Last week, Janet and I had just crossed over into Virginia and were starting to climb the Iron Mountains (virtually, of course). I didn't think we'd get very far, because we were coming into another part of the trail with a lot of back-and-forth trekking. But I really booked it this week - 58 miles putting me only 2 miles behind Janet.
It helps being on vacation with Mr Mountain Goat. There are 3 essentially parallel trails right outside the condo. Twice now we've walked up the Valley trail. Even though it looks flat, it's not; but at least the climb is a lot less strenuous than the 2 side trails.
When we get to the end, Bruce takes the Mountain trail back. It requires a little more climbing to get over the peak.
I take the Ridge trail,because it has some really nice views of the town. I stopped to do a sketch of the wildflowers growing out of the rocks, but I got so engrossed in my painting that I didn't realize a rain storm was heading our way (it seems to do that a lot around here). So once again I had to quit painting before I'd finished putting in the pine trees on the mountain. At least this time I didn't get raindrops on my book.
