Sugarloaf Mountain

For something different, we headed out to Frederick, MD 

to Sugarloaf Mountain to try out one of their trails.  It's quite the popular place.  

People were hiking, rock climbing and picnicking.  

We headed off on the trail and encountered the steps from hell.  Steps are far worse than hiking up an incline- and that's saying a lot for me because I really struggle on inclines.

The friendly neighborhood vultures were in the trees above me.  

Pretty sure they smelled death.

The view was definitely worth the climb though.

It was a shame it wasn't a sunnier day out,

but it was still gorgeous.

Of course, when we reached the summit

we realized we weren't on the trail we had planned to be on.

We ended up needing to take another trail to get to where we planned to go.

There was another vista called White Rocks that was also gorgeous.

Even my normally afraid of heights son was impressed with the view- 

so much so he ventured out on the rocks.

We were finally headed back towards the car,

though it felt like the never ending trail.

It was supposed to be a 5 mile loop, 

but we weren't sure how much extra mileage we picked up 

when we went the wrong way.

We eventually made it back to the car.

I pointed out we could have seen gorgeous views 

staying in the parking lot.

In the end we hiked 7.4 miles

which is the longest hike since last October.

I didn't have much weight in my pack, 

but all in all I did pretty good.

Lucy did good too

though I did have to carry her for a short while

as she was getting tired.

Definitely want to go back to this spot and try some other trails.