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The thing about ocean-area hikes that aren't along the beach is that they all have three things in common: They're hot, they've got bugs and the Day Hiker talks a lot about 1 and 2 above.

The bad thing about a beach walk is that you generally run into an inlet at some point, and have to turn around. Read More

With another 95-plus day in the Roanoke area, we headed for the high elevation of the Mountain Lake Resort and Wilderness area.

Of course the climb was worth it as always, as the summit was so cool that Gail put on a jacket as we ate and looked southeast to the Peaks of Otter and beyond. And behind us at the radar station, aliens neither landed nor took off.