RATC Member Patch: Pic of 113-miler patch to come once complete
I don’t care how in love a couple is, every couple needs alone time. Time away from the hustle and bustle of life and time to re-fall in love. So this first Challenge is going to be about re-falling in love as a couple and re-falling in love with hiking. Sadly this past semester me nor my husband really got to take time to hike the trails and well my husband says I’m…well….a bitch when I’ve been off the trail too long. So the challenge we are tackling first is the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club‘s (RATC) 113-Mile Club Patch. The goal is to hike the entire 120 miles that the RATC maintains. Shouldn’t be too hard and we get a cool patch when we’re done. (And yes I realize it’s a 113 mile club but the trail section has expanded to 120 since the original challenge was set.)
So the plan is every Saturday to go do a hike together until we’ve reached the 113 miles-And hopefully spend sunday blogging about it. Some of it we’ve already done, but it’s a great section, so totally worth re-doing! And actually, the RATC makes it really easy because they’ve already broken it down into 13 sections complete with trail maps, trail head directions etc. Don’t know if we’ll stick to the actually 13 section break down, but it’s a great starting point.
OOh this is an awesome challenge! I got my patch in 2006 (http://tgaw.wordpress.com/2006/05/28/ratc-maintained-trail-done/) and I think the RATC section of trail is just gorgeous.
I did all that mileage as day hikes before I became enamoured with backpacking. I’m not sure if this helps, but I did keep a spreadsheet of how I broke up the sections (I ended up with 27 smaller sections). That’s at http://www.tgaw.com/RATC.HTM
Dragon’s Tooth, McAfee’s Knob, Tinker Cliffs get a lot of fanfare and they are definitely beautiful, but keep an eye on Sinking Creek Mountain. It doesn’t get a lot of buzz, but I think its slanted rock faces and views rival the others.
Oh my goodness, I find myself a little jealous. I moved away from Blacksburg in 2008 and I do miss being in such close proximity to the mountains. You and your husband are going to have such a great time with this challenge!!! I look forward to living vicariously through your future posts!!!!
Thanks!! I appreciate the breakdown! I’ve done Dragon’s tooth, mcafee’s and tinker more times than I care to count. And yes they are beautiful but I LOVE getting away from the “tourist hikes.” Kinda takes away from a gorgeous view when you’re sharing it with 40 other people, right?
Did I see right that you are now in Elizabeth City? Our lives seem to have paralleled quite a bit. I spent about 10 years down in Chesapeake. Great area…but I did very much miss the hiking. When my husband and I sat down to debate where we’d live (we were doing long distance
) We calculated it up that I spent a total of 1 month last year on the road driving to the mountains…that’s a 12th of my life! And 64 and 81 just aren’t worth it! lol. So, that’s how I ended up here…well..that and school, but I definitely think we’ve decided to make sure we always live near the mountains.
I really do love your blog…in fact, I’m going to add it to my blogroll right now…