10 Years and Counting

Steven and I decided to go backpacking for our 10-year anniversary trip.  His mother was kind enough to keep our kids and we headed up to a section of the Appalachian Trail near Roan Mountain on the border of NC and TN that is supposed to be one of the prettiest sections of the trail.  Unfortunately, the weather was not ideal, so we didn't get the views we could have, and it shortened our 3 night trip  to a 2 night.  But we still had a great time.  And it gave us the ability to come back home and go out together downtown and grab breakfast together in the morning before heading to get our children!  And I must admit that I was thankful to have a pillow again.

It stormed on us both nights, and this is the view we had as we started.

On top of Round Bald.  You SHOULD see a lot here.  We took a picture of this "view" for its irony.

The Rhododendrons were finished blooming, but the flame azaleas were beautiful.

They put goats up to help keep down the underbrush on the bald (as they like to eat the briars).  Here is a link to the story about the goats.

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We found a beautiful shelter to hang our tent dry and have a warm lunch and coffee!

The weather cleared midday and it was a beautiful place to rest with a view of the valley.

The coffee was SO invigorating!

There are shelters all along the AT where you can stay.  This is one of the biggest, and was well worth going to see!  Beautiful place!  It is right off the Over Mountain Trail, which is the trail that the NC/TN mountain men used in route to fight the British at Kings Mountain in the Revolutionary War.

After a horrific storm... the view was a bit worse the next morning. 

Atop Jane Bald (goat pen behind me) - elevation 5,807.

At the end of the second day we dropped our packs at the car and kept hiking to the top of Roan High Knob.  This is the shelter there.

Roan High Knob itself, elevation 6,285.

Overall, the weather was not ideal.  But we had an awesome time.  And it was a great time to be reminded of how very powerful God is and how very fragile we are!  Thanks for keeping the kids, Nana Sally (and Millie)!