When I found out Hope was going to take a “me” trip for herself in Raleigh, I found myself on Google Flights and remember finding a very cheap ($65) nonstop roundtrip to Ashville, NC through a company I never heard of called, “Allegiant.” Car rentals were meh, but were still cheaper than getting a U-Haul, so I committed. The location and timing were on point as well. Via Instagram’s recent posts of a few places I had in mind nearby, I was able to determine that it was still Fall in South Carolina, which was the first half of this trip. I took some pretty dope photos there so I’ll for sure make time to post those in a future post. The amount of photos and experiences I’m currently sitting on is a bit overwhelming and to be frank, a part of me does realize that I’ll never be ahead, not that it isn’t possible, but more so because time is finite and there is more important work to be done. In realizing that, what I hope to accomplish is that these finite posts give you some sort of resemblance of inspiration to not only explore for yourself, but also chase your own goals. If I can do it, you can too or in other words, “If there is a will there is a way.”
So, I can’t seem to find the source of the quote, but for what it’s worth, it was something that stuck with me from a phone conversation I had with Ryan 🦊 back in 2018 when I had been struggling post trail with getting back into the software engineering field. Long story short, I had been currently enrolled in the Computer Science Masters program at Towson University and at the time, it had felt like an uphill battle. Thankfully, I pushed through and got a lucky break, followed by some more luck; luck being the cross roads of being at the right place at the right time and being prepared, but I know how it feels to not see the light at the end of the tunnel for months and even years on end. Said, I whole heartily believe that if you have will and commit, you can lift yourself from what ever situation you are in, into a better one.
Anyway, the location in the photo above was actually not a planned destination. I happened to be coming back from a location that unfortunately was closed called:
Green Knob Lookout Tower
Disappointed and heading back in the direction of Ashville, I found a trailhead with a bit of a crowd. Despite the crowd, I’m really happy I took the time to stop here. There were some stellar views!
The above view for instance has a neat layering effect. Look at how many layers of color there are from the foreground, to the midground, and to the background. You’ve got some green from the rhododendron, whitish bark, red berries, brown from the distant bare trees, dark green pine, and finally a blueish white in the sky.
At the top, there were 360 views and if you were curious what I had been taking a photo of in the photo of me on the cliff, this was it:
Well technically, this is the photo, I took with my phone. I actually still haven’t looked at the SD from my camera. When I get on that and they look good, I’ll update the blog post with those photos in a carousel below this text.
I would like to take the time here to thank the stranger who not only took the photos of me on the cliff, but also for reaching out for my number afterward to send them to me. The photos were on point and I am extraordinarily grateful! 😁
| Name | Craggy Pinnacle Summit |
| Location | Barnardsville, NC |
| Trailhead/Parking | Craggy Pinnacle Hike |
| Trail Name | Craggy Pinnacle Trail |
| Hike Length | 1 Mile (Out & Back) |
| AllTrails Link | Craggy Pinnacle Trail |
Personal update:
I would like to acknowledge that some of my moods over the past few months have been breakup related. I was burning out and did not realize how much I had relied on Hope for decompression, so as a result, I had been almost frantically relearning how to decompress to prevent further disarray in my life. Thankfully, there were a few friends that realized what I had been going through before I did and reached out so that I made moves to take care of myself. Focusing on all of the things I enjoy, I recently decided to long distance hike while listening to audio books on some long trails around the Prettyboy reservoir on trails I knew existed, but were largely uninteresting prior because of their length, as well as their lack of pissah. If anyone was curious on those reads, I managed to finish “Die with Zero” by Billy Perkins and start “How to Not Die Alone” by Logan Ury. With that time, I managed 16 miles and meet a few locals. No all trails link, but the screen shot below should help.
I enjoyed my time so much, I’m thinking on making this a regular thing. The motions were certainly similar to trail life during my thru-hike.
Blog Criticism
I doubt this person wants to be named, but I received criticism on uploading my life to my blog. I’m not entirely sure what this person’s motivations were, but in answering, I’ll treat the information I’ve received as objective. In response, I would like to say that I share my life on here to share inspiration and show to my fellow humans another way of thinking or doing that they then can incorporate into their lives, however I will admit it is not the main reason. I largely post for me. For one, I can quickly reference information in a one-to-many relationship, saving time. Second, comparatively, I am better at telling stories in my writing than in person. I do love to share, though there is a bit more to keep track of and balance. There is the story, creating interest, checking for interest, keeping interest, tone, mood matching, emphasis, formalities, eye contact, body language, and the pressure to keep it short. Thankfully, at work, information takes the priority. Otherwise, work would be different for me. Although, I would like to point out that I do acknowledge the importance and very much desire this ability so this does remain a constant growth area in my life. Lastly, my memories primarily live on their associated devices, infrequently revisited, so in sharing, I am able to relive those moments. There are some other benefits that I acknowledge are benefits, some of which are going to be read between the lines, but to me, those are the unavoidable realities of having a blog.
