Friday Photos

 

Appalachian Trail north of Hot Springs, NC

This picture isn't nearly as remarkable as the circumstances that led to it.

It was October, and Glen and I were planning a section hike on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina.  We had planned a three-day hike ending in Hot Springs, NC.  We had a shuttle driver arranged to take us from Hot Springs to our starting point, and we would hike northward on the trail back to Hot Springs.

We were glad to check in after our 10-hour drive.  We walked around the town, ate dinner, and returned to our room.  That morning, we got ready to leave on our hike.  The television suddenly caught our attention.  

There was a Pacific hurricane, Patricia, that had gone through Mexico, and now the remnants were heading to the eastern US.  Patricia was on a course directly for Hot Springs, bringing tropical storm-force winds with her.

We had no desire to hike three days in the mountains in those conditions, but we hated to go home without ANY hiking.  We prayed, asking the Lord for guidance.  When we finished, the thought came to us that we had one day before the winds were to arrive.  We decided to meet our shuttle driver and pay him for his time.  But instead of being shuttled southward and hiking back, we would just hike out of Hot Springs going northward.  We would go as far as we could go with the time we had and then hike back.  I was slightly disappointed, but I was glad to have at least a little time to hike.

This ended up being Glen's favorite hike ever and almost my favorite hike.  The leaves were at their peak.  This was accentuated by knowing the next day, they would all be blown off the trees.  Part of our hike was along the beautiful French Broad River.  In fact, on our way back, we camped along the riverside and were lulled to sleep by the sound of the roaring river.

The picture above was taken as we rounded a turn in the trail.  The leaves were red, and their undersides were pink.  It looked like the whole trail was covered in Valentines.  At every step, we encountered beauty after beauty.

We were so glad we took the day and a half out on the mountain and had such a wonderful hike.  God always has a way of working things out.