While many of the wondrous views in nature are on a wide landscape scale, many more are smaller and literally underfoot. Mosses like those above bring me both comfort and joy. As does snow falling in frozen streaks into pools highlighted by fall foliage below. I am grateful that in scrolling back through photos from our AT adventure I see such sights again and can share a few of them as well.
Reflecting back on everything that went wrong during the beginning of our AT trek back in April 2015, I am particularly amazed that it ended up turning out as well as it did, one step at a time, through October 2015. Our first day was cold and foggy and wet, AND, I realized I really had caught my nephew's bronchitis; Sojo chewed through her 1st leash; and at supper my 10-year old stove turned into a fireball. Through the first 2 weeks I had to use cough medicine - and an asthma inhaler for the first time in many years - to help my lungs clear the bronchitis which made the ascents extra difficult. A few days in, I also chipped a front tooth, and my tongue became obsessed with failed efforts at smoothing the new rough texture. By a few weeks in, the soles of my feet felt so bruised I took an unplanned rest for some 5 days so I could walk rather than hobble. While Sojo loved the hiking and adapted to the camping, she was still highly anxious and very reactive during that time period whenever we encountered people or dogs. I am now so grateful that we were able to keep plodding along until we hit our stride, and so grateful too for early visits from both Melanie and my parents that kept our spirits up. So many amazing sights and experiences lay ahead.
Well, I never did manage to post to this blog during our almost 7-month 2015 Appalachian Trail pilgrimage, but at least now I can start from the beginning in recounting parts of our adventure here. In the meantime, below are 4 photos from our more recent forays into the Linville Gorge Wilderness that has eased our transition. It was a delight to discover upon returning home to NC that there was still awesome color in the lower elevations of Linville Gorge, but some of my favorite sights were rain dappled wildflowers. All 4 of the photos in this post were taken from the Pinch-In Trail.
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Cath Hopkins on
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