New Years Eve Paddle

Pete, Kristen and I went on a white water paddle of the Woolen Mills run on the Rivanna River. It was a great day with me finding a baby alien toy hanging onto a branch in the river. I named her April the Alien and she made it through all the rapids unscathed.







Enjoy the video. I haven't posted one in a while. This may look deliberate and graceful - it was unplanned and not what you plan on doing through a rapid. I'll continue to pretend it was intentional however.

Christmas Eve Eve

I can't believe it has been over a month since I've posted anything. We have not done many hikes or floats, but we have put up a Christmas tree. Who would have thought I could be doing a white water paddle on Christmas Eve Eve? It was 58 degrees with the water just a wee bit cooler. Afterwards, we went on a tour of the lights of Charlottesville. Very interesting.
The beautiful (and brisk) Moormans River

I would love to have my own footbridge



Portage #3: Tree strainers - One of the top things you need to avoid when whitewater kayaking

The light show




Wins the award for the most lights in the smallest space

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.

Hike to Crash Site

Pete and I hiked to a T-28 Trojan crash site from 1964. It is located by Humpback Mountain off the Appalachian Trail. It was a trainer plane and both crew ejected with no fatalities. Most of the site is still there since it was only found a few years back which means people haven't had time to steal it all. Thanks to a savvy GPS app on my phone, we found the site via latitude/longitude without too much issue. Kinda cool!
Wintergreen Mountain - Where I'll be skiing this winter.

Old barn or cabin foundation.








Notches for the oxygen tanks.





Nose Cone Spinner from the propellers and the canopy from the cockpit.

Landing Gear


Motor

Motor housing

Cedar Run/White Oak Canyon Loop Hike

Yesterday, Pete and I did the 7 mile loop of Cedar Run to White Oak Canyon. There was still snow on the ground up near the top. One guy fell in the stream and broke his ankle and search and rescue had to come up to get him. Pete and I made it out unscathed.
Cedar Run Waterfall

Snow!

A lone green maple among all the bare trees

Anyone up for a slide? In the summer, people gather here to slide down the falls

Upper Falls in White Oak Canyon

More falls in White Oak Canyon



Bear Rock - It looks like a bear growling.

Beautiful view of the valley


We saw a momma bear and three cubs on the way down. Zoom in dead center to see momma and one cub.


Pretty fall trees.

Trip to North Carolina

Pete and I took a mini-vacation to North Carolina last weekend. We checked out the new inlet called Pea Island Inlet.

Temporary bridge


The old road that was washed out. The reason Pete and I had to take the ferry to Ocracoke Island from the south and ferry across to Hatteras when it became open during our last vacation.






Bodie Lighthouse - couldn't get here last time.

Beautiful sunset across the bridge from Roanoke Island



Wright Brothers National Monument





View of the flights - the big stone is the launch spot and the other 3 smaller stones were the 3 longest successful flights

New sculpture at the monument

Couldn't resist