The Wall

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“What a dear old wall that is that runs along by the river there! I never pass it without feeling better for the sight of it. Such a mellow, bright, sweet old wall; what a charming picture it would make, with the lichen creeping here, and the moss growing there, a shy young vine peeping over the top at this spot, to see what is going on upon the busy river, and the sober old ivy clustering a little farther down! There are fifty shades and tints and hues in every ten yards of that old wall. . . . It looks so peaceful and so quiet, and it is such a dear old place to ramble round in the early morning before many people are about.” Jerome K. Jerome, “Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)” Ch. 6 (1889)

Looking Back

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They say you're not supposed to look back, but every once in a while the past creeps up unawares.

Back in 2015 this pic (above) was snapped on the peak of Celo Knob (6,327 ft). We had just climbed out the valley and were on our way down that cloud-shrouded trail you see behind me, on the way to Mt. Mitchell (hidden).

This last weekend, we were up in the mountains where I enjoyed this view (below) every time I looked out the window or stepped outside. Sometime after we were getting settled in, a neighbor nearby pointed across the valley, indicating the Celo Mountains.


My eyes popped out of my head when I learned that the highest peak behind me, the one furthest in the distance, was Celo Knob. That entire spine of the mountain that runs off the right (in the picture) was traversed by me and two friends four years ago, summitting 8 peaks and ending on Mt. Mitchell. 


Celo Knob, making clouds



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