A Nice Day for a Hike

Mom came to visit this weekend, and we went for a girls-only hike on Saturday. We headed to Sky Meadows State Park, about an hour/hour and a half away from our house and into the mountains. The weather was perfect, it was warm and sunny but there was a great breeze at the bottom of the trails as well as on top of the ridge. The map of Sky Meadows is below:



We took the North Ridge Trail (1.7 miles) to the Appalachian Trail, then headed north for about 2.5 miles to the trail crossing at Route 50. After a quick rest and a muffin, we headed back southbound on the AT and took the Ambassador Whitehouse Trail (1.1 miles, dumps into the North Ridge Trail) back to the parking lot. The trail up to the AT was VERY steep in sections, but the AT was fairly level until close to Ashby Gap (where it crosses 50). Then back up the gap, across the ridge, and down the hill to the road. Overall, it was a good hike, and I feel like the effort getting up the steep hills was better than the 5 miles I was supposed to run!

The only bad thing about the hike was my boots; I have some massive blisters on my heels. My left heel has a blister the size of a pepperoni! And that was after putting moleskin on to prevent the rubbing! So... I'm not sure if they need to be broken in more, but I am pretty sure I'm not willing to find out.