Winter Hiking

Late last week I heard on the news that in celebration of Martin Luther King Day all National Parks were going to be open and free to the public for the weekend That information, coupled with a weather prediction of sunny skies and a high temperature near 50 and I start dreaming of getting up to the Shenandoah National Park.

When the Haven on Hanover family lived in Northern Virginia we used to do a lot of hiking in the northern part of Shenandoah. Now that we're near the southern entrance we have a whole new set of hikes to explore.
Several years ago Harry found a Guide to the SNP on the internet. It is a very detailed and comprehensive guide to hiking in the park, divided into North, Central and Southern sections. We found a 5.3 mile circuit hike near the southern entrance. packed a lunch, camera and dog treats and the four of us (2 adults, 2 dogs) set off.

I love hiking in the winter - no crowds, no bugs, no snakes and the views of the mountains are so much more dramatic.

One of the first stops along the way was this grave site - I'm not sure we would have seen it had it been summer.
We wondered who William Howard was and why he wound up here all alone. I came home and googled his name - someone already did the research. Don't you just love the internet? Instant answers!

The hike then led steadily down hill (I couldn't stop thinking I was going to have to go uphill at some point, pay backs are hell) to a series of waterfalls all fighting to not freeze over.
This small waterfall was losing the battle.
Doyles waterfall, pictured above, looks like Old Man Winter to me. An angry Old Man Winter.

Years ago I read about a waterfall's affect on one's mood - Nature's Prozac. We sat down on the rocks and had our lunch here so that the negative ions could work their magic. I don't think I needed the boost as just being in the park was enough of a mood elevator. But why chance it? After a brief rest and lunch consumed we headed back up the mountain to where the trail intersects with the Appalachain Trail, otherwise known as the AT. If you don't know, the AT is the nation's longest marked footpath, at approximately 2,179 miles. Harry often dreams of making the entire trip. I say you'd better get started, time's a wasting. The section we were on was pretty easy - I thought about all the thru hikers who came before me. I could do it, yup, as long as there was a nice Bed and Breakfast at the end of each day.

As we were walking along, Lion, our poodle all of a sudden stopped dead in his tracks as if he'd seen, heard or smelled something. Having seen bears in the park before I started to think he was getting ready to protect us from a crazed bear coming out of hibernation. Harry laughed and said he thought the rock ahead of us was what was concerning him. Hah. Sure enough, our citified poodle got spooked by a rock. Poor thing, too many sidewalk hikes!! You can only imagine what seeing a bear would have done to this poor creature. Thankfully we didn't see any scary wildlife and only a few other humans.

I'm sure Martin Luther King would have approved of having the parks open in celebration of his life and work. It sure made me appreciate this little part of our great country and the efforts to preserve it.

Happy Hiking!