in with the new

Max Patch Hike - FAIL!

We drove to Max Patch Bald today. It's about an hour drive west from our house. It's a short (half a mile?) hike up to a grassy plateau, where you can see the Great Smoky Mountains and the Tennessee plains. We drove on the highway for a little while. Then we drove through beautiful countryside for a little while. Then we drove on an 8 to 10 mile one-lane-around-a-mountain road through the clouds and/or fog. It got soupier as we climbed. And scarier. We pressed on, convinced we would be above the clouds at some point. That never happened. When we finally got to the parking area, we had no idea which direction to look for Max Patch Bald. I took a couple of pictures, Mason refused to get out of the car (who could blame him?!?). Will suggested we eat our picnic lunch in the car before we headed back down into the murk.

Pictures from the scenic highway and beautiful countryside.

Pictures from the murk.

Our friends went to Max Patch the weekend before us. Here are a couple of excellent pictures from Tara and Tyler.

Blueberry Hike

We had a quiet morning yesterday: breakfast, Target, driving around, and a lot of Blue's Clues. Around 1:30 Will asked if I wanted to go for a hike to pick blueberries. Of course I did! And Mason loves the backpack, so it was a no-brainer. We got our stuff packed and headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Mason's favorite part is the tunnels. He and Will made up the following. Mason asks Will if there will be any tunnels. Will says, "I don't know. Who can you ask?" Mason then has a conversation with the Mountain (he plays both parts). "Mountain, where are the tunnels?" Then he (as the Mountain) says, "This way!" And then in the sweetest voice, he says, "Fank you SOOOO much, Mountain!"

We got to Black Balsam, parked on the side of the road (I love how informal it is up there!) and headed into the woods.

We saw trees that looked like they had big feet.

We saw the beginning of autumn colors.

I followed and led these guys up and down hills.

There were flowers (I love these shots with the mountains behind them).

Mas wants to be the family photographer. I'll have to wrestle him for the title.

Someone was camping way up high. Too cool.

There were layers and layers of mountains.

We found bluberries and we picked and ate.

It rained on us pretty hard while we were picking.

The clouds on the other mountains were amazing.

This was how I felt, too...

After the rain, we could see our breath!

Happy hikers!

And here's Mason with our half a quart-sized bag of berries!

Foto Friday Week 31

It's the Even More Hiking Pictures Edition! Or as I like to call it, the Aren't You Sore You Don't Live Here? Edition! Please enjoy more pictures from last Sunday's hike!

1, 2, 3 Hike!

OK, not that kind of hike! We went hiking off the Blue Ridge on Sunday. We went to mile marker 365(ish - we live around 392) to Craggy Gardens. It was about .7 miles up. It took about 20 minutes to get to the payola, and it paid off big. We were on a plateau and had a 360º view of the mountains. The bonus was that the rhododendrons were in bloom, so we also were treated to pink everywhere. The landscape, the mountains that went on forever, the dramatic clouds, the pink, the Blue ridge in the not-so-far distance were all so awesome.

Here is a video. And a few pictures!

Foto Friday Week 29

Craggy Dome Hike Edition! Will took Mason on a hike on Monday. Mas liked being in the "pack pack" a lot! The views they saw are amazing. They could see a giant lake, mountains so far away, and a good view of the Blue Ridge Parkway. There was even some man-made stone floor/wall where they rested and took pictures. The greens are so lush. Yay for all the rain! Here they are!

I love the pine trees in this one...

Fun Hike To See "Waffles"

You may know them batter as "waterfalls"! We went hiking at Dupont Forest with our neighbor friends. We saw a couple of waterfalls. First we took a short hike to little Hooker Falls. We settled for a while there, watched a dog play fetch in the water, threw rocks, and snapped pictures. Then we hiked up a big hill to Triple Falls. What a site! There was a big picnic area there that we hung out in, and these nice women there let Mason and Peyton sit on their horses! I've found people to be so kind and community minded on trails!

My hiking partners, Peyton, Laura, Duncan, Mas and Willbo:

Hanging at Hooker Falls:

Laura and Duncan relaxing:

Cuties!

Triple Falls:

Mas on Wind Dancer:

Peyton, Laura and Duncan with Drifter:

Good friends:

Foliage Hike and Drive

We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday to see the autumn colors. We went over 30 miles away to Black Balsam, which is about 6200 feet elevated and beyond beautiful. We had a short hike, just to get good pictures. Mason was a champ, he was pretty excited to be in the backpack carrier. And he loves hats now, so there was no struggle there. It was great fun and smiles and amazement, as we talked to Mason about the colors we were seeing (red - "yeh", orange - "aw-yaw", yellow - "ah-yah" , green - "doh").

  
 
 

First Family Hike

We went on a hike today off the Blue Ridge Parkway. The stop where we parked is called Graveyard Fields, because once upon a time the trees down below (which burned in a fire) looked like gravestones.

We met Tara, Tessa and Tyler there, and we were off. It was Mason's first time in the hiking carrier. He liked it well enough, and Will hefted all 25 pounds of him the whole hike. Thanks Will!

We were in search of a field of blueberries. We never found a field, but we found a bountiful patch and settled in there for a good half an hour, picking, eating, talking, being one (well, six) with nature. We saw a waterfall. We decided it would be fun times for the kids to wade in a pool under the fall. Mason and Tessa liked it despite the cold. They are champs! My feet were numbish.