Pack River Outing

It's not a great day in the ZAG Nation today.  The ZAGS had a tough night in North Carolina as did their fans around the world.  

Enough about that for a moment.

Thanks to a beautiful afternoon hike at one our favorite Wildlife Management areas, I was able to sleep last night with visions of the beautiful Pack River shoreline dancing in my head. 

Happily, yesterday we were able to walk with ease through the Trout Creek WMA because the snow cover was light and intermittent.

We have snowshoed, and I have ridden horseback through the area.  

Coming in from the Ginter WMA entrance near the Pack River General Store, Bill and I have also ridden our bikes. 

It's a wonderful place, regardless the entry off HWY 200 near Pack River Flats or off from Rapid Lightning Creek Road. 

Yesterday afternoon's hike lasted around two hours, giving us plenty of time to get back and ready for the ZAGS game. Plus, I worked off a few calories in preparation for our pulled pork eatfest with my sisters. 

To say the mood was glum throughout the game would be an understatement.

Indeed, a tough loss, but we figure now that the ZAGS will be able to move on and continue to improve as a team without the distractions of all that outside media.

Because of this new chapter in their season they surely will have better times ahead, especially during March Madness. 

For now, it's painful, but we all know that life involves a series of valleys where the struggle to claw one's way back up that mountainside makes the reward at the top all the sweeter. 

GO, ZAGS, and, if you need a beautiful outing, go check out the Trout Creek WMA.  It's pretty the year around. 

Happy Sunday.   

Trout Creek flows into Pack River. 

I took this photo of the cabin along Pack River in September, 2009, while on a solo trail ride with Lily. 

Bill commented yesterday that it's gradually falling apart.  Still, for a nine-year span, the structure has held up amazingly well.

As for myself, I don't know that nine years later, I'd still go on a solo trail ride cuz my body would fall apart a lot faster than that cabin if something bad happened. 

Twas a light moment at the end of our hike when we saw this car parked next to us in the parking lot. 

Christmas cheer is alive and well in the great outdoors.