Smalls

This morning we got up at 6am to go to Morrow Mountain.  We met the group at Jessi and Laura’s apartment around 7am and then made our way to the state park.  Eric and I drove with Adam and Laura.  We listened to Adam’s ipod on the way which had a pretty eclectic mix of songs – including Ace of Base!   We passed through Albemarle and saw the Sonic Burger where Kelly Pickler worked (exciting, eh?!). 

Once we arrived, we parked the cars, geared up and began our hike.  We took the Sugarloaf trail to the Morrow Mountain trail, which took us to the top.  Now, I know we were hiking up to the top of the mountain, but man was it steep!  The trail we took was ‘moderate’ and I don’t think any of us expected this hike to be too hard.  It was definitely a work out.  Fortunately, the entire hike was in the woods, so we had the shade of the trees to keep us cool in the heat!  We made it to the top of the mountain, had a snack, and then started to make our way back.  We came to a cross road where it was either hike a short way back to the car or hike another 2 miles back to the car.  Charlie, Eric and I were the smart ones and decided to take the short trail while the others (Jessi, Erika, Kelly, Laura, Adam) decided to go the long way. 

We got back to the car, took off our hiking boots and socks and just hung out.  We watched three guys come back from the horse trail and wash off their horses and then we had some excitement with a deer spotting!  About an hour later the others made it back.  Turns out the trail they took was up another mountain and was one of two ’strenuous’ trails in the park.  They were tiredwhen they got back!  We packed up the cars and then made our way over to the picnic area for some lunch.  Jessi and Kelly were kind enough to go shopping last night and provide all of the fixing’s for a nice lunch.  We had some ham/turkey/salami sandwiches, chips, dip, grapes, cookies -mmm!  After lunch we stopped by the lake to see the view and then made our way back home.

It was an hour-long trip and I slept pretty much the whole way back.  When Eric and I got back to our apartment, we went for a quick swim to cool off a bit, then came home and showered.  Oh man did that shower feel good!  After just relaxing for a bit we both fell asleep and slept for another 2 hours!  I was worn-out, but it was such a fun day.  It really got Eric and I in the mood to go backpacking!  Hopefully this summer we’ll make a trip.