Ihiked the Appalachian Trail on vacation. Honest. Unlike the unfortunate governor of South Carolina, I have the photos and blisters to prove it. As for the trail itself, we didn’t exactly hike the whole thing. After all, it runs for more than 2,000 miles, from Maine to Georgia, and we had only a couple of days. However, we did cover almost 20 miles on the AT on two hikes in Grayson County, some of it scrambling over rocks, some of it a pleasant walk in the woods.

More than 53,000 acres of the Jefferson National Forest in Southwest Virginia will be permanently protected from development under legislation that cleared Congress yesterday. The Virginia Ridge and Valley Act, authored by U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th , passed on a 285-140 vote and now awaits President Barack Obama’s signature. Obama is expected to sign the legislation.