Hiking

We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway Sunday and enjoyed hiking the Graveyard Fields trail. (Here are some someone else’s pictures of the area.) Taco (now 37 pounds) got the longest walk of his short life. In the falls at the top of the valley, we found a orange and brown salamander, speckled exactly like the small granite basin he lives in. Wedged among the rocks at the bottom of the falls, a boy spotted a dead fawn, probably swept over the falls in a recent downpour. Finally, we saw a tiny ring necked snake. The moist trail, warmed by the day’s steady sunlight, smelled like a perfume shop. I hope we can go back and see what it looks like mid-winter, assuming the parkway isn’t snowed shut. (Here’s another hike two miles up the road we should consider.)