Happy Anniversary!

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last week by climbing Old Rag mountain. We went to Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria, Virginia and spent a night at their Upper Cabin, where we had gone for our honeymoon. We built a fire in the cabin fireplace and sat reading and knitting into the calm evening.

The next morning we had a hearty breakfast (the only kind they serve at Graves)and then set out for the Berry Hollow trailhead to climb Old Rag. From this access point, the trail begins with a fire road and runs about a mile to the first shelter. Our corgis, Rupert and Wiley are about 11 years old, and we weren't sure if they would be able to hike all the way to the top of the mountain, but they did famously. Corgis are very loyal and brave, and they followed us up the fire road, and then up the trail without any hesitation until we reached some rocky sections that were hard for short legs to climb.

So Peter gave them a little help:

We all made it to the second shelter, and then headed up for the last section of trail. The summit of Old Rag is all huge rocks, with one of the best views of the Shenandoah Park. We were all happy to make it to the top, and found a nook to toast our success and eat our lunch. The corgis got hardboiled eggs and a little PB&J.

Would you hike the trail with this man? I would, and did, and will again!
But then, I'd walk 3 miles uphill all the way for a sup of good single malt!

We took it easy on the trail going down, and I credit our dog pace with leaving me only mildly sore in my calves for the next few days. It was a truly beautiful day, and a wonderful way to celebrate.


We ended the day back at Graves for a well earned dinner of fried catfish and country ham, and then drove home.