Nowhere on my plan did I write “Oh yeah and climb England’s tallest peak.”
Nowhere!
Still, that’s what I did while visiting Fort Williams in western Scotland, on the border of the highlands. From near sea level it’s a persistent climb over several miles as you climb to the peak. At the base they were warning people off due to bad weather but when was I going to come back? Not any time soon so I put on all the layers of clothes I had and set out. It was rewarding.
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Finally I’m hiking wholly within Shenandoah National Park. Better still, the Appalachian Trail is roughly paralleling Skyline Drive which runs along the crest of the 105 mile long national park. As you can see above, it’s beautiful country seen on a spectacular day.
To this point I’ve had to hike the AT and then retrace my steps to get back to my car. This essentially had me walking each stretch of the AT twice, once in each direction. If covering the length of the park is my goal then this was a pretty inefficient way to go about it. With the Trail loosely following the road I now had an option. I could hike one way and bike the other.
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Maine’s coast is rocky and littered with little islands. It’s easy to understand why 82 lighthouses were needed to keep water traffic safe. This density of lights is what drew me to Maine’s coast, along with the promise of a visit to Acadia National Park. What wasn’t expected was the outlandish side trip to Prince Edward Island in Canada.
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Twenty five years ago Beth and I spent some of our honeymoon in Bar Harbor so we could enjoy this neighboring national park. My memory of Acadia was vague. I remembered islands, camping at ocean’s edge, and eating lobster but not much more. Perhaps it was the good vibe of getting married mixed with a wondrous setting but returning has long been a travel priority.
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The bridge took me across to Canada’s smallest province. A beautiful island of rolling hills. The setting of House of Green Gables. A land of lighthouses aplenty. On my last visit to PEI charmed me so from my Maine trip I was motivated to make this mad-dash for a quick visit.
What did I do? Why shoot lighthouses of course!
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The forecast was for rain and there was a downpour as I drove to the trailhead. I was prepared for rain but I would have preferred not to slog through the mud. As it turned out I was very luck. It didn’t rain at all.
Where the Appalachian Trail crosses US 522 is where I started my hike.
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The trail is 2178 miles long and runs from Maine to Georgia. It’s world renown and it runs through the Shenandoah Mountains which are practically in my backyard. I like hiking so it’s a natural stomping ground for me. My past walks along it were purely by chance as parts of different hikes. Today my goal was the AT.
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My trip started with the celebration of my mother’s 70th birthday, it continued with a slew of visits and day trips, this was followed by a nine-day 3,000-mile drive around Oregon, and finished with a micro-reunion of high school classmates. I came away with a renewed appreciation for Oregon, its diversity of beauty, and its history. It really is an impressive State.
If you’re curious to know more then you can check out my trip site here.
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For some odd reason bridges hold a fascination for me. It may be due to the fact that all their architectural wonder is on display for everyone to see. The variety and beauty also contribute as does size, either small or large. I seem drawn to bridges and in this quiet period while I’m traveling around Oregon I thought I’d post a retrospective to some bridge pictures.
To see a gallery of the 17 bridges crossing the Thames in London click here. <fix>
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I’m not normally a firearms enthusiast. Their primary purpose of taking life is not something I think very highly of. However, I can get enthusiastic when I look at guns and rifles as precision machinery which have evolved over the centuries. This museum did a good job of showing off the mechanical evolution of firearms and that aspect I really enjoyed.
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