Nineteen PHOC hikers started out on this cool and windy day, led by Jim Pritchett. The Rock Castle Gorge hike is a favorite for many club members. An 11 mile loop with a little bit of everything - steep ascent, open meadows, a rocky ridge, the rock jumble and a pleasant creekside walk to polish off the outing. Jim informed us, as is his usual custom, the zombie alert level was code yellow today. Only the slow hikers needed to be careful.
We hike up steeply to begin. This proved too much for a couple hikers. Jim headed back down with them for a shortened version of RCG today. When the rest of us regrouped in the old stone shelter on the ridge, there was some confusion as to what had happened. It all got sorted out and everyone enjoyed lunch in this former AT shelter.
The ridge walk was very breezy and everyone bundled up for this exposed walk. My favorite section is the rock jumble. Jim was not along, to warn us of the deadly snakes that reside here. Just beyond the jumble is a still standing chimney near the creek. What a great place to have a home or cabin. As we passed through here, Karen stated she wished her ashes to be spread at this place. Nice choice but it struck me as an odd thing to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment