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Published: October 18th 2011
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Shenandoah N P Sign
To prove we really were there. We visited Shenandoah National Park in Virginia in October of 2011. We spent three days hiking, or trying to hike, in the park. Managed to get on the trails on two of the three days despite just cloudy weather the first day and misty, foggy, rainy weather the last day. The middle day was a total washout with driving rain and wind all day long. We stayed in Waynesboro, VA, one night, in the lodge at Skyland Resort two nights, and the lodge at Big Meadows the last night. Enjoyed the trip even with the bad weather. We saw lots of deer and actually surprised a mother bear and her two cubs on one of our hikes on the last day. They were too quick to run off into the forest before we could get any pictures , but we tried.
The first days' hikes were the best since it wasn't raining or foggy - just cloudy. I think the cloudy conditions actually helped the pictures come out better than they might have otherwise. Colors of the fall foliage were beautiful. Hiked to Turk Mountain first, a 2.2 mile round trip (RT) to a neat rocky mountain top. Then to
Along Turk Mt. trail
Pretty color along the trail. Chimney Rock on the Riprap trail, a 3.4 mile RT that went by some nice views to a viewpoint with several granite boulders that do look like chimneys. We next hiked a very short .8 mile RT trail to Blackrock summit which looks like a big pile of black rocks, almost like they were dumped there. Also lots of flying, biting gnats there.
Since we knew the weather forecast for the next few days was not favorable, we decided to drive on up to the short hike of the Bearfence Rock Scramble. We had read that this hike was not one to do when the rocks were wet. After doing this hike, I know why. This is only a 1.2 mile RT hike but the first half mile is mostly scrambling over a narrow ridgeline made up almost entirely of huge rocks and boulders. Both upper body and lower body strength were necessary on this one. But the reward was a 360 degree view of the park, one of the very few spots, maybe the only spot, where such a view is possible. The descent to the parking lot is by the much easier AT, which parallels the rock
From the Turk Mt. Summit
The hike to Turk Mountain is the first significant hike in the park after entering the South entrance. scramble, completing the hike loop.
The second day was a washout so all we did was visit the Byrd visitor center, look at the displays, watch the three or four movies, and get some advice on hikes from the ranger there. Went back to Skyland Lodge and tried to connect with the WiFi in the taproom. Not much luck with the WiFi, but the beer was good.
On the morning of the third day it wasn't raining, initially, but was quite foggy. We decided to hike the Stoney Man trail, a 1.6 mile RT to "a spectacular view" - of the fog. Then we connected to the Appalachian Trail and hiked another about 2 mile RT to the Little Stoney Man cliffs for more spectacular views of fog. Nice trails though. Next we drove to the Hawksbill Gap parking area and followed the lower Hawksbill trail, a .9 mile trail to the Hawksbill summit. This is the trail where we saw the mother bear with her two cubs. The return trip to the car was via a 2 mile combination of the Salamander Trail and the Appalachian Trail. We then went to the visitor center and found out
From Turk Mountain
From the summit of Turk Mountain, our first hike in the park and one of the nicest. about a trail to the Rapidan Camp which was a retreat for President Hoover in the late 1920s. Took that trail for about 1.75 miles to a creek that we were unable to cross due to high water as a result of all the rain the previous day. This creek, called Mill Prong, joins Laural Prong at Rapidan Camp to form the Rapidan River. So, disappointed that we couldn't get to Rapidan Camp, we hiked the 1.75 miles back to the car and road back to the Big Meadows area.
Big Meadows itself is just that - a really big meadow on a relatively flat spot along the Skyline Drive. It was the site of one of the first two Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) camps that were established in the park. Shenandoah National Park would eventually benefit from ten CCC camps. We walked around the "big meadow" and to an area that showed the actual locations of the various CCC barracks, mess hall, offices, etc. The US army ran the camps while the park service supervised the work details. Apparently the army and the NPS did not get along too well, but they got the job done. Very interesting.
Turk Mountain
A shot of Turk Mountain taken from an overlook along Skyline Drive. (Seems like something of this sort might be needed these days.)
After walking around the Big Meadows area it began to rain again so, tired and soaked, we drove to Big Meadows Lodge and checked in. Took luggage to the room and then to the lodge taproom where we connected easily, for the first time on this trip, to WiFi. Beer was good here, too.
That's a quick recap of the trip. I'll just post some of the better pictures. Some will be intermingled with this text with the rest below. Most will have a brief description. If you click on any of the pictures you will get a larger version and then be able to page through the rest of the picture gallery. Hope you enjoy.
Lee
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Joan
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Great photos, wonderful blog spot....will visit after every trip!