Monday, February 09, 2009

Winter Camping

The annual Winter Camping Trip took place in the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. It is a favorite of mine with many peaks approaching 6000 feet and you can walk many beautiful trails.





We hike on Saturday and most of us use the four-year old as an excuse to quit and get back to camp. Jack and Hank trooped on up a number of mountains with little complaint. We hit six inch snow for a while and the boys ended up getting very wet once we got back into sunlight and the snow melted. You ever try keeping a four and five year dry when you know it is going to get below freezing?



Snow in the woods. Peaceful feeling.



Snack time at over 5000 feet. Motivation for anybody under the age of ten is as simple as a bag of M&Ms. Jack and Hank and Brett, the best dog in the world. Both of my boys have gotten over their fear of strange dogs on these trips with Brett along.


Pre-trip ritual. We stopped in Landrum, S.C. for BBQ on the way up. The ribs were spectacular, the sausage fantastic, the pulled pork was the typical, upstate poorly executed dish, the cole slaw was good once you added salt, and the collards were inedible. I will go back and order the ribs and sausage though as they were more than excellent.




This fellow stopped by as were were packing up. He let me get closer and closer as I was snapping shots. Maybe I looked like a mouse. I think I know what type of Hawk this is, but am welcome to accept confirmation from any of you ornithologists out there.