The Preserve at Moss Rock, Photos of Us

With this being Anna's first hiking trip with us, there were a few things she had to come to terms early on in the venture: 1) Marked trails are merely suggestions about where to go rather than hard-and-fast requirements to be followed.

Cascading falls of a tributary to Hurricane Creek

2) Blake has a bit of a climbing bug, and wherever there is a vertical surface that isn't too sheer or inverted, it must be scaled. Of course in the photo on the left, he had the misfortune (after getting to the top) of discovering that the way he'd gone up was also the only way done; it seemed precarious.

3) Whatever you're doing of have done, once the camera's on you, you have to make it look like a huge accomplishment. Anna adapted to this idea more rapidly and enthusiastically than the previous one.

4) Everyone has to participate. Anna's debilitating fear of heights made it a little challenging for her to come out to the middle of this pipeline for a picture, but she eventually managed to bear-hug/inch-worm her way out there.

5) Just because you don't exactly know where you are according to the trail map, doesn't mean you're "lost." Here we are back on the White Trail (I really was sure at this point, despite some earlier false proclamations of certainty), headed home to watch the Final Four.