Moorman's River Hike - Shenandoah National Park

Few months back before the government shutdown and Shenandoah National Park was open I went with a friend to a hike along the Moorman's River. It was a nice easy hike along this river and you actually cut across it a few times. Wish I tried going up here in the summer to take a dip in the icy cold water. Well enjoy the hike if you get a chance, it's not far from Charlottesville. 

Old Rag in the Fall 13

Old Rag Mountain has got to be my favorite hike still. It is just the right length is really a challenge for yourself. I was really depressed when we had the government shutdown and Shendandoah National  Park was closed. As soon as it opened that week I went on a Saturday morning to defeat it. I had left at 5 something in the morning so I could be there at sunrise which was 7:15am and I got there right before and started in the dark. Was worth it as it lessened the amount of people that I hiked with considerably. I was mostly alone all the way up and into the rock scramble with people ahead and people way back. The problem with this hike is if you do not start early you hit a TON of people on the trail which makes it less enjoyable for me as I have to quicken and slow my pace and wait as well, especially at the scramble. Anyways it went great and I hope you enjoy the pictures. For the most part the camera configuration was a Canon T3i with a 17-55mm 2.8 lens. 

The day started out gorgeous, the moon was over top the mountain when I pulled down the windy road and the temperature was perfect.

Please continue to read below, more pictures!

Trip to Japan: The Sage Continues

Hey Everyone.

It really has been awhile since I last did a post. I have been busy and with Fall/Autumn around I try to keep myself busy. I had been working a lot on models and also getting outside. I have also been traveling a lot within Virginia for my job which is really fun even if I am passing by in the truck. I still feel that I have yet really explored Virginia and I hope next year I will take more weekend trips for that, but I am not really hear to be writing about traveling in Virginia. On Saturday I will be traveling back to Japan, Kyoto specifically and I am pretty excited. I have somethings lined up that pan out and if they don't they don't. That is why there are contingency plans or just do it on the fly. I am hoping I can enjoy another two weeks of Autumn colors in the old capital. I am all set and ready for a vacation. I will also be getting a ton f pictures of the foods I eat as well what I drink for the food blog that my girlfriend and I have.
Please if you are in Kyoto, I would love to catch up with anyone who wants to grab a drink or walk around taking pictures.
I have some pictures from Old Rag and a river I visited that I will try to get up and scheduled before I go so you have something to check out. If you don't follow my instagram or twitter I suggest you should as I will most definitely be putting up pictures there while on my trip and then uploading them here once I get back.
I had a wonderful meeting last night with a couple that help and are really active with Virginia and Japan relations. I really would like to get to be apart of the non-profit and help with the relations. It is very interesting to learn that there is so much major Japanese Company influence here in Virginia like Canon and Mitsubishi.
I will have lots to talk about when I return and lots to post. I will try my best to get up my photos quicker then I did last time. I feel like it took a year to upload them up but there was so much  to cover!

Cheers!