The mountains were calling me today....

Afton Mountain looking northwest at Shenandoah Valley.

Afton Mountain. The crossroads of I-64 and the end of the Skyline Drive/ beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's the gateway to the Shenandoah Valley ... a fantastic vista into the Valley where you're going ... and the Rockfish Valley where you came from. It's the meeting of boundary lines for Augusta, Albemarle, and Nelson Counties.

And it's a respite from the world....

Today was just about perfect: sunny, mild 50-something temperatures, and no wind.

The mountains were calling me....

Afton Mountain looking northward.

Afton Mountain where Skyline Drive crosses I-64.

Howardsville Turnpike with remnants of snow.

So ... a couple of friends and I headed to the hills. Our destination was Humpback Rock but the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed due to the recent ice and snow storms, and there's much tree damage in that area. We walked the Drive for a bit, and then headed across the Valley to the western side of Augusta County and Augusta Springs.

Augusta Springs is a protected wetlands, an area with familiar trails that didn't go up into the snowy area of the mountain. With the run-off from Sunday's snow, it was plenty wet today! There was rushing water coming off the mountain and spilling over into the natural spring and rushing down the spill-way to the pond. It smelled "outdoorsy" ... the clean air smelled so good. It felt wonderful to be outside.

The mountains called me today ... and I answered.

Photos by SWAC Girl