Bluff Mountain

It was supposed to rain today. Behn and I had a tiring work week and we decided to take it easy and stay in all day. We were going to sleep, watch movies, maybe do some spring cleaning. But when we woke up (at 7:30! so much for sleeping in), it wasn't raining. We made breakfast. Still no rain. We went on the front porch to check out the birds on our birdfeeder- it was actually getting sunny!

So we decided to DO something instead of sit around all day, as planned. We grabbed our trusty "Washington and Lee Outings Club" manual and picked a hike. We packed some sandwiches and set off!

We drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and pulled over next to the trailhead of Bluff Mountain. The entire trail up to Bluff's peak is the Appalachian Trail (AT), and was really well marked. It began very steep and eventually leveled off some, until just before the summit. It was an amazing hike-not too long- and with quite a reward at the top. Absolutely amazing views: the Appalachians to the east and the Alleghenies to the west.

The East:

The West (we could see Lexington off in the distance, as well as the Maury River)

Enjoying the special thrill that comes with mountain climbing:

So much better than sitting around inside!!

Even though it hasn't snowed in more than a month and the weather has been springlike and warm, there were still deep snowdrifts near the top- made for a slippery descent!

Doing activities like this are major reasons we decided to move to this area- what a great day!