Douthat

Last week, Andy and I were on vacation at Douthat State Park.

They have great trails there, and they're multi-use so we were able to do some awesome mountain biking. Basically, the state park goes from peak to peak, with a lake and cabins and campgrounds in the valley. The last time we were there (when we got engaged!) we hiked up one side of the mountain. Well, this time we BIKED up the other mountain!

It took us 5.5 hours round trip, because it was a lot of climbing. I usually have a hard time on uphill rides, but this was so much harder because the trails aren't smooth; they are rocky and have roots and it's just harder in general. So we took about a million 2 minute breaks and about 25,000 6 minute breaks, but we made it to the top!

The photos, as you can see, were so worth it... you'd think that coming down would be great, but I actually enjoyed the descent LESS than the climbing! It was pretty scary, and although I only fell once, it really shook me up to be sliding down the side of the mountain. Fortunately, I fell in mud, so it was a soft landing. (How often do you say "fortunately, I fell in mud?!") In any case, we made it down in about 25 minutes, as opposed to the 5 hours of climbing.

All in all, it felt great, and we are really proud of our accomplishment! Of course, we did absolutely nothing the rest of the day. :)