A little over three miles and a good several hundred vertical feet will bring you and yours from Forest Road 475 to the top of Looking Glass Rock in Pisgah National Forest. Yesterday such was the case with Earthquake, Ginger, MacHarg, Peachy, Aarti and me. It looked a little something like this -- though not, naturally, in sepia tones.

In a mere 48 hours I'll be back in Cambridge, fully unpacking my car for the first time since early June. Until then, I'm soaking up what I can in Durham and DC.