Early on in the planning process, we knew the weather was going to be hot so we decided to emphasize sunrises, sunsets, and siestas, rather than hiking ourselves into heat exhaustion. We did pretty well with those goals. When we arrived on Thursday afternoon, we saw some great vistas but the rain came in before the sun set. Friday we had an amazing sunrise, two good hikes, two good meals, and a partly-obscured sunset. Saturday offered up another awesome sunrise, after which we had breakfast, packed up, and said a grateful goodbye as we headed back to our respective corners of the Real World. Here’s a more detailed description of our activities:

We saw the sunrise at the Thorofare Mountain Overlook. I already posted about that yesterday, but here’s a 17-second video if you want to imagine you were there with me. It was jaw-droppingly beautiful.

We hiked Stony Man Trail, which starts right off of the Skyland parking area and ends at what should be a spectacular view which was mostly fogged in when we got there. It’s an easy hike, part of which runs along the Appalachian Trail so now I’ve hiked a (very small) part of that as well. It was a great first hike which let me figure out how useful my trekking poles are and gave me an idea what “325 feet of elevation gain” actually feels like to my inexperienced body.

I also was forcibly reminded that my on-again-off-again fear of heights is very, very real. I’m not so much “afraid” as I am “immobilized.” When we got to the rocky outcropping, even though I was easily 10 feet from the edge with no chance of falling off, my body gave me two options – Sit Down or Fall Down. I sat. I was able to make it up further basically by crawling, which feels pretty silly but gets the job done. Once I was there and seated, I could enjoy the view… it’s just the getting there that was challenging. The same is true for rollercoasters – if I can make it up the stairs (which might mean closing my eyes and hanging on to someone) I’ll have a great time on the ride. I just have to make it up the stairs first.

We ate at the Skyland dining room twice. We had dinner on Thursday and lunch on Friday. The food was good both times – not as amazing as the view, but good. The menu is limited but with enough variation that you can find something to meet your mood. My mom has a number of food sensitivities and the staff were very knowledgeable and accommodating. I had half of a roasted chicken for dinner and a pulled pork sandwich for lunch and they were both very satisfying.

After lunch on Friday we hiked Millers Head Trail which is also just off of the Skyland parking lot, in the opposite direction of Stony Man. This one fooled me a little, making me think it was a lot flatter than it actually was. It’s actually a lot of downhill on the way out, with a great view at the end, and a lot of uphill on the way back. We were both surprised at how well we did with the inclines on the return trip – again the poles are worth their weight in gold.

With two hikes and a sunrise under our belts, we still wanted to see a sunset – but the clouds were coming in and the area around Skyland was grey. We also wanted to go somewhere else for dinner, so we headed for Big Meadows Lodge and while the drive there (10 miles) was almost entirely clouded-in, we did find a decent view at the Spitler Knoll Overlook. Although the sunset itself wasn’t as spectacular as they come, it was extremely cool to be right where the clouds were moving in. Sunset 7/10 but experience 10/10 in my book.

We ate at Big Meadows Lodge for a slight change of pace. It’s a different, slightly more varied, slightly more expensive menu than at Skyland. Again they were accommodating with substitutions and recommendations for working around dietary restrictions. I had roasted trout with asparagus and a sweet potato puree that was heavenly. Big Meadows Lodge is significantly larger than Skyland, and they were very busy on the Friday evening of a holiday weekend, but the service was good even if the kitchen was a little backed up. We returned to our room, full and tired, and slept very well.

We saw another sunrise on Saturday morning… again from the same overlook but it was an entirely different experience. I’d kind of wanted to go to a different place, but it ended up being a good thing we didn’t because anything at a different elevation would have been fogged in. And even though the location was the same, the view was decidedly not.

For personal reasons, this may have been the most meaningful sunrise of my life. Beginnings are important to me. Passages are important. Transitions are important.

I have a tendency to find meaning in a lot of things, and it’s something I’m grateful for about myself. I can’t put in words how appropriate this all feels, and how much I’m looking forward to the rest of it.