a grand day out, at peace with the universe
It’s been a while since I’ve really gotten away from it all. It was time.
My friend Jason and I spent Saturday hiking a little piece of the Appalachian Trail through Shenandoah National Park in Western Virginia. As you can see above, it was an excellent day for a hike in the mountains, even if there was a little bit of snow:
We started bright and early at Thornton Gap and hiked up the AT to Mary’s Rock, and along the trail to The Pinnacle, where we stopped for lunch (and finally noticed the cold), and then followed the trail back the way we came, a distance of about 11 miles, with an elevation change of a little over 1000 feet.
The views, of course, were spectacular, and the trail, especially given the snow and ice, was a little bit challenging for me, given the fact I haven’t gone on a serious hike in a while. I was thankful for all the cardio conditioning and biking I’ve been doing over the last year or two, because pre-weight-loss me probably couldn’t have handled it. I’m sore, but it was worth it.
Being morning in mid-December, the trail was quiet; we didn’t see anyone at all besides a few birds for the first three hours or so of the hike – there are few nicer feelings than being totally alone with nature’s majesty on top of a mountain; I don’t often do “spiritual” as a concept, but if I do, it’s when I find myself in those kind of situations. It’s a pretty amazing feeling.
