Photos

Here are a few photos from the trip. More pictures and video will come later!

This picture was taken the morning of! We're ready for a nearly seven hour trip.

A video of us setting up the tent will be in another post, but this is Nathan setting up the sleeping bags inside.

This is a truly random picture, I never even meant to take it! I was sitting on a log that fell over the Davidson River, and although it's hard to tell, I was pretty high over the water.

Here is an interesting thing we found while hiking: a caterpillar nest woven on a tree branch. It looks much like a large spider web, but you can see and hear the caterpillars munching the leaves trapped inside!

This is a tree that was growing out on a rock jutting over a stream. The roots all have to grow out on one side!

We did see a snake during one hike.

A panoramic view from Looking Glass Rock. Click on this one to blow it up.

This is a (professional) photo of Looking Glass Rock. It was a difficult hike with the trail climbing 1700 feet (mostly switchbacks), but the view was definitely worth it! It is supposedly named for the reflection off the granite face when it's covered with ice in winter, 'looking glass' here meaning 'mirror' instead of 'spyglass'.

Of course s'mores and marshmallows were an almost nightly treat!

This picture is not zoomed in! He really was this close to the van. We came upon him under this apple tree and apparently he's used to vehicles passing his favorite spot!

The butterflies were everywhere! We must have come during their season.

The waterfalls were truly gorgeous. In this photo the water is actually over to Jesse's left. When we arrived, the locals told us that it was the worst drought since they first took records!

Here you can see the water!

Time for cake! Of course, we still had to celebrate Maddenoliday! To quote from last year's post:

"For those of you who have not heard of this classic holiday, it was invented two whole years ago, as a day to celebrate the release of the new Madden football video game. Maddenites, as die-hard fans of the game are called, have their own website to talk about the game; songs, based on classic Christmas songs, with lyrics about the game; and a blog to discuss new ideas to introduce to the game!

No, we are not Maddenites and do not often play video games, but we did enjoy last year's version of the game and we will use any excuse to have a holiday!"

More picture later.