Kiddo's first hike

As I mentioned in my last post, we headed off to Virginia a couple weeks ago for a little bit of hiking. We were determined to get this hike in during the peak of fall's beauty in color which is quite a feat considering all the various trips going on and other "issues" keeping us at home. So, despite the weather forecast, we headed off to good ol' VA and headed out to the "hills" with my love's mom. ;o)

At the car about to start off on the kiddo's first hike!

This was the kiddo's first hike and despite the fact that my love and I really can't bear to bring ourselves to calling the Appalachians "mountains" (more like hills), we still had a wonderful time enjoying the beauty surrounding us.


It was also fun to be on the same trail just in a different state (Georgia) than what we had hiked almost exactly a year prior when I was pregnant with the kiddo. Maybe someday we'll take a few months and hike the entire stretch...hmm...Kat, you want to come?

2008: 8 months pregnant; Blood Mountain, GA

Anyway, the weather was toying with us in looking quite nice until we pulled into a parking spot. Then it decided to rain. But by the time we were all prepared to hit the trail, it had cleared up and actually turned out pretty nice!

Pretty colors, huh? My camera so didn't do this any justice.

So we started off, and can I just stop right here and say how much nicer it is to go for a hike without having to find a bush to squat behind every 30 seconds with a big ol' preggo belly? Anyway, it didn't take long before we made it to "the highest peak" in the park--all 4051 feet of it.


We stopped for a few pictures, chatted with a few others who were up there, took in the views, and finally started heading down, continuing our loop.

My two cuties.

My artsy photo.

The three of us at the top!

The three of us and Grandma (aka: my love's mom).

view from the top

Doesn't this look kinda Loch-ness-like?

We had an inkling that we were about to get stuck in the rain and sure enough about 10 minutes later, it hit. At this point the kiddo was completely tuckered out and snoozing on my love's back. Fortunately, we came prepared and stuck a poncho over the kiddo to keep her warm and dry.

Sleeping kiddo. Isn't she cute?

The first rain wasn't too bad. We got wet, and the type of material my pants were made of definitely soaked through quickly but we were okay. After about 10 minutes or so, it stopped and my soaked pants started to dry (nice!). During the rain I was completely regretting my decision of wearing these pants...but after, I was thrilled that they were drying.

Well, just as my pants were drying, it began to rain again. This time, it was a much heavier rain. Bluntly put, we got soaked. Very soaked. But the kiddo continued to sleep and remain dry. It was just as we were making it to the car that we all started to get cold...talk about perfect timing! By the time we managed to get into the car and evaluate just how wet/cold we were and how warm and dry the kiddo was, I discovered that the jacket I purchased several years ago with the idea that it was a rain jacket was in fact NOT a rain jacket. I guess it works well enough in everything put a real soaking rain for an extended period of time. :)