Hiking the Appalachian Trail

After a quick restorative phone call to Mum (who assured me that she still did love me!) and a check of the Blackberry to allay the irrational work fears (they still need me!), it was time for breakfast and decision time - which hike to do today? I decided to bite the bullet and go for my first advanced level hike, quite a steep climb up to an overlook called Deer's Leap. There were 6 of us, plus 2 guides and we were actually hiking along part of the Appalachian Trail, which was pretty cool (apparently takes about 6 months to do the entire length!). The hike was pretty tough in places with some steep ascents but fortunately also had enough fairly flat bits so you could get your breath back. I was also lugging all my camera kit, including the tripod, as i'd been told that the view from the top was worth taking it all with me. As you can tell from the pic, the view was pretty stunning although I didnt need my tripod (ah well!) so it was a great hike to do. Fortunately we came back down a different way, so we didnt have to do The Ladder in reverse!!

Got back to the hotel around 12.30pm, took a very speedy shower before lunch before then heading off for kayaking at half one! Drove about 5miles from the hotel to this pretty little lake where we hired out individual kayaks for an hour's gentle paddling and exploring. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, perfectly warm and sunny - I took a bit of a risk and took my camera out with me to take some piccies. Alas, didnt see the loons that our guide was telling us about but there were some very cute ducklings!

After the day's exertions, was time to chill out and relax, so spent the rest of the afternoon out in the sun just reading and sunbathing. About time I started to get some decent colour on me! To round out the day, after dinner, was time for my hot stone massage with Alison - was OK but a little too light for me, but relaxing nonetheless. Then had a lovely long chat with Charles, who's now ensconced back at home after sojourning at my place and looking after the boys for me, so that was a great way to end a very enjoyable day!