While Hurricane Irene wreaked a lot of havoc along the Virginia coast this past Saturday, we were only mildly affected in Nelson County.  By evening the off-and-on rain showers and winds were gone, and Sunday was a beautiful day.  Nic and I headed off for a 5.5 mile hike in neighboring Amherst County, where we follwed the Henry Lanum loop trail up to the two peaks of Mount Pleasant, and then on over Pompey mountain.  Thanks to the spector of Irene, we had the trail and the summits mostly to ourselves.  The views from the east and west (windy!) summits of Mt. Pleasant are among the most spectacular in the region.  Above: fortunately this tree that Irene’s winds had blown down across the forest service road left enough space for us to get past.

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