Week 36

We decided on the spur of the moment to go see Peter in Harrisonburg. He said he would love to go hiking with us, but for us not to leave the house until 11:30 so he wouldn't have to get up so early. Turns out he was up at 9 AM anyway.

We dropped in on Alexis to see her bitty house, then picked Peter up. We headed south toward Furnace Mountain, dodging camels wandering along the road. The hike was uphill the whole way, about two miles. Peter said the first time he came up here it was 11 PM during a blizzard. They also missed the trail head and hiked a mile farther up the road than they should have. When they got to the camp site, Peter said he failed at making a fire, which is good, because fires aren't permitted. Who needs a fire during a blizzard?


I listened to Darien and Peter chatter the whole way up, something they are both good at. The trail was rocky. We kept our heads down most of the way so we wouldn't twist an ankle. There were some nice vistas of the Shenandoah Mountains, as well as the remnants of a spectacular rock slide. We reached the summit with few breaks, then hung around on an outcrop and ate our trail mix. (Note to the curious: chocolate covered coffee beans are an excellent addition to trail mix.) We could see a sliver of Skyline Drive across the ridges, five miles away, pretty much at the same elevation.

The hike down was easy and quick. We rewarded ourselves for stellar accomplishment with an excellent dinner of Ethiopian food at The Blue Nile.
C-minus?