Up and Down We Go

800 Miles Hiked!

Over the past two days, we hiked about 25 (hard!) miles and spent one night in the woods. Interestingly enough, we started out at a river (the James) and ended at a river (the Tye), and the most exciting landmark we hit was the 800 mile mark. We huffed and puffed up the climb out of the James River valley, but the rewarding walk across Cold Mountain (not to be confused with the "Cold Mountain" of literary and Hollywood fame...no Jude Law sightings here) was worth the effort. There were lots of open fields with good views to hike through and blackberries and wild apples to pick.

Cold Mountain

We camped in our hammocks after hiking about 12 miles. This time, though, I came prepared with extra clothes and my air mattress, so I was nice and toasty warm, unlike the last time I slept in my hammock. The next day involved 13 more miles of hiking, and although it looked easier on the topographic map, it wasn't. The hike included a couple of steep climbs and a very, very, very steep descent (3000+ feet over 4 miles). Although all that effort was not without some reward...

Spy Rock. You actually have to crawl up it on your hands and knees. I really need to learn legitimate rock climbing skills if I'm going to keep doing this...

My feet hated me after pounding down that mountain (which is called "The Priest"...not "Priest Mountain"...just "The Priest"...rather mystical and ominous if you ask me...maybe because you are praying you survive long enough to walk off of it by the time you're halfway through?), and I was glad to see the Trail Angel Mamma that afternoon, who came bearing blackberries for a snack. Yum. We just barely beat the rain down the mountain, and really, it's the little things that count the most.

Like random swings someone puts up on the AT. What fun.

(PS - I apologize if the pictures in this post are poorer quality/quantity than usual. Due to technical difficulties, all these are from our cameraphones. Not bad for cellular technology, though.)