A week at Peggy’s Cabin is just what the doctor ordered. A week of horseback riding, kayaking, mountain biking and hiking … and a nice, tasty beer when we get back. Saturday, we packed the trailer with the gear: the kayak, hay for the horses, tack, some tools, and our baggage. The bikes got strapped to the rack in front of the truck and then we loaded the horses and drove into the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southern Virginia. The engine got a bit hot dragging all that stuff up the mountains. And for the last few miles on one-lane gravel roads up to the cabin I was really glad we had 4-wheel-drive.

The horses are staying inside their travel fence, munching on the nice, juicy mountain grass around Peggy’s Cabin.  The cabin is located at 2,500 feet (760 meters), about 200 feet (60 meters) above the New River in Grayson country, Virginia. Ironically, the “New” is considered the oldest river in North America. There are lots of logging roads and gravel roads to explore on horseback and on bikes, and the New River is great for kayaking or canoeing, especially right now when it is full after all the rain.

kayaking on the New River

Today, Jacob and I spent 3 1/2 hours on the river kayaking down from the Virginia/NC border to to the road right below the cabin. I then hiked up to the cabin and got the truck to haul the kayaks out. The river is still pretty shallow here – about 2 – 4 feet  (1/2 – 1 meter), so there is no motorized traffic on the river and there are occasional rapids that make kayaking pretty fun. It was really quiet and peaceful on the river and we had nice weather most of the time (we did get drenched in one shower).

While Jacob and I were kayaking, Laura and Julia took the horses on a long excursion all over the logging roads around the cabin and along the river. Wally and Cleo had eaten a lot the nice, juicy mountain grass ad they were feeling pretty good. They also waded into the river and into the pool below a waterfall. They, too, got rained on.

So, we’re looking forward to a few more fun-filled days here in the mountains. We hope it won’t rain too much. The temperatures are rally nice with highs in the low 80s (below 30*C).  (more photos below)

Jacob tackling some rapids on the New.

The horses at their facilities at Peggy’s Cabin

Peggy’s Cabin

just arrived at the cabin

Getting water for the horses at Peggy’s cabin

This entry was posted on Monday, July 22nd, 2013 at 9:55 pm and is filed under biking, horses, Mother Earth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.