The great outdoors

Late this summer, I stumbled upon and joined a local Meetup group - the Triangle Hiking and Outdoor Group (THOG). I'll admit, I was skeptical about the idea of going camping with a bunch of strangers, but it turns out to be yet another fabulous triumph of technology over rectitude. In my personal circle of friends, there are few to none who (a) want to go camping and (b) have the equipment. In THOG, I've got a circle of 1500 people to pick from! Will wonders never cease. And it turns out that some of them are my acquaintances anyways, so it's just that much more legit and non-freaky.

I've been on 4 trips so far, all of them WAY fun as evidenced by the photos below:

• Kayaking in Wilmington, August
• Fall Foliage, Mt. Mitchell/Linville Falls, Julian Price Park, October 22
• Waterfalls and fall foliage, Rainbow Falls, Davidson River Campground, Pisgah National Forest, Oct 27
• Greyson Highlands, Dec 6 (Wild ponies! The Appalachian Trail!! Summiting the highest point in VA!!! First time backpacking w/o a car!!!! A fantastic trip by any measure...)