Day #100

In honor of my 100th day of walking, I wanted to plan a special walk, by going someplace I had never been before. Pierre agreed to go with me (a major miracle since he claims to hate walking--too boring!), the weather was beautiful, and I had my handy-dandy book entitled 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles (Washington, D.C.) to guide us.

After pouring through the pages, I made my choice--Walk #60 Rolling Ridge Foundation Lands and Appalachian Trail. I must admit, talking with the German lady yesterday encouraged me to pick this one because of her excitement over the Appalachian Trail.

I could just kick myself, this trail is world-famous--and runs 2,167 miles from Maine to Georgia, practically running through my own backyard (okay I took a little bit of literary liberty with that statement, but I think you know what I mean--it's close!), and I never gave it much thought before. I've been on tiny sections of it, but have never used it for long treks...well, today that was going to change!

The trail I picked was fairly remote, would take about an hour to drive there, and claimed to have amazing overlooks, and was rated as a moderate-hard hike. I was excited! The ride there was beautiful--we crossed through farm land, rolling hills, and we finally crossed the Shenandoah River--almost there. The only thing between us and our hike was a 1 1/2 mile gravel road--and a sign at the end that said, "No one is allowed on this property without prior permission." I almost croaked! I poured through the guide book again, and there in small writing was: No restrictions but contact resident manager before visiting. I called the number in the book, and nobody answered. Forget disappointed, I was ticked! We were so close, but we had no other choice than to turn around and head home. We finally got home around 4:00 p.m., and let me tell you, I was in a FOUL mood!

There was no way in hell that I was going to walk at the mall on my 100th day of walking, so I headed back out, this time without Pierre. The 100th day walk had lost it's sparkle by this time, and he was ready for his afternoon coffee. I headed to familiar territory and walked the "Buffalo Loop" for one hour and 20 minutes. It's not how I expected to spend my day, but in retrospect, Pierre and I enjoyed our time together (until I got mad), and I did get my walk in!

About an hour ago Pierre took me out to PHF to look at the stars....it was so pretty! (Not as good as star watching at Valdelavilla...but still great!)

Thanks to everyone that took a walk today! I'm going to keep walking every day...I love it...and someday soon, I'll go back and do Walk #60, and I'll make sure to tell you about it!