Overnight on Little Table Rock 4K

Day 1 … hiking in to camp at Little Table Rock Total miles: 2.07 It’s been 3 weeks since the bear incident and I’d been nervous and somewhat fearful at the thought of backpacking again. But one can’t hide from fear!! So after getting antsy just sitting at home - we packed up and headed to the trailhead at Spence Ridge! We took the Table Rock Gap trail which got a merciful re-route last year … from straight up to a wonderful series of switchbacks! Thank you to all the hard working volunteers and trail maintainers! Splish-splashing our way up to the trail, enjoying all the sights along the way! We got to our cliffside campsite and got to see a thunderstorm across the gorge and a spectacular sunset! Day 2 … Table Rock summit/Devils Cellar and return to car Total miles: 2.65 The Gorge is beautiful in moonlight - unfortunately I have no good way to capture it. But it was cool to see it shining thru my tarp! After a restless sleep (thought every sound was a bear!) and lots of reading and a 1am bear bag check (and put Sally in her dog tent) … we woke up to heavily clouded skies and a colorless sunrise. We lounged around, had breakfast, and got our bear line caught in the tree 🤦‍♀️. Thankfully, my friend was able to come by and use his saw to cut a pole long enough to get it down! We packed up and found a new to us side trail which led to a beautiful view! We then made our way up to the summit of Table Rock and scrambled across the top (if you know - you know! 😎). We sat down and just enjoyed the scenery before descending down … dripping by Devils Cellar where I reminisced about rappelling! Then made our way back to the car - once again grateful for switchbacks 😁