Hiking with the Teens

Last Wednesday Kenny and I took six of our teens hiking the Grandfather Mtn. Profile Trail. Let me just say right off the bat it is not a trail for the faint of heart! (unless your only planning to do a small portion) None the less we had a great time huffing and puffing up and down the sides of the mountain peaks and enjoying all the wonderful views.

Here we are getting ready to embark on our grand adventure at 10:30am. In this picture (left to right) Becky (me), Brock, Mary Kathryn, Emily, Kenny, Dustin and Dakota.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the first peak on the profile trail, one of three that we would climb!

 

 

 

After Hiking for two hours we took break #13 for lunch

 

I couldn’t resist putting Brock in “tree jail.”

 

 

Break # 21 - This place was called “Shanty Springs” the sign said that this was the last “for sure” watering hole… do you see the black pipe Dakota has his water bottle under?

Break # 25 – I had everyone get on a different rock, I thought it turned out nice except for the fact that you can’t see Mary Kathryn :S

 

Break # 26 – the guys trying to move the boulder.

 

 

Our first Mountain Top Experience…

 

 

 

 

 

…and break # 31. It was up here that my phone ran, it was my nephew, Austin, calling me from Kansas to tell me about camp and spending time with his cousins. Yeah I’m pleased with my cell service :)

 

I wanted to show this picture because that is the trail they are standing/sitting on. And yes, that is aprox. 70-90 ft drop off to the right! Like I said this trip was not for the faint of heart!

 

  Break # 52 – Mountain Peak two. I was too scared to look over the edge so i held the camera out and took a picture instead… needless to say I backed off that ledge VERY carefully!

We next had to hike down the other side of the peak we had just come up. We all started referring to this section of  the trail as “The Cliffs of Insanity.”

And back up again, you know its steep when they give you a ladder and rope instead of stairs and a hand rail.”Excuse me, Kenny, next time can we just take the elevator?

This was the last and highest peak. The sign on the ladder they are climbing says “Macrae Peak, 5844 ft.”

Worth every step!

I didn’t take very many pictures on the way down – not much to look at when you’ve just seen the top of the world.

Break # 79 - The last picture of the weary travelers! By the time we finished it was somewhere around 5:00pm so we drove into town and got a bucket of chicken for supper and went to a picnic area on the Blue Ridge to eat and have our Teen Service.

Just for the record, I didn’t actually keep track of how many breaks we took but there were a lot! Brock said he wanted to design a shirt that says; (front) “I survived Grandfather Mtn. Profile Trail…” (back) “Never mind how many breaks I took!”

We had a great time with the teens and will probably go again next year… after the soreness wears off :)