It's taken me quite a while to post these pictures, but looking at them again reminded me how much I love our annual camping trip to Standing Indian in North Carolina. Since husband and I both have birthdays in October, we have made it a tradition to spend three or four nights at Standing Indian Campground for the last four years. The agenda is low-key, with a couple good hikes, a sunrise on the mountainside and plenty of campfires. This year was no exception.
We left on a Friday and spent three nights at the campground. Saturday morning we made a delicious breakfast and headed out to one of our favorite hikes with an amazing view, Albert Mountain. There is an old fire tower at the very top of the mountain that provides an incredible 360 degree view of the mountain range. The fall colors were so beautiful!
{Sambo was really cold so we bought him a child's sweatshirt in an attempt to keep him warm. Needless to say, he didn't like it very much.}
Sunday morning we went for a sunrise hike* along a ridge line that followed the AT. It was only three miles in to a perfect opening on the edge of the mountain. The sky was a beautiful crisp blue, and the sun was peeking through the clouds. We shared coffee and trail mix and sat for a while just enjoying the scenery and each other. It was perfect. After we returned from our hike, my family came up for lunch and birthday pumpkin mousse pie. My nephews had a great time chasing Sam around the trails, picking up leaves and sticks and playing in the river.
Sunday morning we made breakfast and warmed ourselves by the fire before packing up and heading home. Just like the previous years, it was the perfect weekend getaway to regroup and refocus, spending time in creation and enjoying the peace and serenity of each other's company. We sat by our campfire at night and talked about raising children, living healthy lives, new research and hypotheses in cancer origins and treatment, changes we want to make in our own lives. It always makes me so thankful for a husband that I can connect with, from the incredibly meaningful to the trivial and conversational. I wouldn't want to brave this world with anyone else by my side.
xoxo
copyright Hiking in Stilettos
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*A sunrise hike usually goes like this....
Alarm goes off, it's pitch black so we hit snooze. Fifteen minutes later it goes off again, so husband climbs out of the covers and turns on the propane heater. We hit snooze again. Fifteen minutes later, the alarm is ringing a third time, so husband gets up, turns off the alarm. changes clothes and leaves the tent to go make coffee. Sambo and I continue to sleep snugly under the warm covers and next to the heater. Sometime in the next fifteen to twenty minutes Sambo makes his way to the top of the air mattress and snuggles down in the space that husband vacated. When husband comes back to peek his head in the tent and tell me that coffee is ready and he is warming the truck, Sam and I finally make our way out of bed. The tent is warm from the propane heater, and when I get dressed, I find that my hiking boots have already been placed in the truck beneath the heaters in the floorboard. Sam and I exit the tent and climb into the warmed truck, and husband hands me a mug of steaming coffee. It's still pitch black outside, but we are warm and excited about the hike ahead and the gorgeous sunrise on the horizon.
