Climbing the Mountain

So, in my ongoing quest to make myself a more well-rounded, happier, and generally better person, I pushed myself (and my boyfriend) yesterday to do something a little different with our afternoon... Hiking!  Charlottesville, I've been told, is chock full of great hiking trails that I had taken advantage of approximately one time since starting at the University of Virginia almost six years ago.  (Better late than never, right?)  Despite my extremely limited knowledge of outdoorsy opportunities, I had heard of Humpback Rock before; it seems to be kind of like the quintessential Charlottesville hiking trail, probably because it leads to such a breathtakingly beautiful summit.

The hike up is only one mile but felt much longer due to the steep incline.  Sweat was pouring down my face and I had to stop a couple times to catch my breath.  Nothing like a rocky, uphill trail to remind you how out of shape you are.  (I'm working on it...)  But, as is usually the case, the tough part didn't last forever... And then we were rewarded with sunny skies, a nice breeze, and a huge rock on which we could rest and take in the awesome views of the Rockfish and Shenandoah Valleys.

Honing my photography skills from the summit

And how did I feel afterwards?  Refreshed and accomplished.  Which makes me wonder... Why does it take me so long to do these things, anyway?  Inertia, I suppose.  And the energy it takes to force myself out of my comfort zone.  More than anything else, depression saps my energy.  But more and more, I'm finding that pushing past the inertia and getting out there to do things (even things as uninteresting as running errands) has a powerful and lasting effect on my energy reserve.  More so than any antidepressant I've ever taken (and without any of the annoying side effects).  But my feelings on antidepressants are another story for another day.  I'll leave you with a picture from the hike that sums up my feelings on the experience:

Success!  Wemmy made it!