Today (Wednesday, April 11th) was chilly with showers of grainy ice. The heaviest of these even accumulated. Just a little reminder that I’m not in Georgia any more. I traversed three bits of high ground and two flat lowland stretches – sure signs that I’m getting close to the Cumberland Valley.
Of the three highland stretches, two were ‘same old’ … and then there was Rocky Ridge. It’s an unusually steep climb on either side, and it felt good to be working those muscles again — first genuine vertical challenge since I flipped north. And on top is a quarter mile of gleeful playing among the boulders.
If ever there was a bit of trail designed just for the sheer fun of it, the Rocky Ridge summit traverse is it — rock scrambling for its own sake – prepositions sans destinations: in and out and up and over and down and around! I loved it as a kid, and Rocky Ridge brought that kid out again. It doesn’t have to have any other purpose for being … although if you’re looking for a ‘point’ to all this effort, Rocky Ridge does offer a couple of limited winter views. Here’s the best of them, looking north to the Cumberland Valley:
I took an hour to go a mile over Rocky Ridge, not because it had to take that long, but because I stopped to marvel. Sometimes this trail is not about long distance hiking. It’s about living in the moment. It’s about a smile. It’s about a flower.
Thank you, Rocky Ridge. And kudos to the trail maintainers at the Mountain Club of Maryland, who obviously had a lot of fun blazing every second rock and every third tree through this delightful maze.
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Here’s a map with the track of my hike today. The long straight line segment is a glitch that is there because I parked in and hiked from two different locations – the line connects the two parking locations, and I don’t know how to delete it. Sorry. Click on the title to look at the whole selection of photos taken today. I usually photograph every road crossing, interesting stream crossings, and anything else that helps document the trail or just strikes my fancy.
AT Day 91 – Rocky Ridge at EveryTrail
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