Our goal is to post a picture every weekday.  You can see the latest pic on our homepage and you can see all of the past entries by clicking here.

Taken from the bottom of Linville Gorge, this area is one of my favorites to explore. With its rugged terrain and somewhat strenuous elevation change, a trip down and out will challenge even the most physically fit. Well worth the drive, make it an overnight and experience the awesome wilderness Linville Gorge has to offer. Plus, visit the nearby Linville Falls.

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This picture captures the start of one of our best memories from the trail.  We spent the night with a ton of our trail friends, up on a bald, watching the sun fade and the fire grow. 

The name "Chicago" is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, translated as "wild onion" or "wild garlic", from the Miami-Illinois language. - Wikipedia

While hanging out at Half Day Forest Preseve with some trail friends, we found a bunch of wild ramps. Very tasty raw, these were diced up and added to dinner. With a mild onion/garlic bite, they really had a nice flavor. I'm always excited when I find wild edibles!

I'm officially back on the wagon when it comes to early morning workouts.  I had a small hiccup when I was sick a few weeks ago, but last week I dutifully got up everyday at 5am and busted out my workout.

I followed my workout plan last week and loved having the structure of my whole week being pre-planned.  I'm definitely going to keep it up. One thing I underestimated though, was how much time I actually spent running.  I usually just run until I don't feel like running anymore and I guessed at the distances when I typed up my workout plan last week.  But during each run, when I hit my target distance, I felt like I was just hitting my stride and wanted to keep running.  So this week, I am definitely going to increase the mileage. 

My goal is to get back to running 5-7 miles at a time during the week, with a longer run on the weekends, so eventually I won't have time to get my run and weights done before work, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. 

Alright, on to this week's workout plan.  In addition to bumping up the mileage a little, I'm going to split the core work into rounds.  The sets of 50 weren't bad, but the planks were brutal by the end.  I need to break those up into 2 rounds for now.

Monday
Run - 3.5 miles
Legs - kill those legs (2 rounds)
Core - (2 rounds)

• 50 crunches
• 50 reverse crunches
• 30 second plank (2 rounds with 15 second breaks)

Tuesday
Run - 4 miles
Arms - tank top arms (2 rounds)
Core - (2 rounds)

• 50 supermans
  
• 50 side crunches (25 each side)
  
• 30 second plank (2 rounds with 15 second breaks)

Wednesday
Run - 3.5 miles
Legs - kill those legs (2 rounds)
Core - (2 rounds)

• 50 crunches
• 50 reverse crunches
• 30 second plank (2 rounds with 15 second breaks)

Thursday
Run - 4 miles
Arms - tank top arms (2 rounds)
Core - (2 rounds)

• 50 supermans
  
• 50 side crunches (25 each side)
  
• 30 second plank (2 rounds with 15 second breaks)

Friday
Yoga - 45 minutes

Saturday or Sunday
Hike, walk or run outside

Even though we were living in Damascus, VA and right on the Appalachian Trail for several years before our 2012 hike, I (Jill) had never hiked in the Great Smoky Mountains.  It wasn't intentional at first, but over time I decided to "save" that experience for our hike and experience the Smokies with Serial, as we made our way north on the AT. 

This pic is taken from the top of Fontana Dam, which is right before you walk into the Smokies for the first time.  We had just handed Rooney off to Curtis, who would be boarding him while we hiked through the park (dogs aren't allowed), and Serial and I were gearing up for 5-6 days of what promised to be epic hiking.  I remember seeing the sign to start that we were entering the Smokies and thinking, "it's finally here!" and then starting that beautiful, gradual climb into the park.

We experienced all kinds of weather (thunder hail!) and slept in shelters (our only shelters for the whole hike - Rooney isn't a fan).  We saw views that, when I close my eyes today, I can still transport myself back to.  The Smokies lived up to their expectations and I think of them every time I see this picture. 

We've been trying to go more vegan around here, but our biggest obstacle (really our only obstacle) is cheese. Jill and I both love cheese, so I've set out to become a master vegan cheeze maker. I searched the internet for simple recipes for my first attempt and came across this one, Vegan Cashew Cheese Recipe from Ann Gentry. I decided to alter the recipe a bit because I wasn't trying to make 3-5 ramekins of cheeze.

3/4 cup raw cashews (soaked for at least 8 hours, though i soaked ours for 24)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tsp onion powder
1 Tsp sea salt
1/2 Tsp garlic powder
1 3/4 cups plain unsweetened soy milk (any unsweetened nut milk will work)
1/3 cup  agar agar flakes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbs yellow miso (white miso can also be used)
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

This really was a simple recipe to follow and perform. The results are a mildly flavored cheeze that we've used in a lasagna, a topping for our veggie burgers and mixed in a delicious cous cous meal. There are tons of spices that could be added to it to give it more flavor: chives, more onions & garlic, black pepper, chillies, what ever you fancy. This is really a blank slate that can be taken anywhere. I think I could have used a little less agar agar flakes and that might make it a little more melty, but it's worked out well enough in it's current state. I'm excited to try this recipe again, adjusting it slightly for experimental purposes and seeing what else I can create. In the future, I will be substituting soy milk for my homemade cashew or almond milk. At first I was nervous to try making this, but now I'm just excited by all the possibilities.

I hope you have success and enjoy!

If you like what you read, we would love to hear from you in the comments section!  It's fun to get feedback and it helps us create future posts.  And be sure to stay in touch on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or RSS!

A great shot taken off the Appalachian Trail somewhere in norhtern Virginia. We sat here, dipped our feet in the water and had lunch. It was another great day on the trail!

Once spring and summer get going, there are lots of parties and celebrations with family and friends.  And if you're like me, a good deal of them are pot luck style (my favorite!).  Pot luck just means that all of the guests bring something to share with everyone else.  It can be a main dish, a side, a dessert or something to drink.  Sometimes it's organized and everyone is "assigned" something or it can be more casual and everyone just brings what they make best.

Either way, I love a good pot luck and I almost always opt to bring the dessert.  I have a mean sweet tooth and I love finding ways to make it healthy, but still satisfying. 

Enter, Chocolate Covered Katie.  If you haven't browsed her blog yet, you really should.  It's packed full of vegan, healthy desserts that are tasty enough for even the pickiest sweet tooth.  One of my favorites from her site are the healthy chocolate chip blondies.  I make them for parties and at home all the time.  They are always a hit.

I follow her recipe accurately, using coconut or beet sugar and ground flax seeds.  Sometimes I use peanut butter, sometimes I use almond.  The bars always turn out deliciously warm and gooey when they first come out of the oven....but my favorite is when they're cold from the fridge.  They are so good! 

So pop on over to CCK's site and try this recipe.  And maybe like 10 others while you're at it. 

If you like what you read, we would love to hear from you in the comments section!  It's fun to get feedback and it helps us create future posts.  And be sure to stay in touch on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or RSS! 

During our Appalachian Trail hike last year, we crossed through 8 states and most times we stopped to take a picture of the state line as we crossed it.  (Sometimes we weaved in and out of states and there wasn't a definitive line to note).  The first state line you cross on a northbound hike is from GA into NC.  It's marked with a little wooden sign and a white blaze. 

Terry and Rooney hike a little faster than me so they waited until I got to the state line and we celebrated for a minute as a group before hiking on.  And since I took about a billion pics during our hike, I did my best to capture the milestones.

And of course, Rooney had milestones too!  He crossed those state lines and covered the 1,350 AT miles too (plus another 50 or so on the GAP trail).  This is him crossing from GA to NC, while modeling his dog pack.  Pretty cute, right?

This Pic of the Day was taken yesterday during a day trip with Rooney and an AT friend of ours Guy Line to Indiana Dunes State Park.  Located just south of Michigan City, IN, the dunes are one of our favorite places to go with the dog because we can always find a nook or cranny where no one else is. Rooney loves to run in the sand and splash around in the water when the waves are too crazy. Yesterday though, we stayed mainly on the dunes themselves and got quite a workout climbing those things!

Check out what else is going on at A Trail Life!