I’m looking forward to 2013! 13 is my lucky number, and I consider Friday the 13th a GREAT day (we got engaged on Friday the 13th!). What better way to ring in the new year than our family’s annual hike in
our favorite state park – Sky Meadows State Park in Delaplane VA. After sleeping in a bit and enjoying a breakfast of bagels, fruit, and hard-boiled eggs, we packed our two friendly dogs in the car (leaving Cujo at home to guard our Christmas tree), and headed west!
Since our entire family is fighting the latest creeping crud that seems to be infecting all of northern Virginia, we decided to keep the hike relatively easy. We took the south ridge trail, to north ridge trail, to Piedmont trail (a total of about 3 miles) up to the spectacular views of the valley. A light dusting of snow and some cloud cover resulted in a beautiful vista of wintertime whites, blues, and grays. Unlike last year, temperatures were chilly and skies were overcast. That’s probably the reason that crowds were fewer than last year. Park staff led a New Years hike on the other side of the park, and the hardworking Friends of Sky Meadows volunteers provided free snacks for the cold weather hikers.
As I wrote last year, there’s really no better place for our family to start each new year. We really enjoy hiking together in this beautiful park and starting the year off calmly, just before someone shoots the starter’s pistol and we’re off to the sprint of our daily lives!
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