Last Week I Climbed a Hill, This Week I Climbed a Mountain

The problem with climbing a big hill and being awfully proud of yourself, is eventually, you have to climb something bigger in order to keep up the challenge. , I wish my motives were that pure, but actually here's how the story went:

Bill, Susan and Billy were going to hike a bit on the Appalachian Trail last Saturday. I was dreaming of a day all to myself at home. Then I heard they were going to The Butcher Block Buffet for dinner. It's a really good buffet that serves awesome pulled pork. When I heard that, I suddenly decided a walk in the woods on a cool, autumn day sounded like a good idea. Yes, I can be persuaded by food, just like Pavlov's dog.

Dr. Dread is smirking as he drives up the mountain. I'm totally clueless at this point that we are actually going to climb a mountain. Last time I went up Skyline Drive I only got out of the car for photo opportunities.....




Here we are at the beginning of the trail. It almost brings tears to my eyes to remember how innocent I was as I sat on that rock. I honestly did not know what lay ahead of me that day. Stupid me, I thought we were going to walk in the woods....





Here is Billy at the beginning of the "Devil's Staircase" trail. I chose to think this was a random pick trail, rather than remember my previous post of Bill considering my expiring life insurance....



Can you see the will to live leaving my body? This trail was straight up for about a half an hour. I didn't realize how unprepared I was until I saw a group coming down and they were dressed in ski gear and had a trekking pole in each hand. While resting, a man with a pack mule loaded with gear passed before my eyes...along with my life.




An hour and a half later, we came back down the moutain. I assumed my now familiar "I did it!!" pose. I thought it was time to go to the buffet.




But no, they weren't done (torturing) hiking yet. After a quick break, we went on another trail. This one was straight downhill, which while being preferable to me, I'm also smart enough to know we have to go straight uphill to get back to the car.



We heard the sound of running water and noticed just over the hill a waterfall. We stopped to take a pic. It was actually pretty stupid, as just beyond the edge was a sheer drop off. Sort of like having your pic snapped with a tiger.




Here was the waterfall just beyond our heels...it's all downhill from there.




Like I said, the walk back was all uphill. Susan and Billy, being younger and more fit, were ahead of Bill and I. Well actually, Bill stayed behind with me just in case I needed CPR.



The only thing more beautiful than this picture was the pulled pork at The Butcher Block Buffet.