Sugarloaf Mountain

[dawn_felagund]

Today, Bobby and I went hiking out in Frederick County at Sugarloaf Mountain. Sugarloaf Mountain is a monadnock, or stand-alone mountain; all of the other mountains around it have since eroded away. (The Appalachians were once the highest above-water mountain range in the world. They're significantly humbler now, but they've earned the right. :) Because Sugarloaf is largely composed of quartzite, it has resisted the erosion that has destroyed its brethren.

The hike was beautiful. We started by getting the worst part over: climbing to the summit. We've done worse--it was about a four-hundred foot climb over a quarter-mile, so rather steep but not long, at least--but I am really out-of-shape. We hardly hiked at all last year, and I'm not even really sure why. That quarter-mile climb sure reminded me of our negligence last year, though.

The "east view" from the parking lot. We are looking toward home. Actually, Sugarloaf Mountain only has about 200 feet of elevation on our house.




A panoramic of the east view:



The view from the top was splendid, of course. To the south, we could see the Potomac River. It was an overcast day--actually, it rained most of the time we were there, but under the forest canopy, you can hear but not feel the rain--and hazy.

The view from the top:







Bobby!




Me!




Bobby and me together!




The summit:







I found baby pinecones and am very excited about them.










After we scrambled around on some rocks and explored the summit, we climbed back down, discovering in the process that, of course, luck would have it that we'd selected the most difficult of three trails for our ascent. Alas, the exercise and the challenge were both good for us.


Going down the green trail--the easy one!




Once at the bottom again, we did a short loop around back to the parking lot, more or less along a ridge partway up the mountain. There were frequent spectacular views from there as well. There are longer trails that we want to try next time, skipping the summit and going for the long haul.










A cool-looking 'shroom we found that we photographed in order to identify.




Finally, last year, we saw Sugarloaf Mountain too ... in Ireland. *whine*



In non-mountain-related news, I am no longer a squatter on LJ. I have purchased another paid account for myself. Which I said that I was not going to do, being as I was/am/something pissed off at LJ. But I've decided that 1) I know the place, 2) all of my friends are here, and 3) no matter what, LJ ain't going back to what it was. And I do believe in supporting groups financially when I use their service regularly, and I have been on LJ for over five years with five years' worth of rambling, pictures, and so on kept here. So I guess I'm back. And now I will have more than the same few icons that I've been using for the last year! And going to the full-page view of my LJ will use my layout and not the dull LJ layout. It's the little things.

(And no more ads! The big things too!)

Comments

[klose.livejournal.com]

Sugarloaf. That is an awesome name for a mountain. *g* Those are great photos; such beautiful scenery and you and your husband are adorable too!


I have purchased another paid account for myself.
It's funny to read this at this point in time, just because I just got myself another paid account today. Admittedly, just for 2 months - and then I'll see how it goes - but I was just sick and tired of the ads! I'm not even fussed about the userpics. (But I was on a sponsored account before, so the main upgrade is with the lack of ads, I think.)

[samtyr.livejournal.com]

Oh, lovely pics. ::dreamy sigh:: I'm curious though -- have you ever thought of hiking the Appalachian Trail?

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

Great pictures! Always nice to see your smiling face!

[dreamflower]

Oh, what gorgeous mountain scenery! And you and your Bobby are such a cute couple! Now I know what you actually look like. (I have this tendency to imagine my friends looking like their icons. Isn't it odd that so many of them look like a hobbit?)

[sinneahtes.livejournal.com]

Ooh, hiking pics! And mushrooms! And you're back on LJ! Yay! :D

I remember how much it blew my mind to learn how the Appalachians (and other east coast mountain systems) used to be so much larger than they are today--even bigger than the Himalayas, apparently. There are scratch marks on top of my local mountains (not Appalachians, but still) that give a hint at how insane some of the glaciers during the ice age were, and then it makes you wonder at how incomprehensibly old things are...

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

What gorgeous photos! Thanks for sharing.

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

Pretty! And the scenery is nice too! ^_^

[telperion1.livejournal.com]

I have to say, your hubby is cute! (I hope you don't mind me noting that?) Actually, his build is rather like what I imagine for Imrahil's sons, though of course with longer hair.

The mountains are probably the one thing I miss about living in NC. I love NY, but when I think of Bilbo's wistful longing for mountains, I totally get that. So your pictures actually brought a tear to my eye. So beautemous!

[juno-magic.livejournal.com]

Looks like you had a great time! :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

First effect of your no-longer-working-for-WAU: More LJ entries! I approve!

Looks like you had a lovely hike - some impressive scenery you've got there! And Bobby and you look so happy and content. :)

[frenchpony.livejournal.com]

Have I ever told you that you have the most adorable little-kid smile?

[surgicalsteel.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous pics!

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

The Appalachians were once the highest above-water mountain range in the world. They're significantly humbler now, but they've earned the right. :)

I am always so curious to know what happened that they are no longer the highest. Errosion is what the site says, but perhaps seismologic changes as well?

And a happy!Dawn and a relaxed!Bobby :D

LJ= as far as I can tell, no big screw ups of LJ happened, they have been behaving.

[angelica-ramses.livejournal.com]

I agree with Oloriel - more Dawn on LJ is always good news!

What lovely landscape, so close to your home. One of the most serious drawbacks of Buenos Aires is that nothing interesting landscapewise happens in under 500 kilometers so there are no weekend hiking expeditions :( - I felt exhausted just by looking at the slopes

[morethmusing.livejournal.com]

It sounds like a great hike, and those are gorgeous photos :)

Since LJ wasn't prepared to post comments for me last week, let me wish you all the best in your future career here! I'm sure you'll have a great time :D

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

That looks like a wonderful hike! i can only imagine how beautiful the place must have been in person.

LJ's slide into evilness seems to have slowed considerably since SUP bought it, so I don't feel as guilty about continuing my paid account here as I once did. And like you, I feel bound to financially support sites I visit and use often. (I can't stand the way people refer to ad-funded sites as "free." They're not! paying a bit of cash is, in my opinion, far preferable to abusing my eyeballs and risking my privacy, which is what the ad-driven places do.)

[independence1776]

Love the views!