HOUSE MOUNTAIN HIKE

This week I had to hike one day.
I decided against Sunday
'Cause, as you can surmise,
That mightn't have been wise
Since we start our trip Monday.

'Twas a glorious day
On Groundhog Day,
Goodness knows,
When from Lowe's
We drove away.

There were sixteen in our party,
All hale and hearty,
When, before our hike,
We met our leader, Mike,
For his orientation at Hardee's.

We drove through Lexington
Under blue sky and sun.
Then, out on Jacktown Road,
We turned onto House Mountain Road,
But it was the wrong one.

On Saddle Creek Road
We parked to unload.
When we left our four cars,
He had for two hours
Been on the road.

Our route up the ridge
Afforded a view of the Blue Ridge,
A view easy to like,
And the air was a lot like
The inside of a fridge.

Yet the cold did not hinder
On the midday of winter.
Three miles we were logging
When we left the road meant for logging,
The forest to enter.

Mike, a man of good heart,
Was full of info to impart.
He's been a biologist
And a naturalist,
I'd say, from the start.

A man of his kind
Is right hard to find
Wherever you search.
We smelled the bark of black birch.
To like its aroma, I am inclined.

We lunched at the shelter that serves
The House Mountain Preserve,
Including Little House,
The Saddle and Big House,
Which Bill Stubbs conserved.

Mike, who teaches at Sweetbriar,
Built not a fire.
Our luncheon was slow,
And Corbin played banjo
But not a guitar.

The Little House summit had we all gained,
Corbin would have played his banjo again.
He could well have strummed it,
But I could not have hummed it
Nor sung its refrain.

The Little House trail was right icy
Which made climbing right dicy.
Some decided 'twould be nice
To climb it on ice.
We did but not nicely.

Two dogs followed us up there.
'Twas all downhill from there.
Someday I'll go back.
We saw a bobcat track
But none of a bear.

We got down by bushwhacking.
I don't mean machete hacking.
By then it was warm.
We had to perform,
And we were not slacking.

As for the other half of our crew,
We knew not what they'd found to do.
But they climbed the other peak
Where they took a peek
At the wonderful view.

'Twas a fine hike all in all
As best I recall.
And on the Day for our Wetlands
We headed back toward flat lands
Before the nightfall.

In fact, ere it was done,
This hike was great fun.
I've been on many a hike,
But this hike led by Mike
May be number one.


(I enjoyed the NBATC eight-mile House Mounain Hike, led by Mike Haysleett 2 February 2008.)