It's been a pretty good while since I've headed out on a solo geocaching
adventure, and since today's weather looked about as perfect as perfect gets
for such a thing, I set out for
Smith Mountain Lake State Park, about an hour north of home. Several years ago, Ms. B. and I picnicked, hiked, cached, and generally made merry at the park, and I haven't been
back since.
On the way, I stopped to go after an Adventure Lab cache at the
Booker T. Washington National Monument
park, which Brugger and I had also visited for some gecoaching back in the
dark ages. It's a lovely location, its story both sad and uplifting, and I'm
glad to see the park so well maintained. My favorite moment was walking past a
pig pen, where a big old pig was lounging in some mud. I said, "Hallo, Pig!"
and the pig raised its head and gave me a big loud snort in response. After
that... alas... it appeared to have no further interest in conversing.
Once at the lake, I set out hiking, grabbed caches, and discovered several of
the most difficult paths I could have ever taken to get from Point A to Point
B. Bear in mind, I do this very reliably, hence my perpetual admonition to any
fellow hikers to follow me at their own risk. Some of the
wiser ones, such as friends Scott and Natalie, have taken this
advice to heart and almost always go their own ways when we come to
challenging terrain. Oh, ye of little faith!
Once I snagged all the caches I needed this go-round at the park (which means
I've completed all the active caches currently in the park), I stopped
for a late lunch at a little pizzeria/bar & grill called
Alessandro's, not far from the lake. A decent burger, and great service. To
finish out the caching day, I hit the little burg of Moneta, just a
few miles away, and knocked out all the caches there (five of them).
To head home, I threaded my way down every little back road between Smith
Mountain Lake and Martinsville. Very scenic, though to be out in the middle of
nowhere, there sure was a lot traffic, made worse by numerous very poor drivers who could have gone twice their velocity and still come up shy of the speed limit. People, you are harshing my mellow.
Otherwise, though, a lovely day of it.
Damn right, I'll take it. The way I see it, mellow days are to be treasured.
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My loquacious pig friend at the Booker T. Washington National Monument
park |
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Some Country for Old Men |
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Ancient wall along one of the lake trails |
A couple of friends found along the way
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| Dammit, I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque! |