Blessed are the Intrepid, Day 3:
In the Sky Again, and In Water

I needed a day like today. I needed to be within nature, not just passing by and jumping back in my car. On this Day 3 I hiked to waterfalls and to what felt like, incline-speaking, the altitude of heaven… if the road maps are accurate. But first, on my way south from Harrisonburg, Virginia, a stop at an all-vegan sandwich shop in Roanoke, the state’s capitol.

Zee Zee’s Vegan Sub Shop is in a foodcourt in downtown Roanoke. And I door-busted for a cheesesteak with some French fries. Enough to sustain me through lots of hiking in the middle of nowhere, North Carolina.

It was scrumptious.

Onward to the state line and into the North Carolina woods to Hanging Rock State Park, my leisure and accommodations for the day and night.

First, I needed waterfalls. To swim under, specifically. I headed to the Lower Cascade Falls, the ones with the largest pool in which to wade around in and hoped it would be empty. After a short and relaxing hike, the falls with only a few people there. The Ranger told me of very large crowds on the weekend, so I was pleased.

Me, cropping people out.

Ok, now I am in the water with my underwater camera. It was only me and a little girl splashing about. She took pictures of me with my camera. I didn’t have the heart to tell her she didn’t actually press the right button. But how refreshing she didn’t demand to see them on the display screen.

Water shoes are a must for wading in falls.

The falls were pretty powerful. I wish I could hog them and let them give me a full body massage… But I didn’t because: people.

The water attacking. Me liking the attack.

Next, the Den’s Falls are minimal, though the hike was invigorating. My heart was like, “This is more like it, ya lazy bones!”

The Tory’s Den, on the the other hand, was pretty cool. It was used in the American Revolution. 100 British sympathizers, called Tories, took shelter there after a retaliatory attack from the Whigs (who wanted Independence from Britain).

Stepping into the cave…

Down to more falls! Window Falls is pretty beautiful. And you can walk behind them and just chill out. But then you kind of ruin the photo ops for all the other folks. So I only did so briefly.

From behind the falls…

Getting closer to a mid-day shower.

Or just a foot bath!

Lastly, Hidden Falls was also minimal but empty!

I tried to take a selfie but couldn’t get the falls in the background. This is the best I could do. This was take 12.

My last hike would be a doozy in terms of incline. See that in the center there? That is Hanging Rock, the park’s namesake. I was going up there, hoping to get back to set up camp before dark. I hadn’t really looked into how strenuous it would be, but it was less than 3 miles round trip.

Lots of warnings along the way. And with good reason. It is basically a rock jutting out into the sky. No guardrails or safe observation points. Just you on a rock in the sky. Selfie death hot spot.

Ok, massive hike later–heart pounding, gnats attacking, red cheeked–and I was up on the Hanging Rock. What is hard to feel from these pictures is how abrupt the drop off from the rock I stand upon is. There is nothing between you and being part of this dizzying gorgeous view. Do I sound morbid? Me and the nice couple up there made lots of jokes about imminent death to ease our fears.

Secure your footing.

See that rock over there. You can walk right out to it and sit right there on the edge. Then you could impress all your Instagram followers.

Crooked tree placed here for composition purposes.

How did I get this high? My two legs. Hashtag blessed?

I headed down elated and high off endorphins. The gnats attacked me double-time since I was now even more covered in moisture. They want to drink my sweat, those weirdos. Oh, and heavenly sighting of this mamma deer and her little baby. Our eyes locked and she gave me a snort that said, “Don’t mess with my little one!”

The last light through the trees at my campsite.

After a long day of hiking, I was exhausted. Braving the camp shower and getting in my PJs, I was pleased when I laid down there was a lightening storm in the mountains I got to watch.

But there’s a new state tomorrow, and more adventures in the dark.