Was It A Dream?

This weekend Aaron and I decided to go for a hike but we weren't sure just where to go. Aaron mentioned that he had wanted to hike Old Rag for a while and that settled it. We drove about an hour out from Charlottesville to the trail in the Shenandoah wilderness.

Leaving the parking lot we encountered a ranger. He warned us that it was a very hot day (it was in the ninties) and he was leaving to bring a heat stroke victim off the mountain. He told us to be careful because the seasoned rescue team was occupied. If we got into trouble there would be no help for us. Now I have Never considered trying to contact a ranger while on a hike but knowing there was no help got me a little nervous. We continued on valiantly and it was well worth the effort. Old Rag is a wonderful time. There trail cuts back through some beautiful woodland and the top of the mountain is a whole different level. You get to scramble over under and through packs of mammoth boulders. The view is spectacular in every direction. We tried to take a lot of pictures but we really aren't picture people. Still I think you can get a small taste of how amazing it is up there.









The way back we made a few classic mistakes. We ran out of water. Aaron jumped off a boulder and was impaled by an angry tree branch. He bled for a while and was left with a wound reminescent of a lobotomy incision. We had an encounter with a rattle snake which was less exciting than it sounds. I almost jumped off a rock and on to him but luckily Aaron looked before I leaped. Once noticed, we were happy to give the snake his own space and he was happy to stay curled between two boulders.





We continued down the mountain fighting heat exhaustion by sucking on the apples we had left. Just as we thought our adventures were over Aaron stopped me and pointed into the woods. Not twenty feet away, to our direct right was a black bear cub. A cute fuzzy American black bear cub looking nervously in our direction. For a split second I thought, how cute, I should take a picture. That fraction of thought quickly evaporated as I remembered that bear cubs are Never alone and NOTHING is as dangerous as a worried mama bear. Sure enough, a split second later, from our direct left came a crashing. Aaron was on the left and said, Katy Run. I ran. I didn't see her but Aaron says Mama bear came galloping at us and stopped abruptly. We didn't stick around to see what she did next. It was amazing! The baby bear looked a lot like this except it was looking straight at us.



The next day at church I saw Amy and Steve and immediatly began to try to explain what happened. I told Amy - We went hiking, it was amazing, boulders, hawks, rattle snake, A bear, An angry bear, and it was hot and we ran and it was incredible!! Amy asked, Was this a dream you had? Not to get too cheesy, but it was, a dream come true. I can't wait to hike it again.