Traveled this week to Baltimore, Maryland to participate in Baldrige Examiner Training and realized I would have some free time on my first afternoon in town, so I thought I would find a dayhike I could do on the Appalachian Trail, which runs through Maryland about an hour west of Baltimore. I rented a car and drove to a trailhead just outside of Greenbrier State Park. This 3-mile hike (each way) would take me to the first Washington Monument, erected in 1827. It was raining lightly as I started out, and the rain persisted for the entire hike, which took me about 2 and a half hours and actually measured a total of 6.4 miles. The last hour and a half the light rain changed to a heavier rain and I was pretty soaked by the time I reached the car. But the hike itself was a great experience. The forest it runs through is lovely, and so much like the Ouachita National Forest with its green-lichen covered boulders, mayapples and ferns and tall deciduous trees. There was considerable elevation change here and there, but nothing too challenging. The only other living thing I saw was a squirrel. So now, I have hiked (on) the Appalachian Trail, ha! Here are a few photos:

Nepal! But first, Alaska!

I am amazed at the blessings! As runner-up in the Backwoods Ultimate Outsider contest, Bill will have all but his airfare to Kathmandu paid for the Backwoods Adventure Trip “Trekking in Nepal.” Naturally, I wouldn’t let him go without me! That means we will be leaving for Nepal less than 60 days after we return from an epic trip to Alaska. And I am still trying to get our photos organized from our trip to Utah in May and write a story about that trip. I also still have a Haiti story in the works that I need to finish. Perhaps I will get a lot of writing done while Bill is gone to South America this fall. Oh my!