Tuesday, May 15, 2012

What in Blue Blazes?

What in Blue Blazes was I thinking? 
See those blue blazes painted on the rocks?


Those are trail markers. 
Do you see a trail? 
Well, those boulders ARE the trail.
Miles of boulder trail.



So let's see...
I started the day with a bottle of water,
a camera, and a little headache.

We climbed up from down there somewhere
and headed to the left of the photo
onto the the Appalachian Trail.



Once we climbed up, up, up,
my water was 50% gone and my sinus headache was 50% worse.
After a brief period of level walking,
we followed the blue blazes.



The trail took us across and up the ridge of a mountain:
Hawk Mountain,
passing a rattlesnake on the way...



...to some beautiful views.
But by now my water was 100% gone
and my headache was 100% pounding.
So I really didn't care about the views.
I was more likely contemplating going back and
offering myself to the rattlesnake.



I just wanted to get home.



And the kicker?
You can access the views from a visitor center MUCH
more easily than this trail!
But I was with a large contingent of humans
bearing the Y chromosome...
so what fun would that be?


The smiley faces on the map show our path.

I might mention,
the ride home, with the traffic jams, was torture on my head.
Once home,
I ran into the house,
took lots of pain killers,
and went to bed!

I swear, somewhere along the trail
my husband mentioned getting me a new lens.
Funny, he doesn't remember that.
He thinks I dreamt it.

9 comments:

Tina´s PicStory said...

great trip but aren´t you afraid from the snake?

Kathy said...

There's about five reasons in your story that define why I'm not a hiker!

DawnTreader said...

You deserve a new lens - not that your photos indicate that you need one ;) I don't think I'd ever have climbed that trail - not even back when I was younger!

EG CameraGirl said...

You are a real trooper! I laughed out loud when you said there was a visitor center at the top. Been there, done that! (Mount Washington in New Hampshire) My exhausted muscles were soooo disappointed to find carloads of people at the top. :)

Chrissy Brand said...

What breathtaking scenwry and a wonderful trail post!

Unknown said...

Sorry for that head ache. That took a lot of the fun out of it! Still, you were able to handle the camera well:):) Hope you're feeling better by now!

Dianne said...

holy crackers Rebecca!!
what the hell!

I would have wrapped the snake around my neck and choked myself

Actually I would never have made it to see the snake

You can be in the next Indiana Jones movie

Kerry said...

Well, a small head ache plus dehydration makes for a massive headache. But still, who wants to be left behind? That's worse. And you got a good shot of a scary snake, too.

JunieRose2005 said...

Well, you DID get a lot of pretty scenery shots!! And that snake must have been a scary few moments! I like good snakes but not RATTLE SNAKES!!