Ridges and Reunions

One bite at a time...

Today, after spending a day moving base camp further norther, we hiked about 11 miles up out of the Tye River valley. Due to the inescapable laws of physics, what goes up must come down, and in the world of hiking, the same is true in reverse. So since we descended 3000+ feet into the Tye River valley on Wednesday, we had a 2800+ foot climb to tackle first thing this morning. I started the day off in poor spirits, I admit, because when we started our hike, it looked like rain. Amazingly, it sprinkled on us for about 5 minutes while we were gearing up, and never did anything else. I think it was because I took an extra 10 minutes to get my rain gear out before we started. Figures. But the Tye River was there to greet us in all its babbling glory.

Tye River

Tye River Suspension Bridge

The big climb actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. We made it up the 6 mile climb in just over 3 hours. The rest of the hike was along a ridge. Although the top of the mountain was woods, so you couldn't get a good view, we found a great vista to eat lunch at just on the other side of the summit.

Hanging Rocks

Great view even through the clouds...

I love when you get a good view of where you've just been. Really makes you feel like you accomplished something. That's the big mountain we spent 3+ hours climbing in the background.

The real treat of the day, though, was getting to eat dinner with The Professor and his Wife, who have been family friends ever since Daddy sat in The Professor's class in college. Coincidentally, they were RV-ing through the area, so we got to meet up for a meal. I had prime rib and mashed sweet potatoes. Delicious, and with good company. What a small, small world we live in. These "trail treats" are one of my favorite parts of this adventure.

Hundreds of miles from home, but never far from friends.

Mileage Update:

Miles from Springer - 835