I AM a sweat-wuss. "But Mom", Erica said to me..."it's ONLY 7.5 miles. It will be easy!!!" Um, yeah right. Mountain hiking is the worst because its all steep slopes, uneven terrain, slippery loose rocks....not my idea of fun. But the glorious rain saved me (or so I thought).
We went to the historic Boar's Head Inn for brunch. If you are ever in the Charlottesville area on a Sunday, you HAVE to try this brunch. It was pricey, but oh so worth it. My favorite part was this scrumptious white chocolate bread pudding with a Creme Anglaise sauce that made me almost weep with joy. I swear, the clouds parted and I caught a little glimpse of heaven with every bite. If I had found that on the buffet first, I would have eaten nothing but that. So delicious. Here's a picture of that place. The grounds are absolutely breathtaking. It would probably be a really nice place to stay.
After brunch it was still a little misty, so once again I could barely contain my glee as the hiking idea was pushed aside. We went to a couple of wineries for wine tasting instead. Hike or sip wines? No contest in my opinion. We went to 2 different place, both within 30 minutes of Erica's place. And I really enjoyed it. We ended up buying a nice selection of fruit wines including a delicious raspberry, a crisp fresh apple, a cranberry, and a really good wine made from grapes that taste an awful lot like the scuppernong grapes that grew here in our backyard (until the goats ate the scuppernong bush...haha).
And then....the skies cleared and hiking time was declared. I was sad. I tried to get out of it, I told them how much more fun they would have taking off without me....But they were not going to be satisfied unless I went. At least....at the VERY least it was too late in the day to attempt the 7 miler. They scoured through Erica's Shenandoah hiking book trying to pick out a nice short trail with good views.
One that would only take a short amount of time. Ok...maybe I could deal with it. I was still not thrilled, but I was resolved to go through with it. Let me point out here that I asked to see the book, and read the trail description for myself. I was on the lookout for words like "dangerous", or "strenuous". Some of the longer hikes did say that. But they were intent on picking out the best trail and completely ignored my requests to see the book.
We drove up on Skyline Dr. It was beautiful, and there were quite a few overlooks with expansive views. That's my idea of hiking: driving up in the mountains to the overlooks, getting out, taking it all in, and then getting back into an air-conditioned car. But we arrived at the trail head, got out with our backpacks full of water and sandwiches (we planned to picnic on the top). We went over and looked at the information board, and Erica did this thing that didn't register as strange. Not at that moment. She slammed the hiking book up against the board, and used it to highlight a certain area of text. It said something like: "talus slopes". "Talus...I wonder what that means", she said. "Hey let's all try to guess what it means and see which of us gets the closest." Alright...well, I wanted to see the "talus slopes" first before I made a guess, so...off we went.
The beginning of the trail was steep. There were loose rocks, and a million mosquitoes buzzing all over us. The bug spray was conveniently back at Erica's place. Blah. At least it leveled off after a bit, and although I was sweating and out of breath, I managed to make it up to those talus slopes without dying. I would have been fine there. Right there at the base, in the shade of a tree. Perfect for a picnic. But nope, no way. My family decided that we just HAD to climb up to the top. And I? I hated every single minute of it. It was hotter than hell, as the rocks were sitting out in blazing sun. Every rock I stepped on was wiggly and shakey, and I was scared out of my mind. HATE!!!
Here are my mountain goat husband and daughter on the highest peak:
Anyway, I did not go all the way up to that point. We found a level area to picnic, and we ate our sandwiches. I wish I could say that I enjoyed mine, but I was so hot, and so freaked out by the climb that my stomach was tensed up and feeling gross.
I was not loving it. And I was especially happy when it was time to leave. We climbed down that stupid talus slope, made our way back through the bug-ridden woods, and finally made it back to our car. Whew...it was only a mile or so roundtrip, but I had had more than enough. We sat down in the car to leave and that's when Bruce says, "Ok, you can show her the book now". Erica passes the hiking book over the seat to me, and I read our trail description. I can't remember the exact wording, but there was a caution...hikers occasionally see rattlesnakes sunning out on those rocks. On those Goddamned talus slopes. I was crawling around up there on a freaking rattlesnake nest!!! If I had caught so much as a glimpse of a snake, even a tiny one, or heard so much as a rattle of a snake tail, I would have thrown myself off the mountain. Those sneaky bastards. They tried to kill me. On my anniversary. I was horrified and I felt violated, just having been up there where snakes like to hang out. Not just any old snake, but RATTLESNAKES! I still haven't completely forgiven them. It will be a while before I completely trust them.
Withholding information like that. Hiding the rattlesnake warning on the trail board with pretend interest in the word "talus". Yeah, right......it will seriously be a very cold and frigid day in hell before I go hiking again. You can count on that!!!
But all in all, despite being dragged up to rattlesnake ridge, we had an excellent time. I am ready to go back...for the shopping, the tubing and the wine-tasting. No hiking for me, thanks.
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