Author Archives: Ryley

We woke up today to a partially cloudy day. For the first couple hours we had amazing sunrise views, as we climbed above the trees. We were craning our necks back so much to look that I actually ran into … Continue reading →

We hurried through some cow pastures under a very pretty early morning sky and then under the Interstate to The Barn this morning. It was pretty disappointing though. Non-dairy creamer (warning: contains milk!), whipped spread (aka “butter”), syrup that only … Continue reading →

Our day started with a descent to a road and a very slow dripping spring for a water pick up, then a 1500 or so foot climb up to Chestnut knob. Brown got chased down by someone’s dog not on … Continue reading →

We hiked down from the shelter to an access road, along it over an interstate and up to highest 52 where we hitched into Bland. We were dropped off at the Sunoco gas station – also the local eatery (promising…), … Continue reading →

We didn’t rush out of the hostel, planning to hang out most of the day. We had a late, communal breakfast with everyone (sausage, eggs, crepes, and fresh bread). After that, we all helped get some chopped logs out of … Continue reading →

Town day today, so everyone was up pre-dawn and hiking as soon it was light. We watched the sun rise over a beautiful powerline swath, and also got more great views from near Rice Shelter. We also saw a skunk … Continue reading →

We started today with a big 2000 foot climb straight out of camp. I’m definitely noticing the sunrise being later. I was rubbing my eyes for the first half hour of hiking wondering if I was going blind. Anyways, we … Continue reading →

Not a lot to say about today. We descended and climbed 3 grueling ridges and now I’m tired! There was quite a bit though of unpleasant side sloping trail and side sloping rocks, and not much to see. I did … Continue reading →