It was a frigid winter day when we hiked to one of Shenandoah National Park’s most famous waterfalls, White Oak Canyon.
Tag: Hiking
“Wander often, wander always.”
–Unknown
This hike made me feel calm, gleeful, and child-like — giggling with Andrew as the wind gusts pushed against us and as we squeezed inside tiny crevices of gigantic boulders. This is love amplified in countless forms.
And this is Richmond, our Richmond — a big little city (as residents say), one that boasts of its river so much the area is nicknamed “The River City.” Here’s more on our walk along the floodwall . . .
It felt a mighty battle between gods for light and darkness. Deep grey clouds suffocated the sun and loomed over the blue valley while the sun struggled to pierce through in broken patches of light.
This is our home. This is where we feel most comfortable — where the sun and moon shine together and where colors are at their prime. This is where the world stands still but also blurs by and we grasp — keep trying to grasp — that moment where we, too, can freeze in time.
Here, the white boulders were streamed with hints of pastels — yellows, oranges, and pinks — as we watched the sun set until it faded behind the Blue Ridge Mountains.
This hike is packed full of so much rain that my camera refused to work and fog so thick it became mesmerizing. But in all of that rain and fog: The most amazing Virginia waterfall and sheer cliff drop we have yet to see.
“You come up with some stupid ideas, but this — ” and he pointed in the direction from where we had come, “has to be the stupidest.”
This is what Andrew had to say to me as we were stuck in the middle of our most terrifying hike yet. Here we took to England’s almost-mythic mountain, Helvellyn.
Heading back, I remember thinking, “It will be strange if we don’t see a black bear” so I paused, almost willing their camouflage to disappear, for them to be seen, and it was then a black bear appeared on my right.
In the woods, very seldom do we actually look and sound like we know what we are doing. What more often than not happens is we muddle through and somehow make it to where we intended to go. It’s a miracle really. But at least we have each other.
Spring had finally arrived in the mountains, which was why we were fine setting off on an unblazed trail because Nature lead the way — She seemed to whisper in yellows as various types of daffodils, unusual dogwoods, and fluffy dandelions spotlighted our path.
This hike goes down as one of our top three, and lucky for us we got a mountain sunset and sunrise there, along with a series of waterfalls, a 360-degree summit view, small campsite on a cliff face, and of course a walk on the Appalachian Trail.
Often I want hikes to last longer than they do; I want time to slow. This could be for a variety of reasons: The view is so beautiful that the minutes, hours I have to take it in — It is never enough. Or the memories created at that spot, on that trail, on that mountain — They are ones I desire to hold onto because I know they will escape and fade, despite my attempts to grasp them. Or, like this day, I could want the hike to last for a more simple reason: To stretch time in the wilderness with my sister and fiance before life gets in the way again.
It’s April Fool’s Day — a time for jokes and pranks and hoaxes. A time to instill doubt, second-guesses, concern, dare I say a smidge bit of worry. A time when trusting individuals are turned to fools, and loyal individuals become tricksters. April Fool’s Day — a time when . . . let’s be honest . . . a time when Andrew proposed to me.
The farther we hiked, the more comforted we were in being alone. After forging the river, we had the forest to ourselves. We felt like children, darting across and splashing in the water, jumping on rocks, laughing. Life was innocent, light, carefree — another magical quality of forests.