An appalachian sort of weekend with a pot of gold at the end

I had the most lovely weekend.. it makes me sad that its over.

I was going to go backpacking, but an ankle injury Thursday eliminated that option. Instead, I hung out in Blacksburg, saw some friends, and went for a short hike on Sunday with friends.

Dragon's tooth is a hike that I have done many many times. I particularly like it after a rain, as lots of critters come out that you normally might not see.

It began to rain as we began the drive out to Catawba valley, Virginia, but the rain subsided as we began the 5.2 roundtrip mile hike. About 2/3 of the way up to the top, we spotted this little salamander


A short bit later, I nearly stepped on his little guy:


Thank goodness I had my eyes to the ground! He was about the size of nickel.

When we got to the top, the clouds had broken, and the sun was shining. We were the only hikers at the top, so it was very peaceful.

You can spot McAfees knob in the distance, and the Peaks of Otter can be viewed beyond that (although it didn't show in the photo).



I went with my good friends Bryan (a friend from high school), and Kelly (faeleaf from etsy, a good friend of mine for several years).



Dragon's tooth is a GREAT hike if you are in the Blacksburg area, and it is on the Appalachian trail.

I also took along the pups, but sadly didn't take any photos of them. They were too busy bouldering and running wild through the woods.

Kelly showed me some blueberry bushes growing along the trail. If you look closely enough you can see some unripened berries. I ate a few ripe ones and they were delicious.



I also spotted many sassafras trees. The roots can be boiled to make sassafras tea.



When we finished the hike, we came out into the parking lot to a BEAUTIFUL rainbow that spread across the whole sky.



And on our drive back, we could see the spot where the rainbow touched the earth.. We did not go looking for a pot of gold, as seeing this rainbow was rewarding enough.


It's not terribly visible from the photo.. I need to buy a really good camera..

The rest of the evening was spent bathing Mercury and two of my cats that somehow have fleas...

I also watched a cute movie called "The Watcher in the woods"..

Have a nice Monday everyone!