I had originally planned to get up really early and do a sunrise hike out to the dunes (before it got ridiculously hot), but I guess I was exhausted from all the driving. By the time I got packed and out the door by 10am, it was already 96 degrees. This is when I decided to do a driving tour rather than a hiking tour of Death Valley. I stopped periodically by the side of the road to take pics of the amazing sand dunes and surrounding mountains. Along the valley floor are these beautiful white salt flats, stretching out for miles and miles.

I drove to Badwater, the point of lowest elevation in North America (282 feet below sea level). I met a nice British couple who took my picture by the sign in exchange for me taking theirs. The man commented to me, "there's no sound out here." He was right - it seemed like all the normal "nature" sounds of the outdoors were muted or hushed. There also weren't many birds flying around or other animals out in the heat of the day. I'm sure there are more that come out at night.

I left the park to make my way to my next stop, Mojave National Preserve. I stopped for lunch in Baker, CA. The giant thermometer outside the restaurant read 115 degrees - yikes!

I saw my first Joshua Tree when I entered the park area. They are kind of neat-looking, with thick twisty branches with something resembling a cactus on the ends. I made my way to "Hole in the Wall," the location of the Rings Climb. About 18.5 million years ago, volcanic eruptions spewed layers of lava and ash over this area. When the lava cooled, the gases formed pockets or holes in the rock, creating unusual and somewhat creepy patterns. The rock formations created a canyon that you can hike down into, but the trail is so steep, you have to climb down using these metal rings embedded in the rock wall. It was challenging getting back out, but it was fun. It was also creepy because I was the only person there.

I left Mojave so that I could make it to Twenty-Nine Palms by dinnertime. On the way out, I drove part of historic Route 66 and saw some more interesting mountains and rock formations.

I didn't get up quite as early as I'd intended, but I did manage to grab breakfast before checking out of the lodge. Before I left, I took pictures of the view from my room.  To the west I could see a high snow-capped peak. I was able to catch glimpses of it all along the winding road to the park.

My first hike for the day was Moro Rock, a huge granite dome in the center of Sequoia National Park. After passing quite a few large sequoias, I found my way to the trailhead and proceeded up the winding staircase carved into the rock. It was about noon and it was starting to get pretty warm out. I stopped occasionally along the way to snap some photos (and catch my breath!). I made it all the way to the top and ventured out to the very edge of the rock. According to the visitor info, the snow-capped mountain I had admired earlier was Alta Peak. Behind it were the even taller (and snowier) peaks of the High Sierras. To the east (where I'd entered the park) was a river carving a gradual canyon through the mountains. It turns out that this canyon is actually deeper and wider than the Grand Canyon, however, the walls aren't as steep so it doesn't look quite as dramatic. I spent some time taking panoramic photos. A couple of people came out to the edge (protected by a guard rail on 3 sides). One woman was absolutely terrified, but was inching her way out, clutching the railing and trying not to look down. I am SO thankful I'm not scared of heights. (Carey would have HATED this hike.) The entire mileage of the trail (roundtrip) was only about .5 miles, so I had time for another hike.

Next on my list was the Congress Trail and the General Sherman Tree, the largest living thing on earth. I hiked down to see the tree - definitely the most popular site in the park. After taking a few photos, I proceeded away from the throngs of tourists and on to the quiet Congress Trail. The path wound around and led me past may giant sequoias, some named after US presidents, as well as the "President" tree itself. Along the way I passed groves of enormous trees simply called "The House" and "The Senate." I stopped for a little while and ate the sandwich I'd brought with me, then made my way back to the car (stopping to get a couple more pics of the General Sherman tree from a distance).

The giant sequoias are simply amazing. If you've never seen one in real life, you would be amazed by the sheer size of their trunks. These trees reportedly grow to the age of about 3,000 years. I had a hard time leaving this park - the smell reminded me so much of Yosemite (that spicy cedary scent) not to mention the breathtaking mountain views. But I knew I had to get on the road soon to make it to Death Valley before it got late.

This 7-hour drive (the longest so far) led me back through Fresno and south past the southern tip of Sequoia NP. I honestly had no idea how beautiful this part of California is until this road trip. I could tell I was getting closer to the desert because my ambient temperature thermometer on the dashboard kept going up and up. On the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, I passed by Red Rock Canyon State Park, and then through a small town outside of China Lake Naval Weapons Center. It started raining again, but the sun was still out. Sure enough, not too far down the road I spotted a rainbow. I wound around on this road for a couple of hours, then suddenly I came around a sharp curve and this amazing valley stretched out before me. Later I learned this was the Panamint Valley, parallel to Death Valley (laying just to the east). It's bordered on the west by the Argus Range and on the east by the Panamint Range. I could see white salt flats in the distance, and the sky was a brilliant pink-orange as the sun was starting to set. The road curved west for a little while (so I got a couple of pics of the sunset) before turning sharply to the east and taking me into Death Valley National Park.

By the time I reached the park entrance it was pretty dark, but the drive was incredibly hilly, taking me from 4,000' elevation to sea level, and back up and down. I finally made it to Stovepipe Wells Village and checked in. The nice woman at the front desk upgraded me to a room with a view of the sand dunes. It was too dark to see them that night, but the stars were just incredible...

Paso Robles was not exactly what I expected. Downtown was pretty sleepy. I think I expected more of a "Main Street" shopping area like in Sonoma. I tracked down a cozy down-home breakfast restaurant called Joe's Place with great breakfast burritos. It was a good thing I had a big meal because it just so happened that the highway from Paso Robles to Sequoia National Park was lined with quite a few good wineries, including one of my faves, J. Lohr, which was my first stop. I tasted all 6 (or was it 8?) of the reds they had available, including a couple you can't get outside California. I ordered a 1/2 case of wine shipped to Virginia, then headed out to the next winery, Robert Hall. I'd never heard of this place, but it's very pretty -- kind of a modern, angular building set in the middle of a vineyard. Their wines were pretty good, but I resisted buying any, as I knew I'd be spending a couple of days in the desert during my road trip. I stopped at a third winery, Tobin James. I only tasted a couple of wines here because I desperately needed to eat something more substantial than crackers before I got back on the road.

None of the wineries had restaurants, but fortunately, the Jack Ranch Cafe was just up the road. I don't know if I was that hungry or if the food was that good, but I seriously had the most amazing bacon cheeseburger here. In one corner, I noticed a whole lot of James Dean memorabilia. Apparently, he died just up the road, so I drove an extra 15 minutes out of my way to get a pic of the sign that said "James Dean Memorial Highway." I continued another 3 hours or so to a little town called Three Rivers on the western edge of Sequoia NP. The drive in was beautiful - past a huge lake and straight towards the High Sierras - despite the light rain shower. I checked into my hotel, the rustic Sierra Lodge, then proceeded to nap until dinnertime.

I was so sleepy and it was raining, so I opted to forgo my plans to hike in Kings Canyon NP (adjacent to Sequoia). I really wanted to see Mt. Whitney (the tallest peak in the continental US, ~14,500 ft. elev.), however, the visibility was so bad, I wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. I woke up and had dinner at a yummy pizza place down the road. By this point it has stopped raining and I was able to enjoy a beautiful sunset over the mountains while I ate. I wasn't able to get online, so I just watched some TV before going to bed.

First thing on our agenda: find food. Second thing: figure out how to take the cable car to Ghirardelli Square. Can you believe I’ve been to San Francisco 6 or 7 times and I’ve never ridden the cable car?  We had breakfast and coffee at a café on Union Square, just a couple of blocks from our hotel. We found the cable car stop on the Square and waited patiently for one to come our way. The next conductor to pull up yelled, “Come on tourists! Get on board!” He was hilarious, cracking jokes the whole time. By the halfway point, the car was so full, we couldn’t let any new passengers on.  He said, “Sorry, tourists! I have the heart of George Bush and Dick Cheney. No one’s getting on this stop!”  Katie and I decided to get off a Lombard Street and walk to Ghirardelli Square from there. It was a beautiful day for San Fran – breezy and perfectly sunny. We stopped at the Ghirardelli chocolate store for obvious reasons, popped into a couple of shops, then proceeded down to Fisherman’s Wharf. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in the Cannery called the Blue Mermaid. I ordered the lobster bisque and an amazing tuna steak sandwich. Katie found the best cioppino in the city.

After lunch we wandered down to Pier 39 with the sea lions. We got some clear pics of Alcatraz, but the Golden Gate bridge was completely obscured by thick clouds of fog. Around 2:00 we parted ways. I had to get on the road if I wanted to get a hike in today!

I had bought a book titled “250 Great Hikes in California’s National Parks,” on which I based my trip. My first stop was Pinnacles National Monument to hike the Bear Gulch Caves. By the time I made it there (around 4:30/5:00), it was quite a while until sunset, but it was definitely on the way to dusk. I stopped to take photos of the Pinnacles themselves, dubbed “Condor Crags” for the endangered birds being rehabilitated on this protected land. The pinnacles rocks were formed about 23 million years ago when the San Andreas Fault split the Neenach Volacano and the Pacific Plate moved north, carrying the Pinnacles. Further erosion by wind and water created the unusual formations seen today.

I strapped on my pack and began my solo hike to the caves. There were only 2 other cars in the parking lot, and not another soul in sight. To be honest, I was a little creeped out, so I was on my guard for strange animals (or people) along the trail. I follow the trail directions until I came to the fork to the caves. That trail was blocked by a gate with a sign reading “The Bear Gulch Cave is closed each year from mid-May through mid-July. The cave is used by Townsend’s Big-eared bats as a place to raise their young.” Okay… so I guess I won’t be hiking the caves after all!

I continued down the open trail for another 20 minutes or so, then decided to head back. I stopped to take photos of cool rock formations and flowers (for you, Carey!) along the way. Roundtrip, my hike last a little over an hour and a half. I left the park without seeing any birds, which I thought was odd. About two miles south of the park entrance, I passed a flock of big black birds with white and red markings under their wings feeding on roadkill. I later figured out that they were condors! Go figure – I had to leave the park to see a flock of them in the wild.

I made my way down this beautiful, winding back-country road. The sunset was spectacular. I finally made it to my hotel in Paso Robles safely around 11pm.

Leaving Yosemite was so difficult. I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time in this magnificent place.  On the 2-hour bus ride back to the Fresno airport, my teammates and I exchanged digital photos and made a pact to come back next year, whether it was for Hike for Discovery or not.  In fact, what about an overnight backpacking trip to Half Dome?

At the airport, my friend Katie and I parted ways with our teammates, picked up our snazzy rental car, then drove 3 hours to San Francisco. Just outside of Livermore, we passed a really cool windfarm. I slowed down so Katie could take some pictures. (Check out my pictures here.) It was really foggy (of course) on the way in. We checked into the W Hotel in SoMa, just in time for our well deserved pedicures! While it was not the best pedicure I’ve ever had, it was nice to have pretty un-calloused feet again.  (I had resisted getting a pedicure the whole time I was training for the hike to reduce the chance of getting blisters. I was chided by my pedicurist for not taking better care of my feet!)

This was Katie’s first trip to San Fran so I took her to my favorite tapas bar/microbrewery, the Thirstybear, conveniently located just across the street.  We had some yummy tapas (is there any other kind?), sampled the vanilla bean-infused ale, and watched Flamenco dancers.  We turned in early since we had been up so late the night before. We also wanted to get an early start the next morning.

My hike was amazing!!  I can’t even begin to explain how truly magical this experience has been, but I’ll try and give it a shot. If that doesn’t work, here is my complete album. (Extra-special thanks to my teammates for giving me the pictures they took of me on the trail.)

My hike group (Carey, Ellen, Katie, Shayna, Cynthia, Anne, Jan, and myself) was assigned to the aptly-named Panorama Trail. We started at Glacier Point (elevation 7,200 feet above sea level) around 8:30am and proceeded to hike downhill for about an hour, all the while in awe of Half Dome, Liberty Cap, Vernal & Nevada Falls, and the snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our guide, Jerry, with Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides, was just terrific. He’s worked in Yosemite for something like 40 years. In fact, he pointed out parts of the trail he helped build in the early 1970s. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the history of the park, the natives who were displaced by the park service, and all the flora and fauna along the trail.

After about two miles, we reached the top of Illilouette Falls and stopped for our first break. We then crossed the bridge to the other side of the falls and proceeded to hike 1.5 miles straight up – our only ascent of the day. (The whole way up, all I could think was, ‘wow, this is so much easier than Jeremy’s Run in Shenandoah!’) We took our second break halfway up the trail at Panorama Wall. Jerry deemed this a “no chase” zone, as in, if your camera or pack or lunch goes rolling toward the cliff, you DO NOT chase it. (He did say he WOULD chase us if one of us went rolling down!) At this point, we could look back at Glacier Point and see the trail we had just hiked down, as well as Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls, green meadows on the valley floor, and of course, Half Dome. The view was mostly clear, but a little overcast in the distance. The weather was hotter than we expected (mid-90s) but not too bad in the shade. We were required to carry at least 4 liters of fluid with us. I carried 4.5 liters of water and a half liter of Gatorade. I drank it all.

We continued uphill to the most incredible lunch spot. We had a great view of Half Dome from across the valley, and could see Liberty Cap (another huge stone formation) just to the east. After lunch, we started back downhill and soon came to the junction with the John Muir Trail and the stunning vista of Liberty Cap and Nevada Falls. I just couldn’t stop taking pictures here.

At the bottom of the John Muir Trail, we arrived at an overlook of rainbow-veiled Vernal Falls, and then the junction with the Mist Trail. First we hiked down to the top of the falls and took pictures of Glacier Point and the Merced River. We then proceeded down a steep, slippery staircase carved into the side of the mountain. At this point, Jerry recommended we don our rain gear. It’s a good thing too, because we got SOAKED. The “mist” blowing from the thundering falls blew right through my poncho. The water dripped down my bare legs and right into my hiking boots. I couldn’t see a thing, but it was SO MUCH FUN.

At Vernal Falls and along the Mist Trail, the hiker traffic grew heavier and heavier because we were nearing the Curry Village parking area in Yosemite Valley. We found a sign that marked our progress – “8.2 miles from Glacier Point." Hooray!!  We did it!!  It took us nearly 8 hours (including breaks and lunch), but we did it!

On the way to the parking lot where we were to meet our shuttle, Jerry led us to an area called “the Fen” at the bottom of Glacier Point. He took a picture of our hike group with our starting point in the background. In total, we gained 1,420’ in elevation and descended a total of 4,600’ to reach the valley floor. Whew!  Where’s my margarita?

After we returned to the lodge, all of the participants gathered at an outdoor dinner to celebrate our “mission accomplished." We made s’mores and drank Sierra Nevada ale – how appropriate!  We congratulated “Half Dome Thom,” the only person from our chapter selected to hike the challenging 18-mile trail that included summiting Half Dome assisted by cables. A handful of us who didn’t want this magical day to end stayed up as late as we could before settling in for some much-needed sleep.

Earlier, while we were waiting for the shuttle near the Fen, I sat by myself in the shadow of Glacier Point and reflected on what this event really means to me. I challenged myself physically, and because of all the training I did, I was in great shape for this hike. (In fact, Jerry told us that of all the groups he’s led this year, our group was the best prepared in terms of training and supplies.) Attached to my pack, I carried a card with all the names I’d been given – both cancer survivors and those whose lives I hiked in memoriam. I thought about all of those people and how many more lives will be saved because of the money we’ve raised as a group. From start to finish, this truly has been an amazing, heartwarming, unforgettable experience.

Well, our group made it safely to Fresno, CA and into the mountains to our destination, Tenaya Lodge last night. There are 23 hikers from the DC chapter, and we will be joined by another 20 people from the San Diego and Chicago chapters for tomorrow's event.

This morning, because I just couldn’t bear to be indoors, I joined my teammates Carey, Ellen, Katie, Karen, and Jon on a short hike of a nearby nature trail. We started at the lodge and walked down a dirt road before turning onto the trail. Just before the trailhead, we spotted a coyote on the road. It ran away as soon as it saw us, but I got a picture of its paw prints in the sandy dirt.

We wound leisurely around the trail, admiring the tall sugar pine trees with the gigantic pine cones. About halfway into the trail, we spotted a creek. We all took turns walking out on a fallen log, a makeshift footbridge for those who are brave enough to try it. After about an hour and a half, we headed back to the lodge to see what the rest of our group was up to.

We ran into a few others who all wanted to go on the $25 waterfall tour (which included a box lunch). Sean, the guide from the lodge, led us back up the same road, this time going about 2.5 miles to a trail that ended at the small but pretty Tenaya Falls. We broke for lunch at the falls. Michael decided to see just how cold the water was and jumped in a couple of times. If I had had my bathing suit on, I would have been right there with him… After lunch, we hiked back to the lodge (I can’t believe we hiked 6 miles the day before our big event!) and got ready for our “Inspiration Dinner”. At dinner, we learned that the Yosemite hikers in the DC chapter raised nearly $300,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This year, all of the Hike for Discovery participants (for both the Grand Canyon and Yosemite) raised over $4.2 million!!  Absolutely amazing!  All those donations really do add up!

Thanks to all of my wonderful donors, I was able to raise over $6,700 for this event.  I am… astonished.  I cannot thank you enough, or even articulate how much your support means to me.  Please know that so many people are being helped and lives are being saved because of your generosity. I couldn’t have done this without your support!

Wow, I can’t believe this is our last training hike before Yosemite!  This week we were supposed to be winding down and hiking for only 3 hours.  It was a “plan my own” hike, so my teammate Carey joined me, along with my friends Patrick and Kaustuv.  We started out in Warrenton a little later than usual, so we didn’t get to start our first hike until about 11am. 

The map at the trailhead for Hawksbill Mountain showed two trails, one that went steeply up the side of the mountain, and one that wound around the west side with a gradual ascent.  We were supposed to take the gradual trail, but we couldn’t find it at the trailhead!  Instead, we started up the steep trail thinking we’d find the spur, but we never did, though, we did spot a wild grouse along the way. We basically hiked straight up for 0.9 miles until we reached the summit of Hawksbill Mountain, the highest peak in Shenandoah National Park at 4,051 feet.  The National Park Service built an overlook at the summit, including a stone wall with a compass embedded in it.  To our north, we could see Stony Man Mountain (the second highest peak in the park), and to the east, Browns Mountain.  Check out pictures here.

Instead of retracing our steps, we decided to go the long way back down to the parking area – turns out it was MUCH longer than we expected!  We bypassed the turnoff for the Appalachian Trail and followed signs to the Lower Hawksbill parking area.  Thirty minutes later, when we reached the parking area, we realized it was NOT the same place we had parked!  In order to get back there, we need to hike back up (nearly to the summit), and take the AT to another trail that would take us back to our parking lot. 

We made our way back up the mountain (though this trail wasn’t nearly as steep as the first one) until we found the trail marker for the AT.  We took that trail, called the Salamander Trail, which took us by a couple of nice overlooks.  There we could see Stony Man Mtn., Shenandoah Valley and the town of Luray.  We also passed by a couple of areas where smaller rocks had broken up and slid down the side of the mountain.  We finally made our way down through the forest (where we saw a deer hiding out), and back to our parking area – for a total of 4.9 miles in 4 hours (with breaks).

On our way out of the park, we decided to stop off at Betty’s Rock for another view of the valley and of Hawksbill.  This hike was only 0.6 miles roundtrip, and we stopped and took lots of pictures from the overlook.  We left Shenandoah around 4:00 or so, and stopped for lunch (dinner?) at Sunnyside Market in Sperryville – possibly our last chance for tilapia sandwiches and organic burgers before they close down. 

Today’s hike was a lot of fun – and extra special thanks to Patrick and Kaustuv for coming out with us!

Whew!  I went into this hike thinking it was only going to take 6 hours, but it ended up being about 7.5.  That’s a loooooooong 10-mile hike.  Now I think I am REALLY prepared for Yosemite.

We started out at the trailhead on Skyline Drive, between mile markers 33 and 34.  Seven of us – Carey, Ellen, Jon, Margie, Shayna, Michael, and I – hiked downhill for a couple of miles to the turnoff to the White Rocks Trail.  (You know what that means, don’t you?  It will be uphill for the last 2 miles…) Before too long we came to a trail marker that simply said “Cave/Waterfall 0.2 mi” and pointed to the right, down a steep, steep hill.  We took the side trail down to the waterfall and the first three of us to get there were unimpressed with the trickle we saw. When Jon made it down, he told the REAL waterfall was a few steps farther, past the cave. Click here to see pictures.

We gradually made it back up that steep, steep hill and continued on the White Rocks Trail.  From there we could see the surrounding ridges to the north, and Hazel Mountain to the south.  I was walking right behind Michael, who was leading the group, when something ran across his foot.  He jumped and yelped, and I turned to see what the heck it was.  It turned out to be an Eastern Fence Lizard, brown with gray and black markings.  Some new wildlife!  We continued down the other side of the ridge and down to the Hazel River.  We ended up crossing the river several times before lunchtime. 

We stopped for lunch on the river at the bottom of the next steep trail.  Once we had fortified ourselves, we proceeded on a 2.1-mile trek straight up Sam’s Ridge.  It was about halfway up this trail I started cursing the name of our trail leader for choosing such a difficult uphill climb (though I forgave him once we got to the top).  He tried to motivate us to walk by telling bad jokes he learned from the boy scout troop he leads.  At this point, EVERYTHING was hurting – my feet, knees, back, neck, etc.  Somehow I managed to keep putting one foot in front of the other and make it up the hill.  We finally made it to the top and posed for a picture at the end of the trail. What a day!

Today is National Trails Day!  What better way to celebrate than by going on a 5 hour hike in a local park?  The 15,000 acre Prince William Forest Park, near Quantico, VA, is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, DC metro region. It consists of 37 miles of hiking trails, 21 miles of bicycle accessible roads and trails, as well as multiple family camping sites.

Since some of our teammates, as well as our hike leaders, were completing their one-day Grand Canyon hike today, we Yosemite folks were left on our own to navigate and complete the 8.5 mile hike. I had gotten the trail maps in advance, so I was able to give them out to my other teammates who showed up. It was a little drizzly at first, overcast, and chillier than I had expected it to be at 9am. But once we got on the trail, the rain stopped and the weather warmed up. This time my hike group consisted of the four regulars (Katie, Ellen, Carey, & me) plus Margie, who we had gotten to know through previous hikes.

We started out on the Old Black Top Road, then after almost 2 miles, turned onto the Oak Ridge Trail, then to the South Valley Trail. We passed by Quantico Creek, and then stopped for lunch at a bridge on the Mawavi Fire Road. There were tons of butterflies everywhere, but they wouldn’t cooperate and pose for a picture for me. We passed a couple of lakes where campers can rent cabins in the summertime. We saw two huge blue herons too, but again, they would not cooperate with the camera. Along the trail we passed many trees that had been felled by beavers, or were halfway gnawed through. There was supposed to be a beaver lodge on the creek at some point, but we didn’t see it. Check out my hike pictures here.

All in all, this hike was not terribly challenging, so it made for a good “tapering” hike in preparation for heading to Yosemite. My group definitely missed the scenic vistas and mountains that we’d experienced in Shenandoah and other nearby parks. Next week we head back to Shenandoah to hike Hazel Mountain. After that, I have one more (plan-my-own) training hike, and then we’re off to California!!

I spent Memorial Day weekend visiting my friend Craig in Morgantown, WV. On Saturday, we took a mini-hike on the rail-to-trail path along the Monongahela River to downtown. It was about a mile, mile and a half from his house…to the brewery, so I guess it doesn’t really count as a training hike, right?  Oh well…

On Sunday, we met up with Craig’s friend Melanie near Aurora, WV. On the way there, we passed by beautiful Deep Creek Lake and Wisp ski resort. We picked up Melanie and headed to Blackwater Falls State Park, named for the falls of the Blackwater River “whose amber-colored waters plunge five stories then twist and tumble through an eight-mile long gorge. The ‘black’ water is a result of tannic acid from fallen hemlock and red spruce needles.”  We parked at the Visitor Center lodge, and then walked around back for a view from an overlook. We followed the Elakala Trail to a bridge over some small falls. That trail led us to the Balanced Rock Trail for about a half mile, which then spit us out on the Red Spruce Riding Trail. The ground was pretty wet, so we had to be on the lookout for mud puddles, as well as horse droppings. I noticed that we were so high up in the mountains that spring was coming late. Many of the trees were still budding, and I didn’t see any of the flowers that we’ve seen the last couple of weeks in Shenandoah.

After about a mile, the riding trail led us to the Stables where we picked up the Yellow Birch Trail (after passing the Country Critters petting zoo). At that point, we said goodbye to Melanie, who had to head off to a family gathering. After another mile, we came to the main road and on the other side, a short trail to an overlook of the falls. After checking out the view, we decided we wanted to get closer to the falls, so we followed the road over the bridge to the other side of the river, and hiked down to the falls themselves. Check out pictures here.

The road down was pretty steep and at the bottom were stairs leading down to the water. We took our time at the lower overlook, taking lots of pictures and snacking on pepperoni rolls. (I must say, my first introduction to the WV pepperoni roll was definitely a pleasant one.)  We headed back up the steep stairs and then the hill. Suddenly I saw a woodchuck (is that the same thing as a groundhog?) scurry across the road. He was followed by two more friends, and I managed to get a picture of a couple of them.

We hiked back up to the Yellow Birch Trail and hiked the last mile or so back to the lodge. In all, we did about 7 miles in 4 hours (including breaks). It had gotten HOT out for the first time all weekend, so we felt like we had been hiking much longer. We took a scenic drive back through the mountains (with my ears popping occasionally because we were so high), along the Cheat River, and finally back to Morgantown.

We really lucked out on the beautiful weather today – high of 70 degrees and sunny skies over Shenandoah. I expected this to be the most difficult and grueling hike yet, as we steeply descended 4.5 miles from Skyline Drive into White Oak Canyon, then proceeded to hike 4.5 miles back up to the top over the course of 8 hours. The way down (at least for me) was no problem. My teammates with bad knees, however, did not fair so well. They were looking forward to the uphill climb to take the pressure off their joints, but unfortunately, that’s when my back started hurting.

If you didn’t already know, I injured my back this past November while on vacation in Puerto Rico. I lifted my VERY heavy suitcase and twisted to pull it onto a curb, and I herniated a disc in my lower back. I did physical therapy for a month or so, re-injured it, then had to do more PT to increase my core strength. Since then, I have kept up my exercises and haven’t experienced many problems until last week. I was traveling for work, and I think I exacerbated the injury when I lifted my carry-on suitcase into the overhead bin. I saw my chiropractor yesterday, and I felt like I was okay to do this hike. After being on my feet for several hours with extra weight in my backpack, my lower back started aching (well, it’s more like a stabbing, shooting pain) for the last 3 miles of the hike. I took some ibuprofen, which helped a lot, but all I really wanted to do was lay down.

Fortunately, there were dozens of waterfalls along the trail where we could take breaks for food or photo ops on the way uphill, so that broke up our ascent very nicely. We stopped for lunch around 1:00 at the bottom of a 60-foot waterfall. I changed from my hiking boots into my water shoes to cool off my feet. Later, at another waterfall, our hike leader, Jon, stripped down to his bathing suit and actually climbed into the freezing cold falls and slid down. I will have to try this when the weather is a little hotter and I don’t mind an ice-cold dip.

There weren’t as many interesting flowers, butterflies or snakes as last week, but we must have seen about a hundred black and red millipedes all along the trail. On the way up, the tall canyon rock walls seemed to just drip with water. At one point, the water sprayed over the side of the wall and created a sort of “shower” that you could stand under to cool off. At the halfway point up the White Oak trail, we followed a short side trail that led us to a view of another waterfall and what appeared to be a 100-foot rock cliff. Jon told us we were about to hike up there, and sure enough, not 5 minutes later we were at the top of the cliff, looking down on the trail’s largest waterfall with a 90-foot drop.

The photographs of the waterfalls all kind of run together, but I posted the ones I thought were the prettiest. This is a large album with over 50 pictures, but there are some good ones. Check them out here.

As I said, I expected this to be our most challenging hike yet, but I really felt like last week’s hike at Jeremy’s Run was even more difficult because of the steep mile at the end. After these last two hikes, I feel that I am definitely prepared for what I will encounter at Yosemite next month!

Everyone -- I recently found out that Tyler, the 2-year old son of my friends Viengkeo and Dave Tzong from W&M, was just diagnosed with leukemia.  In the past couple of weeks they have been through some heart-wrenching, scary stuff, to say the least.  After spending 2 weeks in the hospital, Tyler is finally home, to the relief of his parents.  He is still going through chemotherapy, but the treatment seems to be working and he is well on his way to remission. 

Please, please keep Tyler and his family in your thoughts and pray (to the deity of your choice) that he has a quick, pain-free recovery. In the meantime, I have added Tyler to my list of honorees because he is one of the reasons I am doing this hike. He is so brave, and I am honored to represent his spirit.  If you want to read more about Tyler’s story, please visit his tribute website at Tyler’s Fight.

Okay, who knew that there is an 18-mile trail that runs from Fairfax County to Prince William County?  I’ve lived in Northern VA most of my life and I had no idea this trail existed. It basically follows Bull Run (river/stream) and Occoquan River from Bull Run Regional Park (near Centreville) to Fountainhead Park (west of Burke). We hiked the 6-mile section from Hemlock Overlook past Bull Run Marina, and back. It was yet another great day for hiking, weather-wise. It stayed about 60-65 degrees all day long, mostly sunny, and more importantly NO BUGS (which was odd since we were hiking in a forest next to a river, but fortunate). As we started out, we could hear gun fire booming in the distance. Some people in the group thought it was a shooting range, but I have a feeling it may have been Civil War re-enactors, or maybe an artillery demonstration or something. Along the trail we noticed that more and more spring flowers and trees were blooming. Carey found an interesting flower that she later confirmed comes from the tulip poplar tree. I also spotted some funny-looking sprouty things -- turns out they are called Squawroot. Check out pictures here.

We made it through the woods and came upon this big open meadow. The blue trail blazes (normally found on trees or rocks) now started appearing on wooden posts along the edge of the woods. They led us to… what?  Soccer fields?  Lots of children running around in their little uniforms kicking balls. Um, okay…  It took us a while to sort through the confusion and find the next blue blaze, but eventually we spotted it -- on one of the fence posts demarcating the edge of the soccer field, next to a goal post. (Sure, why not?) So we continued around the field and ended up back in the woods along the river again.

The group reached our destination, Bull Run Marina, in about 2 hours (we thought it would take 3). Some people decided to head back to the trailhead to start setting up for our group picnic. Others of us decided to keep going for a little while longer. Carey, Ellen and I teamed up with Pat and Nancy to continue on. About half an hour later, the trail started getting steeper, so we decided to turn back around. At about mile 9, my feet started to hurt. Not too long after that, my left knee started to bother me. At mile 10 we started wondering aloud why the heck we opted to hike an extra hour. As we neared the trailhead, the thought of digging into some chips, guacamole, salsa, brownies and other treats kept me going. In total, we hiked 12 miles in 5 hours and walked nearly 30,000 steps. Our longest distance training hike yet -- wow!

When we got back, our picnic was laid out for us, complete with sandwiches, chips, desserts, and drinks. I had forgotten to pack something for lunch more substantial than trail mix, and did not realize just how hungry I was till I spotted all that food. As we munched, Jan, one of our two hike leaders, congratulated us on how much money we have raised as a group so far. She also called roll (for the first time ever) and we were able to meet more teammates, some of whom I’d never even seen before. The countdown is on -- just a month and half left before going to Yosemite!

I can’t believe it!  Today I received a donation that put me just over my $5,000 goal!!  I am amazed and touched at the flood of generosity I’ve witnessed since I started fundraising less than two months ago. I have received so much support and encouragement from my friends, family and coworkers who not only believe in me and my dedication, but are so supportive of such a wonderful cause.

Although I’ve met my goal, I am not stopping here.  As I’ve mentioned before, of the funds we raise above $3,700, 100% of the donations go to the programs. Every dollar brings us one step closer to finding a cure!

Thank you to all of my wonderful donors!  I couldn’t do this without you! 

Today’s hike took us to the summit of Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park. Katie, Ellen and Carey came to my parents’ house to pick me up on the way, and I gave them homemade breakfast burritos. The weather was perfect for hiking—mid-60s, breezy and not a cloud in the sky. I had hiked Old Rag 2 or 3 times before, the last time was probably 8 years (and quite a few pounds) ago. The trail was exactly as I remembered, except that they added 2 miles to the hike by making us walk a mile each way from the official NPS parking lot to the trailhead. The first 3 miles consisted of an uphill climb through the woods. I had to stop periodically to catch my breath and snack on trail mix. At one point, my legs and my hip cramped up, so I had to down an entire bottle of Gatorade before I could continue. During one rest stop, we spotted a white-tailed deer bounding through the woods. Eventually we made it to the “fun part,” where the rock scramble starts. My favorite part of this hike is getting to climb up rocks (sometimes with a boost from teammates), hop from boulder to boulder and check out the amazing views from different vantage points. At a couple of points, we all had to take off our packs to squeeze through some tight spots. When we reached the summit around 1:00, we stopped to eat lunch and take in the near 360-degree vista of the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding Virginia farmland. Check out pictures here.

We made it down the back side of the mountain much more quickly than it took to reach the top. On the way down we crossed over a couple of footbridges—a MUCH better alternative to fording the streams from last weekend’s trail at Fridley Gap. All in all, we hiked nearly 10 miles (almost 26,000 steps) in about 6.5 hours, including the rests. Also, I don’t think I’ve laughed during a hike as much as I laughed on this one. My teammates, and our volunteer hike leader and safety guy, Jon, are so much fun to hike with. We just joked and cracked up the whole time.

I love hiking Old Rag (well, except for the first 3 miles) because it gives you such a huge sense of accomplishment when you’re done—sort of an “if I can hike this, I can hike anything” attitude. It’s no Mt. Everest, but it’s definitely good training!  I know I will be sore tomorrow (and probably the next day) but it was all worth it!

At 6:45 this morning I met up with my Yosemite teammates, Ellen, Carey and Katie, at the Vienna metro station so that we could carpool to Fridley Gap in George Washington National Forest. Just when we got on the road, the sky opened up and it proceeded to pour down rain for the duration of our drive. Because it was unsafe to drive the speed limit, our 2 to 2-1/2 hour drive to the town of Shenandoah took us nearly 3 hours (and we weren’t the last ones to get there). We arrived safely at the Fridley Gap trailhead, donned our raingear and headed up the trail. After less than half a mile, we came to a fast-running stream where the only way to cross was to jump in and walk across in water higher than the tops of our boots. Some of our teammates were already headed back to the parking lot because they encountered a second stream rapidly increasing in volume, and one person had slipped and fallen (but thankfully didn’t injure herself too badly). We did the math and realized that after 5 hours of steady rain, both streams would be even more difficult to cross on the way back. Our little team made a quick decision to pass on this hike, but since we had driven so long to get out there we still wanted to do a hike somewhere. I realized that Mary’s Rock (the hike from last weekend) was only 40 minutes away (and on the way home), so we opted to go there instead.

The four of us drove to Shenandoah National Park, and by the time we got there the rain had stopped, but was replaced by an eerie dense fog. We slowly and carefully navigated our way to the Panorama parking area and found the trailhead. Last weekend we hiked the trail that approached Mary’s Rock from the south. This time we started from the north, which was somewhat shorter, but much, much steeper. Basically, we hiked for nearly 2 hours straight up.  We briefly snacked at the summit and then it took about an hour to come back down the same path. On the way down, the fog had started to clear and we noticed a lot of neat trees and rock formations that had been hidden from view on the way up. Check out pictures here.

We were all glad that we were able to do a hike today and not catch pneumonia or hurt ourselves in the process. On the way back we stopped by Sunnyside Farms in Sperryville for organic burgers and sandwiches (and some well deserved chocolate!) before heading back to NoVa. I am so thankful that I have found such a great crew to hike and share this whole experience with. Not to mention that Ellen makes the absolute BEST oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever had. J

This weekend I was able to plan my own outing to Shenandoah. This time I dragged my dad and my brother Jason with me, as well as my teammate, Carey, and friends Patrick, Kaustuv and Josine. Prior to today, my dad was iffy about the prospect of going up all the hills and kept referring to the outing as the “Death March.” But once we got out there, he and everyone else did great! I, of course, brought up the rear because it was so hilly and I constantly had to stop to catch my breath. (I’ve been trying to avoid relying on my inhaler and have been keeping my asthma in check by resting for short periods.) Also, I have to remember to eat something for breakfast more substantial than a bowl of cereal, though trail mix is a great energy snack.

The weather was gorgeous – nearly 80 degrees and mostly sunny. It got pretty toasty around noon, but after last week’s weather, I’m not complaining! We hiked out to Mary’s Rock (overlooking the Thornton Gap entrance to the park) and back. Total mileage was 7.7 in 4 hours (plus a half-hour rest). The trail parallels Skyline Drive to the west and visibility was excellent, so we had some great vistas of Luray and the Shenandoah Valley.  Check out my pictures here.

Rain… rain… sleet… and more rain…  I had not been this wet and cold in a long time. Up until yesterday’s hike at Sugarloaf Mountain in Dickerson, MD, we had been incredibly lucky with the weather on our training hikes. At 9am, it started out at about 55 degrees and drizzling, but when we reached the summit, the temperature dropped into the 30s and we were pelted with freezing rain. It was so dark out that the flash came on for all the pictures I took (click here), making the day seem deceptively brighter. It would not have been so miserable if I had been prepared for that drop in temperature. Unfortunately, I was wearing a thin rain jacket (that ended up wetting through), a lightweight long-sleeved t-shirt and a fleece vest. About halfway through the hike, I crammed my vest into the front of my jacket to give me some insulation (which is why I looked pregnant or stuffed in some of the photos). We hiked a combination of the Northern Peaks and Mountain Loop Trails, a total of 8.2 miles in about 4.5 hours. I believe that came to something like 20,934 steps. Wow…