Sassafras Mountain
hiking
Winter Monday Hike
We haven’t been out for a hike in ages, so we thought we’d take the day to get some miles in. We really had no clear plan: we’d start at Caesar’s Head to see if there was still snow anywhere then perhaps Raven Cliff Falls and maybe some time in Dupont. In the end, we switched the order of the last two and had a nice 7+ mile day. Nothing crazy, but lovely nonetheless.
Caesar’s Head
High Falls and Bridge
Hooker Falls
Raven Cliff Falls
Previous Visits
Black Balsam Knob
Night Hike
Looking Glass Sunset
Hike
We headed to Paris Mountain State Park today for a warm-up hike for the coming fall hiking season. E and I, we prefer mountain biking. K enjoys it as well, but she prefers hiking, and she’s got a goal for this season: the Dismal Loop. Today’s hike was much less daunting:
We tried to talk the Girl into going with us, but she was intent on studying at the library. Of all of us, she definitely has the most negative opinion of hiking.
We’ve been to this lake several times, and we’ve even got pictures of L tottering about the place as a toddler.
The Boy managed fine, but he’s insisting that he’s outgrown these hiking boots — which he wore daily just this summer at Scout Camp. Is it possibe? And they’re the Girl’s boots, not his own boots.
Two signs of how our kids are changing: our daughter elects to go study at the library (I’m sure there was a fair amount of socializing as well — that’s how I studied at the library in high school), and our son is approaching full size with alarming rapidity, with a full-size appetite developing and a full-size teenage attitude emerging.
We decided to come head back next Sunday, and the Boy and I will ride while K takes the dog for a walk. The Boy, by the way, now rides K’s mountain bike whenever he gets the chance.
So that means we’re also looking for yet another bike for him. He’s not quite outgrown his bike physically, but he’s already putting demands on it that the poor bike can’t handle. He’s broken a chain once and gotten more pinch-punctures than I care to recall.
Once we got back and had some dinner, K did what she always does: she found some chore or other she felt she should have accomplished ealier and gets to work.
I graded articles of the week for my honors kids and snapped a picture of K, noticing once I’d converted it to black and white how awful our front yard looks.
Return to the Tallulah Gorge
Another from Last Week’s Hike
E and I got to inspecting a termite-damaged log on our hike. K was fast enough to catch the moment.
Pinnacle Mountain
18.46 km, 767 m elevation gain.
John Rock
Sunday Hike
Rainbow Falls
Short video from yesterday.
First Hike 2023
Another Shot from Table Rock
Table Rock
Looking Glass
Black Balsam Knob
We took a quick drive (well, not quick for the Boy — it was two hours) over to the Blue Ridge Parkway for an afternoon hike today. The Girl stayed home because she had volleyball practice — open gym for the club team she’s signed with this year. And she doesn’t really like hiking. And she’s almost 16 and is starting to have her own life — though it pains me to admit it. How did she get so big so fast?
Be all that as it may, we headed a little further south on the Parkway than we usually go and ended up hiking along ridges with gorgeous views.
K took some pictures with her phone.
We both took some pictures with the Nikon.
And we arrived home exhausted and hungry.
“We really should do this more often,” K said.
Babia Gora
I lived at the base of Babia Gora for seven years and only once tried to reach the summit. Shortly after that, I injured my knee while hiking in the Tatra Mountains. Some time after that, when my knee had healed, I injured the other knee. And so I never made it to the top of Babia. Until today.
Here’s some video showing just how windy it was at the top.
Trzy Korony
Climbing mountains is something my mind loves but my body questions. Ever since I seriously injured my knee about 25 years ago hiking in the Tatra Mountains, I’ve been wary of mountains. The way up is not the issue. In fact, it’s a great relief sometimes to be heading up. No, it’s the way down – that crash! crash! crash! against the knees. Almost 190 pounds dropping on knees time and time again.
So when we started our trek up to Trzy Korony today, I was a little concerned about the effect it might have on my knee. I was more concerned when I saw just how steep it was. Fortunately, we all made it fine.
And I’m so exhausted that I can’t say much more than that about the whole day.
Saturday Hike
When the Girl hears that we’re thinking about a family hike, the reaction is seldom positive. When we’re on the hike, there can be a bit of complaining, a bit of whining, a bit of “I’m sooo tired”-ing. We get it: hiking is not her thing. But it’s K’s thing — by far her favorite outdoor activity. And I love it, too. Probably not as much as K, but I love K, so I love it more than I probably would without her.
But when her oldest friend asks her if she wants to go on a hike with him and his family, the boots come back looking like this, and there’s only positive words about the hike.
I guess we need to invite him along for our next family hike.