Outdoors Lizzy!

In a pretty unsurprising turn for a newly-single woman, I decided to take myself solo camping this past week.

In driving up to the mountains in the last year, I several times passed a campground that seemed idyllic. Thirty or so sites situated near Crabtree Falls along the Blue Ridge Parkway – on the weeknight I was there, only a handful of them were occupied.

I did without a campfire, but I did bring lots of books to read (including a new one by my favorite Japanese author!) and did some nice journaling.

Waking up the next morning to the sound of rushing water is my ideal camping experience.

I fit in two hikes during my one-night trip. The first was Crabtree Falls itself, which is an amazing waterfall – 70ft of cascades! But above is a picture from my second hike – up to Humpback Rocks.

I did a four-mile loop trail up to the rocks and ran into quite a few Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. A lot of them are passing through Virginia right now on their way to Maine and I got to give one a ride into town after hiking together for a few miles!

Rayann from Florida left Springer Mtn, Georgia on March 26th!

---

Another recent outdoors adventure was a flatwater kayaking trip on a local reservoir this past weekend.

A group of 15 set out under cool, gray skies to explore the area and learn about local water systems of central Virginia.

A few rumbles of thunder almost cut our trip short, but the storm passed around us and we got two solid hours of paddling in.

Wild Virginia and the Rivanna River Co teamed up to offer the trip, providing us with boats and gear. I’m very much looking forward to spending more time outdoors in Virginia in the fall!

Read Full Post »

Spring in the Great Outdoors!

I’ve been spending a lot of time outside this spring, and with my brother’s newfound interest in photography, I have evidence of some of our outings.

On Easter Sunday, Aus and I took Ellie to Big Ridge State Park near Knoxville to do a six-mile loop.

Now it’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, there were bare trees to be found anywhere.

Ellie had a great time and Aus and I found a big patch of ramps, some of which we harvested and cooked up over the next few days!

Last weekend Mom, Aus and I spent two quite chilly nights at New River Trail State Park in southwestern Virginia.

This was our second time at the Millrace campground and so we knew exactly which campsite to choose – the one closest to the river, which was swollen from so much rain recently.

We fell asleep to the sound of the rushing water each night, woke up to watch baby ducklings swimming down the river with their parents, and cooked up some great meals over the fire.

The state park is on a main route for cross-country bike riders and Aus met a man named Patrick who was heading to Washington state by bike!

We didn’t bring our bikes, but we did take many long walks on the riverside trails.

The weather was windy, but everything was so green and the birds were so chatty, we didn’t mind bundling up.

No camping trip is complete without a trusty teddy bear of course!

Aus took some great pictures and then headed off on another adventure – to hike Linville Gorge in western North Carolina.

I headed back to Charlottesville on Monday, where I was met by the thriving vegetable garden I’ve planted next to my apartment!

I’ve been eating salad greens for days now!

Read Full Post »