A Weird Year for Hiking...

This has been one of the worst years for me in terms of hiking and backpacking. I have hardly had any time to go outdoors as I normally do over the course of a year. Part of it is the fault of my job as a writer. I am committed to completing a couple of novels and that has taken up time I would normally spend climbing a mountain or canoeing a river.

The other problem has been the increased difficulty of my day job. I'm losing physical momentum as I get older and I just can't push myself as hard as I could in earlier times. The old body is breaking down and there's nothing much I can do about that. Last night after getting off work and showering and eating, I ended up sleeping for over twelve hours. No writing done yesterday, at all. Any idea I would have had of going hiking today was so much fantasy. And it's back to work tomorrow.

Joy.

When I have gotten out, it has been a weird scene this year under the skies. For instance, there were the two hikes I took one week apart, back to back in the Spring. One week was so warm it was actually nice enough to have thought about going for a swim. The following Sunday in the same general location the snow was falling. And the only thing that kept me from fleeing the scene was that I had tossed a few warm clothes in the truck just in case.

So, today, no hiking, but back to the latest novel. We'll talk later...

North Harper Creek. Considered wading after my hike to the big falls just above this little cascade.

The next week as I visited Hunt Fish Falls nearby, the temperature suddenly plummeted.

I ended up on the Parkway near Grandfather Mountain and the snow started to swirl!

In short order the snow began to cover the ground.

Grandfather Mountain hidden behind passing veils of snow squalls. (I think this was part of the last significant snowfall of the year.)