Beauty in the Backyard: White Oak Canyon

I debated on titling this post 'When Day Hikes Strike Back'... the day started out innocently enough, with a plan to hike to see some waterfalls in West Virginia. Two hours after leaving the house, we arrived in Shenandoah National Park....Virginia. We should have known then that the stars weren't aligning in our favor :)

But, enough drama - this little chunk of the Shenandoah Valley, White Oak Canyon, is beyond beautiful. We went after a few big rainstorms, so I'm not sure if our experience is the norm, but the area was so green. And the waterfalls exceeded our expectations - they were HUGE. We arrived at the base of the first set of falls after an hour of hiking and two creek (river) crossings. We climbed down some rocks and over some tree trunks to get as close to the falls as possible.

NOLA: Jazz Fest !

Marie, my college roomate, and I spent our last two spring breaks causing trouble up and down the East Coast - from Baltimore, MD to Charleston, SC to Savannah, GA. This year we decided to take it all the way South to New Orleans, LA and Jazz Fest seemed like the perfect weekend to make the trip. CJ and our friend Cliff headed down with us as well.

 

Looking back, there are a few things that made the trip amazing: the laid back vibe of the city, the music, the people of New Orleans, and the people I went with. Here are some highlights:

 

 

Backpacking: An Overnight in the Blue Ridge Mountains

CJ and I have both been tooling around with the idea of backpacking lately.  Spending a night under the stars may sound simple, but if you listen to the employees at a certain outdoor store, it isn't possible without the lightest, newest, warmest, most high-tech gear available. So - after buying the essentials (sleeping back, backpack, two person tent) a little at a time, we were ready to give backpacking a try.