lower falls I suppose. However, there was a scheduled First Day Hike and I was worried about crowds and a full parking lot, as we got a late morning start. George was a trooper and we made it to the summit, taking a break for water/snacks and the view.
Needless to say, not having mountains to hike at home, we were both tired after this 3.5 hour climb. Next, we drove to the Lower Falls Lot and hiked a much shorter, with less elevation, trail to the Hutchinson Homestead. There we enjoyed a beautiful view of the side of Stone Mountain, and walked around the Homestead. I enjoyed reading the history of the cabins here.
I decided to drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway from here, with the hope of seeing a beautiful sunset at Doughton Park. However, with a wrong turn or two and fatigue, I became frustrated, decided to take a quick peak at Brinegar Cabin, where I also stopped to brew a much needed afternoon coffee (only my 2nd cup of the day!) There were a couple of picnic tables here and I thought we might have a sunset view, but it was also windy and colder and not the view I had anticipated. I also forgot how much later the sunset could be enjoyed up on the mountain.
While I was disappointed in missing the sunset at Doughton Park, I drove back down the parkway with gorgeous sunset views along the overlooks. As my friend kindly noted, “sometimes you miss stuff.” That made me feel better. Another upside to getting back to our campsite earlier and NOT having cell signal is taking time to journal, read, and go to sleep early!
Friday, our drive home day. However, I could not leave without a waterfall site, and another drive up the Parkway to Doughton Park. I paid for this with a late drive home, but it was so worth it. Another hiker on the the summit trail had mentioned Widow’s Creek Falls, a very short, easy walk from the parking area, so we checked this out, then drove up the Parkway. The falls were smaller, but beautiful none the less. And, who dislikes water, was very brave!
Once we got to Doughton Park, we took one more little hike, just under 2 miles and relatively easy, although we were both tired and George was not thrilled with me at all. He did get to meet a couple of other K-9 friends, which I think he enjoyed.
Some final reflections on this 2 night excursion that are worth noting. I did not take the time to plan and download maps I maybe I could have, so not having signal was very frustrating and I took a few wrong turns during our adventure. I also struggled with no signal and not being able to connect, which I am a little embarrassed to admit. I did not take the short hike to a ridge to see the sunset on Thursday and blamed it on fatigue. However, I know it was also fear of having to walk back in the dark on an unfamiliar trail. I’m okay with that and happy that I recognize it, but also want to overcome that fear of the unknown. On a positive note, I slept until 8 am Friday morning and I was okay with taking my time to see some sights and getting home late, much to my benefit since we made it to a waterfall and another beautiful view at a special location.
All in all it was a win and I took a step forward in my journey as a traveler. I made some mistakes, let some fears interfere, but came out on top and had a great solo (w/ dog) travel adventure.
~ vbkaren
