Simply Me: Old Rag

A few weeks before Thanksgiving Rachel piped up and suggested that we all hike Old Rag over Thanksgiving weekend. Our (my) instant reaction was "No, it will be way too cold." A little bit later that day our friend Andrew texted me and suggested the same idea. The idea started to sound better between the two of them, and we all decided to go on Saturday. Gray, Derek, Andrew, and Shen came over and spent the night Friday night, and Kavya, Suzanne, Rachel, and I were already at the house. We woke up Saturday morning, grabbed some breakfast, and hit the road.

Now, usually every year the girls go out to breakfast after Black Friday alone, but this year because all of the stores opened at different hours, early and late, all we wanted to do was sleep and the traditional breakfast had to be altered. We decided to ALL go out to breakfast--the whole family. So we hit Ryan's per tradition, while the older boys all went to Cracker Barrel. They picked us up from Ryan's, and we were on our way.

Suzanne and I at breakfast!

The weather actually wasn't too bad--we were definitely all prepared and bundled up nicely, but we didn't really get uncomfortably cold. I think it was in the 40s while we were there, and obviously the summit was a little bit chillier--there was ice up there and everything. The parking lot was actually full, which was surprising because we figured since it was a little chilly and since it was Thanksgiving weekend, there would be fewer people. Nope.

Such a beautiful view!

I really love hiking--it's just pretty peaceful to me. Suzanne on the other hand--well let's just say she enjoys hiking a lot more when it involves some nice attractive guys she can flirt with and that keep her a little bit motivated. Unfortunately, this hike was lacking in nice attractive guys, and therefore she and I were at the end of the pack, keeping the pace nice and comfortable :) Can't leave a sister hanging.

Girls during one of our breaks early on

All of the guys soaking up the peace of the mountain

Me and Kavya--this was her first hike, and I'm pretty sure she loved it!

We've done a few different hikes, but Old Rag seems to always come back as a favorite. The beginning is a little boring, but then the rock scrambles are awesome and there are the most amazing views. The rock scrambles are definitely the most challenging part, especially for all the girls in our group. Gray was calling us his "wayward babes" by the end of the hike because we just had no idea/strength to get through some of those cracks and rocks. Seemed more difficult than the first time--maybe we went a slightly different route? Or maybe I'm getting weaker...

Kavya and Derek in some of the rock scrambles

Gray and all of his Wayward Babes--check out those hats

Rachel and Andrew making their way through some of the rocks

Just a little bit before the summit we stopped and had some lunch. Andrew and Derek made sandwiches for everyone, which was awesome: peanut butter and banana and leftover Thanksgiving turkey. The peanut butter and banana was sooo delicious. Something about eating in the woods makes everything taste better, I'm convinced. We also snacked on these dehydrated apple slices that we have had in the basement as part of our food storage for 15 years. SO good and so addicting. Shen also had a bunch of delicious jerky and random sausage and peanut butter cups. Good eats on the mountain.

Please go ahead and admire this hat--it's Andrew's Dad's. Pretty sure the whole group laughed at me for wearing this, but my head/ears/cheeks stayed warm and toasty the entire hike. And at the top, the warmth this hat provided was priceless.

We reached the summit, and there was a nice, sharp breeze blowing. However, that didn't stop us from taking a million pictures. We took our pictures and were on our way.

Andrew and Gray

Kavya enjoying the warmth of this hat!

For old time's sake... Andrew and all the Kemmey girls

Kavya and Gray

Our group at the top! Second time we've all done this as a group!

The hike down is a little bit anticlimactic when compared to the hike up to the summit, but it is still really beautiful. I suppose you could hike down exactly the way you came, but we never do. The end of the hike is just three miles on a gravel road, but it is still really pretty.

The knife in the tree picture started two years ago with Gray and Andrew...

...and it gets reproduced every time we go!

We got the the parking lot, everyone had to pee like crazy, and then we were loaded up and headed back home. People were definitely snoozing on the way home--I think all of the girls had only had 7 or 8 hours of sleep during the past 48 hours because of Black Friday and some ridiculous late night chatting. Needless to say, it was great. Definitely glad we went!

Sisters on the Mountain!

One last picture of the view! So awesome!

While we were driving home from Old Rag, Dad, Mom, and Grandma were back home preparing a ridiculous amount of fried rice using the left over ham from Thanksgiving for all of us hungry teenagers and the rest of the family. Dad's fried rice is seriously SO good. They made an ENTIRE roaster pan full of fried rice--something like 15 cups of rice or something crazy, 8 onions, 3 big bags of peas, tons of carrots, mushrooms, and lots of eggs. Honestly, a HUGE portion of that fried rice was devoured--we still had a pan of leftovers, but it wasn't much in comparison to how much was actually made! Dad even made Kavya, the vegetarian, some Tofu Fried Rice, and she thought it was great!