matrimony & marathon

Lily, Uwharrie and I drove to the mountains of South Carolina on Friday to celebrate the marriage of Ashley and Elliot. They had themselves a laid back wedding: a wonderful outdoor ceremony overlooking Table Rock followed by a jovial reception with a live bluegrass band and delicious vegan/vegetarian supper. We were impressed and honored to attend.

After reconnecting with our old Mountain Bridge friends, we bedded down at our campsite in Table Rock State Park. We awoke on Saturday and drove to Jones Gap State Park to tour our old 11,000+ acre backyard. Lily hiked up Rainbow Falls while Uwharrie and I ran the Mountain Bridge Marathon loop around the perimeter of the park.

We started the 20-something mile loop at noon in a clockwise direction. The initial warm climb up Pinnacle Mountain had me worried about the remainder of the day, but after leveling out and cooling off in the creeks, I felt better. The wilderness trails can be quite technical in places. This route has somewhere around 5500’ of climbing. Needless to say, it isn’t fast.

I think my fastest time is slightly under five hours. We finished in just over five hours this time around. But for us, it wasn’t about the speed: we were on a stroll down memory lane. Our senses tingled, reconnecting the past step by step: the Carolina hemlock atop Pinnacle, the smell of muscadine, frigid water mixed with hot sunny outcrops, the cool of the Dismal…

This was a much needed long workout to burn off the wine and rich food from the night before. Trail running seems to be a rare and precious luxury for us these days. Today, I caught myself daydreaming not only about an earlier time, but also about adventures yet to come!