Third time’s a charm! In 2007 they lost my paperwork. In 2008 I showed up but the event was canceled due to a hurricane warning (a false alarm). Then, finally in 2009, my paperwork was in order and there was no hurricane and I was finally able to swim under the length of the world’s most beautiful bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn.
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First it was an idea and then an accomplishment. Within 24 hours I hiked 22 miles and biked 17.5 miles and in between I slept like a log on Loft Mountain. This took me half way through the South District of Shenandoah. My second time out I hiked an even more ambitious 23.1 miles and biked 22.1 miles while collapsing at a Days Inn overnight. I was going out with a bang! (Or a thud!)
Allow me to give you a feel for what a day hike along the AT is like. The picture below I took early on my first day. From this view point you can see Loft Mountain in the distance. Over hill and dale the day’s hike was 13 miles and this is what it looked like. Good thing I didn’t expose myself to this ominous prospect too often or I might have given up!
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Many of the animals I see along the Appalachian Trail I see only fleetingly. Bears scamper off often before you can even focus on them. Deer may pause and stare but it’s only seconds before they bound away. Rarely do I have the privilege of staying in their presence for very long.
OK, so at the zoo they’re confined and that explains why they can’t run away!However, nowadays animals are not caged and they’re treated quite well within their confinement habitats. At the zoo I’m able to linger in their presence and that’s what I was looking for to put my new lens to quick use last Christmas.
I went to the National Zoo to focus on animals’ eyes.
Click here to view a reprise of my old blog post.
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Rocks. They stand in stark contrast to the misty softness which pervades the park and rocks define some of her most interesting features. Three I’ve hiked are Old Rag Mtn, Stoney Man, and Bearfence Mountain. All three are excellent examples of this.
This week I hiked twice. Once took me past my half-way point, from Hawkbill Gap to Booten Gap (10.2 miles). Another took me to the two thirds marker at Swift Run Gap (11.3 miles) where US 33 crosses the park. With four more day hikes I’ll achieve my goal and be in Waynesboro!
The AT in Shenandoah is at a high altitude and is usually much cooler than the surrounding lowlands. This explains why it was a popular get-away for the rich and the powerful in D.C. before the days of airconditioning. This week has been particularly pleasant for hiking as it’s been unseasonably cool and dry. My first hike started at 64 degrees; my second hike at 59 degrees. On neither day did the temp break above 80.
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At first glance the contents of this beautiful glass building didn’t appear very photo-worthy. Then I took a closer look. Flowers filled the place but in a quiet way. Beth had a hard time getting me to move away from the orchids!
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The word “Almost” above is key; it was supposed to read “Past Half Way.”
Here’s a case where I bit off more than I could chew. Over the course of 
two days my goal had been to hike 23 miles and bicycle back the slightly longer 27 miles. A late start didn’t bode well for my trek nor did arriving back at my campsite after 11:00 PM. Thank goodness I had set-up camp early that day! By morning I was set on changing my plan. I meandered Skyline Drive from mile 52 to its northern entrance stopping at overlooks, visiting facilities, and taking short hikes to peaks.
What I learned was that I don’t want to tackle these longer bike-hikes over back-to-back days. This has to be fun and too much exertion robs me of the joy. When I’m exhausted, I don’t want to start a 14 mile bike ride where half is a struggle up hill! I’ve got better things to do!
So how will I do things differently going forward?
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Last year while returning home via the Lincoln Highway, our nation’s first transcontinental road which ran from Manhattan to San Francisco, I stayed in Chicago just as “Taste of Chicago” was winding down. “Wow!” I thought “I’ve got to get back to see this next year!” And so I did.
“Taste of Chicago” is a nine-day food and performing arts festival which takes place in Grant Park along Chicago’s waterfront. This is a big deal! All the music concerts are free and included such acts as Hootie and the Blowfish, Barenaked Ladies, Buddy Guy, and much more. To get a sense of scale, take a look a the map below. For food alone there were 56 restaurants!
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Road trips with Kelsey are starting to become a tradition. Our first outing was down the east coast to Charleston. Our second trip was along Route 66 <fix> from Chicago to Santa Monica. She’s proven to have what it takes to flourish on this kind of trip so why not keep it going?! Heck, soon she’ll be able to share in the driving so we can do even more.
Wanting to ensure she has a good time, I take her over territory I’m already familiar with. Just recently I had been along the Maine coast <fix>and up to Prince Edward Isle, <fix> two years ago I drove across Canada, and three years ago I’d visited Niagara Falls. I proposed weaving these together into one massive loop and she agreed. The route of our trip is mapped below. We started in D.C. and went clockwise around the circuit.
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Today I paid a little more attention to the wildlife around me.
The most exciting creature I saw was a black bear but as is always the case he ran off before I could frame a shot. Many deer did the same thing but one allowed me to get quite close … that is, until I inhaled a fly and started to cough uncontrollably. The most threatening creature was a three foot long snake which I almost stepped on. While I saw many critters I heard many more. If I were a birder I’m sure I’d have been in bird-heaven!
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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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