After almost two solid months of hiking frustration, (hunting, rain, illness), the family finally got to make up for some lost time with our end of the year vacation to Pipestem SP. As a family, we did one amazing hike. I did two others, which I will post about later. Our family hike was Canyon Rim Trail, and it was the best of the bunch.
We did this hike on New Year's Eve, Jan. 31, 2012. There was a little snow on the ground, and the temperature was in the upper 30's or lower 40's, so the snow wouldn't last long. Surprisingly, even Encyclopedia wanted to go along.
The trail is .7 mile one way and ends at a rock outcropping overlooking the Bluestone River Canyon. The trail began downhill and continued that way the entire way to the rim of the canyon. For us older folks, that was the hard part, going down on a steep, sometimes slippery path. I think Burt wished at times that he had brought his walking stick.
At the end of the trail, we were on two major rock outcrops and had the most wonderful view of the valley, with the very, very blue Bluestone River at the bottom. The sky was clear, no one was anywhere near, and it was so peaceful.
I'm glad that the beginning of the trip was downhill because I don't know if I could have gotten the boys to go all the way if we had had the climb at the outset. As it was, the uphill to get back was strenuous. Cool Guy needed some encouragement and coaching on just going a little more slowly, thus not needing to stop as often. He did well.
I would definitely do this hike again, especially in the fall in order to see the leave from that viewpoint.
We did this hike on New Year's Eve, Jan. 31, 2012. There was a little snow on the ground, and the temperature was in the upper 30's or lower 40's, so the snow wouldn't last long. Surprisingly, even Encyclopedia wanted to go along.
The trail is .7 mile one way and ends at a rock outcropping overlooking the Bluestone River Canyon. The trail began downhill and continued that way the entire way to the rim of the canyon. For us older folks, that was the hard part, going down on a steep, sometimes slippery path. I think Burt wished at times that he had brought his walking stick.
At the end of the trail, we were on two major rock outcrops and had the most wonderful view of the valley, with the very, very blue Bluestone River at the bottom. The sky was clear, no one was anywhere near, and it was so peaceful.
I'm glad that the beginning of the trip was downhill because I don't know if I could have gotten the boys to go all the way if we had had the climb at the outset. As it was, the uphill to get back was strenuous. Cool Guy needed some encouragement and coaching on just going a little more slowly, thus not needing to stop as often. He did well.
I would definitely do this hike again, especially in the fall in order to see the leave from that viewpoint.
No comments:
Post a Comment