The Seven Devils

The boy set out for the castle in the early morning mist. He had been told that on the road laid waiting seven devils, eager to take his life.

He gripped his sword and buckler and trudged down the dark path. 

The first devil was out in plain sight, grinning with malice. The boy showed no emotion as he drew his sword. 

The second devil fought harder but was also easily dispatched. 

The third devil leapt from the ground to the trees up into the air, keeping the boy at bay. He chased the devil all over the hills and breathed heavily. Eventually, this devil fell, too. 

But the boy tired as he marched toward the castle. The devils in his way blurred together. He could no longer keep count. The battles were pitched and one after another. The boy could barely stand. 

He had been walking in the sun for a while before he realized that he'd not been fighting for some time. Had he survived? 

In the spirit of the Life of Pi movie (which we stumbled into while surfing TV at the hotel), this tale allegorizes our climbs up Seven Devils Road. It was a brutal start to the day of the 10th. A lot of knee nursing for me and for Matt. My back was pretty tight at some point.

I at first refused to believe the devils could refer to hills. But sure enough. 

The album pics from this day only start after we exited Seven Devils. The grind was too hard for anyone to be shooting pics, but some of the climbs/hills were labeled. Someone'd painted on the road things like 'SECOND DEVIL' and 'KEEP GOING' -- stuff that made me realize that these routes were quite well traveled.