Last night Aleya and I went to Brookside Gardens to see their Christmas light display. It was fun to see the families and kids running around looking at the lights. I also got a few good shots, which I’ve added to the flickr set Christmas 2008 on Flickr
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Friday, 26 December 2008
Sand Cave in Kentucky
I spent the day after Christmas doing one of the most fun things: hiking!
We competed with the early morning shoppers and left town at 7:30am, with a group of 7 hikers. We drove to Virginia for two hours in a somewhat impressive rainstorm.
It was still raining at the trailhead, so we re-evaluated our hike. Most of us decided to go on, but Mom and Peter opted to head back due to footwear concerns. We started up the trail to Sandy Cave at 9:45am in a bit of a drizzle. It tapered off fairly quickly, and we continued uphill into the fog.
We gained almost 1200ft to the ridge as we crossed into Kentucky, before heading down the other side. As we approached Sand Cave, the rain began again. We put on our raincoats among the rhododendron bushes and hiked down the final stretch. We were greeted with a nice waterfall to the side of the cave. The football field sized cave stretched out behind the waterfall. We hiked up the sand hill and enjoyed lunch in the back of the cool cave.
The rain had ended by the time we left the cave. We hiked back around the waterfall, and gained the ridge again. Farther along the ridge, we detoued up to White Rocks. Back in the clouds, the view from the rocky outcrop was hidden. After about an hour and a half of descending, we returned to the car, with 9 miles of hiking under our belts.
View the rest of the pictures: Sand Cave & White Rocks on Flickr
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Christmas-time Thesis
I’m ostensably on vacation. However, still working to finish my MS thesis for RIT, I’ve spent the past few hours working on the introduction and scientific background. It’s coming together nicely, but work remains. It’s an understatement to say that writing a book about one’s research is a difficult undertaking. I suppose I’ve made things more difficult by trying to do it while enrolled in classes. Typically, people are free to focus on research for at least a portion of their graduate studies. I only have one more semester of classes left, and I’m looking forward to being able to focus on research.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Hiking Doyle River Falls
I spent yesterday morning hiking in Shenandoah National Park. It was a chilly day and we spent most of it hiking in the fog. We did a 7.8 mile loop called “Doyle River Falls and Jones Run” at mile 81 on Skyline Drive. We opted to do the steep trails last, so we ended up doing the loop backwards vs what was recommended in the guide. This meant we did our first few miles on the Appalachian Trail in the fog and mist. It was cool to see the forest in this state. We had the trail practically to ourselves. We saw one solo backpacker on the way in, and a couple people at Lower Doyle. Finally, our our way out, we came across two folks loaded down with a serious amount of gear. Not sure where they were going, but it looked like they’d be gone for a while
There were a few very nice waterfalls, with lots of water running over them. I even saw a couple places with some potential for ice climbs (if it ever got cold enough). In fact, looking at the “Southern Fried Ice” guidebook, both falls are listed! Here’s to hoping for cold weather!
The rest of the pictures from the hike are online: Doyle River Falls Hiking on Flickr
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
First Runs at Snowshoe
Winter is finally here (again!). I spent a beautiful Sunday out in West Virginia, skiing at Snowshoe. It was fairly warm as far as skiing goes, pushing 40F in the afternoon. It was my second time skiing on the East coast, and it was true to the stereotype of icy fast conditions. It was great to get out though. I went with the UVa Outing club and met a bunch of new skiiers and boaders. I’ll definitely be going again.
Snowshoe is a good mountain. It’s got a decent amout of terrain and good lift service. There’s lots of snowmaking capability which is good for keeping runs open. Meant the snow was a bit grainy, but certainly better than no snow at all! My skis haven’t been tuned in a while so the edges aren’t very sharp. Made for some exciting runs! I might’ve prefered ice skates on a couple of them 
