The Assault on Black Rock IV

Both photos are credited to the Assault on Black Rock and its organizers.  Enjoy!

The Assault on Black Rock is a strenuous trail race in Sylva, NC.  It benefits a local organization called the community table.  This year's race raised well over $2000 and had around 1000 competitors.  I walked most of the way up, as it has a lot of elevation gain and is true butt-kicker.  It's also pretty rocky in places, so it wasn't always practical to run.  I ran more on the way down, but had to do so carefully, so as not to fly forward.  I packed Reese's cups for quick energy...yum! The race has 2770 feet of gain and is approximately seven miles.  It took me 3 hours and 30 seconds (it takes me far less time to run a half-marathon).  Although insanely difficult, I like the challenge and will probably compete again.

Winter 2014

We all had a colder than usual winter.  The mountains were no exception.  Our office had an early dismissal, a day off and a delay on day three.  Here are some pictures of our winter wonderland.

First Presbyterian

Main Street looking south 

More Main Street

Our cool banjo-playing statue

The Strand, our movie theater 

Town Hall/Waynesville PD

Municipal Building

FBC

Church Street 

Old Courthouse

My favorite

Hiking Cold Mountain

You've seen the movie, right? Well, we had the chance to hike the famed Cold Mountain.  It was a strenuous, but exciting hike.  Part of the difficulty was trudging through leftover snow.  In some places, there was still quite a bit left, as Cold Mountain is very high up.  It is located in Canton, NC.  The movie was filmed in Europe, but was based on a true mountain story.

Shining Rock Wilderness Area Hike

The Night Before Christmas on Main Street

Our church does a Bethlehem Marketplace event to go along with the Night Before Christmas in Downtown Waynesville.  It is a huge ministry and we get great attendance.  We were blessed with good weather, a miracle, as it was a very rainy day.  

Christmas!

Juneywhank Falls and Tom Branch Falls

This is where I live! A 45 minute drive and I get to see amazing things.  But really, I don't even have to go that far.  I can just look out the window at our amazing mountains.  This is from when Tim and Gina Garris were in town.  We had the chance to meet up and it was great to see folks from home.