EVENING HIKE UP BUFFALO MOUNTAIN

One of our younger coworkers asked us to go on a hike after work, knowing that we enjoy hiking.  At about 7 PM, we began our travel to the trail by driving back country roads, up and down and up and down hills and around curve after curve.  We know understand why Hillsville got its name.  We drove approximately 40 minutes to Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve.  We have never done an evening hike before, and we were told to bring flashlights.  A new type of adventure!

Our younger coworkers were poised and ready to go.  From left to right: Jake, Hannah, Madeline, Rosa, Eunike, and Mabeli.  Jack is an engineering student at Va Tech, Hannah is a senior at the local high school, and the other four girls are from the Dominican Republic. 

Here is a close-up of the girls from the Dominican Republic, who came to the U.S. on J-1 visas.  This type of visa permits them to work in the US for a short period of time.  The exchange visitor (J) non-immigrant visa category is for individuals approved to participate in work-based exchange programs.

We hiked up a steep and narrow trail that included many switch-backs, too numerous to count.  There were several benches along the way.  Rosa rests with Madeline and Hannah. 

After about 40 minutes of hiking upward a little over a mile, we reached the summit of Buffalo Mountain at 3971 feet above sea level.  Madeline, Mabeli, and Rosa posed for a summit photo with North Carolina in the background.

Here is a group photo with some North Carolina mountains in the background.  We were unable to stand closer together because of the rough terrain at our feet.

Hannah took this panorama photo with her iPhone.  The Adirondack Mountains are in the distance.  Isn't technology wonderful?

Since the sun had set, the hike down began in partial darkness.  The photo below shows the blueness of these picturesque mountains at dusk.

The mountain was so shady that we were surprised by finding these flowers, gorgeous bright orange azalea rhododendrons, near the top of the mountain.  You can tell how dark it was getting as we hiked back down the mountain.

We concluded our hike using flashlights for the last quarter mile.  This was our first sunset hike and proved to be a great new adventure.  The views from the summit were spectacular.  It was very enjoyable to spend time with these young workers as we found fun together away from the workplace.