Life
Hitting the Trail
by
I had a post for today drafted, but I got excited about preparing for my grand excursion today and totally forgot to upload it. So, I’ll save it for next week.
This is where I was instead of posting a blog:
![A view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, covered in trees, against a blue sky with puffy white clouds.](http://shannaswendson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_0782-300x225.jpeg)
One of the reasons I wanted to move here was to be close to the mountains. I can see them in the distance when I run errands. Since I hit my writing goals for the week and the weather was nice, I decided it was time to hit the mountains. The beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway is about 15 miles from where I live, so I went out there, and then the guy at the visitors center suggested a short hiking route for me. I walked about a mile on the Appalachian Trail then took a short side trail to get to the overlook site where I had that fabulous view. I had a picnic lunch there, then walked back.
So I can now say I’ve hiked the Appalachian Trail, though just a teeny portion of it. It was all so beautiful, but I need to get in better shape. I slacked off from my regular exercise while I was going through the move, then didn’t get back in the habit once I stopped having the intense physical labor of packing/unpacking and carrying things around. I’ve done some walking around town, but if I’m going to do real hiking, I need to build up to it. Today was just enough to get a taste of it and see some scenery, and I suspect I’ll feel it tomorrow.
Now I’m going to get a tall glass of cold water and put my feet up for a while.
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