Little Devils Stairs - A Very Wet Hike

A few weeks ago, I hiked the aptly named Little Devils Stairs trail in Shenandoah National Park with a friend.  According to one website, there are 11 stream crossings of Keyser Run in the 2 miles (and a nearly 1,800 feet climb).  And after the torrential rain in the preceding days, not one of these crossings was passable using the usual rock-hopping method.  The stream was running fast and furious and all the rocks were at least partially submerged.  I ended up, for the most part, just walking straight through, with my feet wetter than I could imagine.  It was a cold and foggy (and eventually rainy) day, which made for slippery rocks but it was really beautiful.  A great pre-Halloween hiking adventure.  

foggy forest

In the space of a few weeks, it's gone from feeling summery to wintry.  Over the weekend we had one cool, foggy, misty day - which I enjoyed while traipsing through shenandoah national park - and then a day that started out feeling like April and ended up feeling like, well, January.   The hike was led by a natural history expert so in addition to stopping to catch my breath, I stopped to learn about my surroundings.   There were some amazingly beautiful rock formations in this part of the park.

  

Catching up

Not much posting lately.  Late April through mid-May spent photographing national parks in Utah, and still haven't gone through those photos (!).....soon.  More catching up to do.

Before my trip, revisited the potomac heritage trail in Northern Virginia, with a one-way shuttle hike of 13 miles or so, scott's run to roosevelt island.  The bluebells were most definitely in full bloom!

 

And redbuds too.

And over Memorial Day weekend, explored a new (to me) hike in Shenandoah's central district, Bear Church Rock.

Very scenic, with a steep climb along a woodsy trail, leading to a scenic overlook.  

I especially enjoyed the beautiful Staunton River and its small falls along the way.

White Oak Canyon -- goodbye winter??

A few weeks ago did a tough 8 mile trek, up the White Oak Canyon trail in Shenandoah, where the smaller falls were frozen, slogged through a snowy side trail, and down the steep, icy Cedar Run trail, where, notwithstanding microspikes and hiking poles, I fell twice.  Exhausting, but beautiful every which way I looked.

in search of snow & ice

Recently, much of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park was closed due to ice.  Not much winter happening here in DC and this past weekend I was in search of some of that snow and ice in the mountains.  On this hike, at the northern-most part of Shenandoah, there were just little patches of ice in parts, but very little.  Still a very pleasant hike, with a nice view at the Dickey Ridge visitor center.

atop shenandoah

Last month I headed out to Shenandoah National Park while the foliage was at peak.  

 I led a small group of hikers down the Big Meadows trail, and then up the Appalachian trail and the Hawksbill Summit trail (9 1/2 miles except for those who accidentally missed the turn-off; for them it was 12 miles!).

 At 4,050 feet, Hawksbill mountain is the highest point in Shenandoah.

 From the summit, had a nice, clear view of the ever-popular Old Rag mountain.

Big boots in Shenandoah

Grateful for the cooler-than-usual summer, I have been able to get out hiking in the mountains in August, which is unheard of for me.  And eager to get my hiking legs back into shape, last weekend I hiked the Tuscarora trail in the George Washington National Forest (nearly 9 miles), and today the Appalachian trail in Shenandoah national park (7 1/2 miles).

It has been over three years since I've been to Shenandoah, and I was very excited to get back there.

This morning, I grabbed my hiking boots, which were still in their plastic bag from last weekend's hike, and put them on at the trailhead near Jenkins gap, just past mile 12 on Skyline Drive.  Hmm, something did not feel right.  The boots felt roomier than usual.  Far too roomy.  I examined them and realized that I must've accidentally switched boots after last saturday's hike with a guy in my carpool, who also happened to have charcoal gray Salomon boots.  I looked even closer and realized that I was wearing size 11.5 men's boots!  3 sizes too big, I think.

My feet slipped and slid a bit more than was ideal, but I got away with only getting one minor blister on my heel.  Luckily a hiker in today's group knew the owner of my boots for the day, and I was able to get in touch and we will implement the exchange later this week.

This did not detract from the enjoyment of being out in the mountains, on a beautiful August afternoon.

Small camera, big mountain

my little camera, my trusty point and shoot, broke after 5 1/2 years of hard wear and tear.  In tribute to it, a few shots from washington area's favorite rock scrambling mountain, old rag, taken from my little canon powershot four years ago.

A healing journey

A healing journey two years ago through the woods, mountains and shore of virginia.  

feeling foggy

A foggy walk along skyline drive in VA a year and a half ago.