Took a 17 mile hike on Tuesday to break away from work

I was pretty stressed out by one patent application at work on Monday, so I decided to escape at the last minute and signed up this hike.I was luck to pick this 64F sunny day to hike. Most of the Tuesday hikers are retirees who enjoy a healthy life style.

Doubletop - Camp Hoover - Big Meadows (PACT Map 10), the Doubletop Mtn. trail over Doubletop was steep and down the 4WD Trail to the Rapidan Fire Road. Going through Camp Hoover for lunch.

We returned to the cars using Dark Hollow Falls Trail, Rose River Fire Rd., Stony Mtn. Trail, Rapidan Fire Road, and Upper Dark Hollow Trail. (17.1 mi, 3560 ft gain)

DC weekend farmer's market

My impression of DC was all about museums, bars, theaters, concerts, and parking tickets. This was my first time walking around Adams Morgan to shop at the farmers market after a Church's Sunday service, and enjoyed soups under the warm sun at a circle.






The sermon was about dealing daily challenge with welcoming attitude regardless of setbacks and feeling of powerless. "Want what you have, Be who you are, and Do what you can" can lead to a happy and productive life.

House sitting at a friend's property in Leesburg, Virginia

She has one parrot, one dog, one donkey, two horses, and nine goats. I enjoyed the animals and the sunny weather on her deck.

Cross Country Skiing in White Glass, WV

I took the trip with a meetup group to Whitegrass for a day of learning cross country skiing and then hiked on the second day. The snow was just enough to twisted my angle

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Oh, no! Old Rag Summit covered with ice?

What was I thinking? Woke up 3 am to meet carpool at 4 am then hike over ice/snow in the dawn? Even I worm microspikes and used hiking poles, the rocky surface covered with ice/snow was still challenging for me (and I really wanted to skip the hike from the get-go in the20sF). http://www.meetup.com/dc-backpackers/events/91694982/

Since I could not walk on the rocks on the Old Rag Summit under such conditions, I cut short my participation of this Training/Endurance Hike #4(24.6 Mi/8200 Ft Gain) into 16 mi/3500 Ft Gain. I feel sorry that I could not break my personal elevation gain per day via this hike. I am not a snow hiker, so I will wait for an opportunity in a warmer season.

I did quite a few long hikes with the Washington Backpacker Group, but never backpacked with them in the DC area.

- Austin Mt / Big Run / Doyles River / JonesRun / Furnace Mt - 19 miles Jun 5, 2011

- Old Rag and Robertson Mountain (Strenuous13.2 mile hike) Jan 29, 2012

- Catlett Mountain - SNP, Virginia(15miles) 2,010-2,500 ft elevation gain Mar 4, 2012

-  AT Section STRENUOUS LONG DISTANCE DAY HIKE# 3 Ashby Gap-Compton Gap 25.66 mile Mar 11, 2012

- Presi Training Hike: Austin/Furnace - JonesRun/Doyles River hike(19.9 Mile) Apr 1, 2012

- Doubletop and Jones Mountain, SNP, ~21mi,~6000ft gain May 20, 2012

- Little Devils Stairs and Mt Marshall - 22miles Dec 2, 2012

- Second Season - Training/Endurance Hike #3- 20.9 Miles/5850 Ft Elevation Gain Dec 15, 2012