Part IIIt is oddly bright. The tent interior glows fluorescent, sunlight pouring through the nylon fabric. I shield my eyes and roll over in my mummy bag. Is it that time already?
"Time to get up, Tim Bob," I say, to which my quick-witted friend moans in reply, "Noooo...I want sleepy time!" thus sealing his trail name for all hiking adventures to come.
After much stirring, Sleepy Time and I emerge from our shelter to discover our campsite perched beside a steep cliff with a decent view of the east. We count ourselves fortunate since no one managed to fall over the edge during their midnight wanderings. We join Robbie and Brett for breakfast, then proceed to take down the campsite.
Today is our first full day of hiking. We have somewhere between 6 and 8 miles to cover over mountainous terrain.
The Three Ridges Wilderness is a notoriously rough landscape, consisting of steep climbs, abrupt descents, and rocky trails. To make matters more difficult, ice still covers the trail in places. I remember, as a Boy Scout, how troops utilized Three Ridges as a preliminary training hike in preparation for
Philmont Scout Ranch, an intense, high-adventure backpacking camp in New Mexico. No doubt, today will prove challenging.
As we begin to hike, the air is still chilly, so everyone dresses accordingly, but it isn't long before we're wiping our brows and feeling the cool damp against our backs. Sure enough, we have to stop and remove our jackets. We should have known better, but even experienced hikers sometimes can't resist the urge to layer densely when it's so cold...
Starting off right, we ascend Bee Mountain, which spans roughly a half mile, before taking a short dive down the other side. Because we do not expect to descend so quickly, we are puzzled, but, soon later, we lumber up the northern knoll of Three Ridges and take our first break at the top. As we wind up a steep switchback, we can see the forest opening ahead. We step out of the woods and onto a massive rock precipice overlooking Three Ridges to the east and the Priest Mountain to the west. It is both daunting and exhilarating to catch a glimpse of the landscape we must still traverse. Three Ridges is aptly named, and my heart thumps at the sight of its barren and jagged downward slope. Over the course of the day, we will gain - then lose - altitude. Already I am not fond of downhill hiking, since it puts a lot of stress on my feet and knees. Little do I know how bad it can really get...
After refueling, we proceed along the Appalachian Trail. The forest is bare and cold. Crispy brown leaves litter the path and crunch under our footsteps. The trees are empty. We see little other than brown trunks and blue sky glimmering through the cracks in the forest.
Towards the end of the day, we arrive at the Harpers Creek Shelter. Tired from a long (but good) day of hiking, we find comfort that evening in a warm campfire, some hot chocolate, and the melody of the mountains after dark. But knowing that the hardest leg of our journey awaits, we retire early. Tomorrow, we descend Three Ridges and climb to the summit of the Priest Mountain...
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"Time to get up, Tim Bob," I say, to which my quick-witted friend moans in reply, "Noooo...I want sleepy time!" thus sealing his trail name for all hiking adventures to come.
Starting off right, we ascend Bee Mountain, which spans roughly a half mile, before taking a short dive down the other side. Because we do not expect to descend so quickly, we are puzzled, but, soon later, we lumber up the northern knoll of Three Ridges and take our first break at the top. As we wind up a steep switchback, we can see the forest opening ahead. We step out of the woods and onto a massive rock precipice overlooking Three Ridges to the east and the Priest Mountain to the west. It is both daunting and exhilarating to catch a glimpse of the landscape we must still traverse. Three Ridges is aptly named, and my heart thumps at the sight of its barren and jagged downward slope. Over the course of the day, we will gain - then lose - altitude. Already I am not fond of downhill hiking, since it puts a lot of stress on my feet and knees. Little do I know how bad it can really get...
Towards the end of the day, we arrive at the Harpers Creek Shelter. Tired from a long (but good) day of hiking, we find comfort that evening in a warm campfire, some hot chocolate, and the melody of the mountains after dark. But knowing that the hardest leg of our journey awaits, we retire early. Tomorrow, we descend Three Ridges and climb to the summit of the Priest Mountain...
After nearly driving off an icy bridge, passing an odoriferous skunk, and a mountain lion, we arrive at Reeds Gap off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Nelson County, Virginia. It is nearly 10 pm and "mountain dark"...which, for those who don't know, means "eerie dark." And, as if we haven't been through enough just in getting here, the howling wind is numbingly cold. We - being Tim Bob, Robbie, Brett, and myself - are the only souls out here. We have come all the way from Newport News to venture along the Appalachian Trail, to test our skills and resolve, to see if we have what it takes to last on the trail for a few days, 3 and a quarter, to be exact. Tonight we have a short hike, headed south bound through the Three Ridges Wilderness. Our goal, simply put, is to hike until we find a suitable campsite. The real journey will not begin till day break.
It is funny to think how quickly our situation has changed. One minute we are sitting in a warm car, listening to the radio. The next, we're lumbering up an icy trail with stitches in our sides and watching our breath waft into the darkness like vapor. I dig in with my one trekking pole, using its sturdy hold to propel me up the trail. After some slips and falls, we reach flat ground and have an easier time maneuvering over the slick ice. And a mile into hiking, we make camp in a clearing off the AT. By the time we settle down in our warm sleeping bags, it is 11:30. Exhausted, we close our eyes and rest in preparation for tomorrow...
Nominated for five Academy Awards, Blood Diamond, showcases outstanding performances from DiCaprio, as a diamond smuggler in war-torn Sierra Leone, and Hounsou, as an African fisherman and dedicated father. In the film, Solomon Vandy (Hounsou) is ripped from his family and put to work in the RUF diamond fields while his son is taken by the fiendish rebels for indoctrination into their ranks. There seems little hope for Solomon and his family until he discovers a rare, pink diamond, which captures the attention of Danny Archer (DiCaprio), a self-seeking diamond trader and disillusioned soul. The diamond represents freedom to both men - to Solomon in the form of his family's freedom... to Archer, freedom in the form of a plane ticket... out of Africa.
In this whirlwind of a film, helmed by veteran director, Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai, Defiance), viewers witness the chaos and destruction of the civil war that overcame Sierra Leone in the late 90's. Amidst the struggle, Archer and Solomon, joined by American journalist, Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), must band together to rescue Solomon's son and keep the valuable "blood diamond" out of the wrong hands. But with Archer's motives unclear, the "wrong hands" may be relative...
