Cold Home

I'm way behind on posting, but when I saw icicles hanging in my koi pond, I had to record it. Poor fish.

Bits of Green

The color is gone, but if I look hard enough, there are bits of green. Sometimes life feels that way.

Boone Fork Hike

I'd never seen a real beaver dam before, so this was a treat. As we hiked along, I notices tree stumps that were obviously the work of beavers, then suddenly up ahead we spotted the dam. Absolutely amazing.
We had several stream crossings on this hike. Some were "rock to rock" crossings, and some were "rolling log" crossings. Most of us managed to stay dry, but I did see the advantage a walking stick would have given!

At the upper elevations, the trees are almost all bare--a stark contrast from last week's glorious yellow!

Neighborhood Watch

As I looked left before pulling out of my drive, I was struck by how gorgeous my neighborhood was that day...in spite of the trash cans lining the street. This was just a little past peak; the leaves had begun to fall in earnest. I love this season.

Room with a View

Yesterday on the way to work I just could not believe the beauty. The leaves had been pretty, but it seemed overnight they became glorious. Along the side of the interstate the foliage was more glorious than any I've ever seen, in the mountains or otherwise. Breathtaking!

Cove Creek Hike

The Summit

Once we reached the summit, hot and sweaty from the hike, we were suddenly exposed to wild winds that instantly froze us! My hair does not always look quite this bad--I usually wear a hat while hiking.

No photo can do it justice. We had a 360 degree view of mountains. Lovely!!

And here we are, at the very top--eating lunch and trying not to let the gusts blow us off!

We hiked a portion of the Tanawha Trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway--9 miles.

The Paths We Trod--Part 3

The marks on this rock may not look like much, but to the seven of us hiking behind the "running" group, it was a lifesaver. We got to a place where the path split, and as I stood there looking at the signpost, trying to remember if I even knew the name of the outlook we were headed toward, a hiker behind me said "look down." Some kind person in the advance party had anticipated our predicament, and wrote "CHOA" (the name of our outdoor club) with an arrow pointing in the right direction. So sometimes our paths have clear directions from those who have gone before...if we look closely and don't try to figure out every single thing all by ourselves!

The Paths We Trod--Part 2

Continuing yesterday's musings, sometimes our paths are sun dappled, making the uphill climb a little easier....

Sometimes we catch sight of an easier way....but is it the better route?

And sometimes the path goes steeply downhill, with treacherous footing.

The trail I hiked Saturday was varied, but characterized by wet leaves covering roots and rocks, making it necessary to pay careful attention to foot placement. Sometimes even that did not prevent mishaps...on one big, smooth rock that sloped downhill, I chose what looked like the drier portion. My feel flew out from under me and I landed hard on my seat and hands. To everyone's amazement, I wasn't hurt, but it reminded us all how easy it is to slip (and how we can learn from others....everyone else chose a different part of the rock to walk on!!).

The Paths We Trod

As with Saturday's hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway, our paths often vary markedly. Sometimes there are big obstructions, causing a detour before we can even find the path again.

Sometimes they are wet and slippery...

And sometimes they are uphill and rocky.

Long Time Friends

We stood a long time marveling at how long these trees must have been here, and how they managed to grow (hey...any excuse for a rest will do toward the end of a mountain hike!).

Tanawha Trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Sunday's drive/hike

Looking for a shoe?

Wet or dry....take your pick!

Greenway hike

The one below reminds me of a Monet painting!

I wasn't the only photographer on the hike...

Morrow Mountain

I'm behind in posting; these are from a hike at the beginning of October.

Autumn is coming to the neighborhood

Mr. Pumpkin Head

I saw this little guy while walking through the neighborhood the other morning. Cute!

Don't know what was going on...

Beauty

Reaching Out

Skydive!

This photo was taken after our skydive. What an incredible experience!

Unbelievably, my former neighbor called to say he and his visiting kids were going white water rafting today, and invited us to go along. So we hiked up a mountain yesterday, jumped out of a plane this morning, and went white water rafting this afternoon. I think I will be hard pressed tomorrow to find a body part that is not sore!

Crowder Mountain--Saturday

My son is here for the weekend, so Saturday we went out to hike at Crowder Mountain. We decided to take Rocktop Trail up to the peak, which I had never done before (I've only come down it). The photo below is actually the trail; it goes right up those rocks (see Jonathan on top?). Once on top, you have to step from rock to rock, and although I'd probably have been fine if I hadn't stopped to catch my breath, I had to sort of regroup up there to be able to make it on across.

Jonathan was very patient with me. It was extremely hot and humid, so I was not as perky as I'd have liked to have been. Uphill is always more difficult for me anyway.

Good news from drought land

Some might see this as a miserable day, but it's relief we definitely needed!

Weekend Hike

After kayaking for the first time Saturday (no photos--I was afraid I'd drop the camera!) I was a bit stiff, so thought I'd take a hike Sunday to loosen up. This was a "recommended hike" at one of the local nature preserves. I did see some lovely flowers...

...and some very happy flowers

...but much of this hike was in the blazing sun and on a road covered with large gravel, making walking a bit of a chore--not to mention the trails were not well marked and I spent most of the time not sure where I was.

Green on green...can you see the little critter?

The hike was supposed to be four miles, rated easy to moderate. Right. By the time I got back to my car, I was thirsty (even though I'd taken bottled water and drank the worse-than-tepid stuff), soaked with sweat, beet red, and tired. Not to mention perturbed. I'd taken their word for it and planned a nice 1.5 - 2 hour walk. I walked almost 3.5 hours (5.7 miles) without being sure where I was most of the time.