travel light, wake early, walk far
Yes. Even DC UL has been touched by the Baby Yoda craze. (And yes, I know this is the same photo as the Alpha VMO trip report--thanks, Karan!--but I may just use it for everything now.) Okay. Onto the trip report -- and our SNP series is underway! Evan headed up the VMO route, tackling... Continue Reading →
First, I should assure everyone that I do know my alphabet -- having the Beta SNP trip fall before Alpha was mainly to accommodate my schedule. Plus, to be honest, I was eager to dive into this hiking project and investigate trails in the park that I had not yet explored. My original plan had... Continue Reading →
I anticipated steamy, hot temperatures; lots of biting insects and ticks; and plenty of stinging nettles on overgrown trails in (relatively) less frequented areas of the park
Ginny and Ian explored the swimming hole while others waded or generally enjoyed the peaceful setting.
Over dinner, we decided to schedule an extra-early start so we could hit Old Rag’s ridge at sunrise on Sunday. Night (pre-dawn?) hiking was new for a lot of people, and definitely a bit unusual for an LM, but we were eager to have the scramble to ourselves.
We started up the trail at 7 a.m. and managed to catch nice light on the mountains at Blackrock Mountain
All in all, this was a good trip, and it was nice to explore a new side of Shenandoah National Park. Too often, I default to the popular spots but I’ve been making an effort over the past year to explore more trails that I haven’t been on before.
It was a nice coincidence when Russ mentioned the Peak as we drove to the trailhead… and that he had the GPS tracks with him… and that we’d be walking very close to where it is located.
We geared up and were soon climbing a very wet and invigorating Little Devils Stairs.
