Summit: The highest point of a mountain or hill; The highest attainable level of achievement.
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| The summit of Shining Rock! |
The Shining Rock Wilderness area was what cinched the deal for me to move to Waynesville. I spent a day working in the hospital where I would soon be employed and then headed for a trail within its beauty after the hospital closed that afternoon. I camped under the light of a million stars, high up on a ridge, filled with youthful enthusiasm for my adult life as it was unfolding in front of me.
After I moved here, the area became my second home on many a weekend excursion. In fact, I even took my former high school sweetheart on a backpacking trip with me, where he professed his love for me in a quiet grove of evergreen trees where we were camping (and yes, that “sweetheart” is my husband, Larry). 🙂
On Mother’s Day this year, it felt like the perfect place to celebrate the gift of my children and the success of their future school whose name stemmed from this region (which, of course, pleases me to no end, for obvious reasons). Our good friends, the Laursen’s, joined us for the adventure, and it was a day I won’t ever forget!
Getting a charter school off the ground takes Herculean effort (and then some). I’m not complaining, because I know the effort will be worth the reward. In fact, as our student body has begun to take shape recently and I’m meeting some of our families, it’s already worth it. What will really cinch the deal for me, however, as Shining Rock Wilderness did for me many years ago, is when some of our students experience these areas and see first hand how much they can learn, both educationally and personally. I can hardly wait!
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| Taking a short break before hiking the last two miles. |
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| The terrain is notoriously difficult to navigate in this area, because hikers have cut so many of their own trails over the years, but we made it to Shining Rock and back with success! |
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| Carolina Silverbells in full swing–I love how their petals resemble snow as they fall from the tree |
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| We love our adventures with the Laursen crew! I think this would have been the perfect spot for a Hazelwood Soap Company “Feeling Dirty?” picture, which is owned and run by this amazing family. |
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| A happy Mama on Mother’s Day. |
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain
1500K for Shining Rock Update: (we’re still going strong but we would love to reach our $25,000 goal!)
1500K for Shining Rock Update: (we’re still going strong but we would love to reach our $25,000 goal!)
Miles hiked on this trip: 51 (we’re including our dog Josie’s miles on this one–the pads of her feet were soooo sore the next morning from all the rocks we walked on and we feel that she earned the right to be included–after all, she is a very important family member!)
Miles remaining: 678.14
To date, we have reached 75% of our $25,000 goal for Shining Rock Classical Academy’s experiential programming!! THANK YOU to all of you who have contributed!! In order to fully fund our school’s experiential programming, we’d love to raise the entire amount for them! If you’d like to contribute, you can:
1. Send a check to 222 Methodist Drive, Lake Junaluska, NC 28745, made out to Shining Rock Classical Academy.
2. Click on this link and you’ll be taken to Crowd Rise, an online fundraising website, where you can donate with a credit card.
All contributions are tax deductible and we will send you a receipt with our 501c3 information.