Shenandoah National Park VA - July 3
We got a very early start today since
the park was about an hour away and we wanted to get started early in hopes of
seeing more wildlife. (meh)
Skyline drive is 105 miles long with pullouts at 75 viewpoints and there are many hiking trails for all
levels of hikers. We stopped at quite a few overlooks for photos. If I were
being completely honest, (OK, I know ya’ll know that I don’t really know how to
be any other way…lol) The view was gorgeous, but for the most part the views
didn’t look all that different. The Shenandoah Valley was beautiful with the
Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. Some of the overlooks were so overgrown
there was no view to be seen. We experienced that on the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of years ago as well.
We did 4 hikes and drove the first
half of the drive. (we will finish the rest of the drive on another day) We
started at Dickey Ridge and hiked a couple of miles on the Fox Hollow Trail where there
was the Fox Family Cemetery amongst the forest. Afterwards, we visited the
Dickey Ridge Visitor’s Center.
Chipping Sparrow
Wood Thrush
Fox family cemetery
Fox Squirrel (no relation to the Fox family...lol)
Greg
Dickey Ridge Visitor Center
We drove a bit farther along Skyline
and stopped and hiked the Fort Windham Rocks Trail at Compton Gap. We hiked a mile or
so here. It’s about .8, but we took a wrong turn and did some backtracking.
Both of those trails we were the only people around, except for 2 guys just as we
got to the rocks. No dogs were allowed on these trails. Yay!
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Wood-pewee
It was time for lunch, so we drove on
to Elkwallow where there was a General Store with a place to order food. We
split a cheeseburger and a BLT and some onion rings.
Refreshed, we drove on farther on
Skyline stopping at various viewpoints. Greg had just said “we haven’t seen a
Woodchuck yet today” when one appeared on the side of the road.
We came to the highest point of the
drive which was an elevation of 3,680. We got out at the stop there, but never
found the viewpoint. My guess is it was overgrown or it was a long hike to get
to it.
We drove on hoping to see bears, but
we didn’t see any. A lady in the restroom said that one ran across the street
in front of their car just a few miles down the road.
Black & White Warbler
Black & White Warbler
juvenile Dark-eyed Junco
youth group at the top
views from the summit
Great-crested Flycatcher
Our last hike was just a short 10
minutes to get to an overlook. It was about the halfway point of Skyline
drive, so we turned around and headed back the way we came. We had dinner at
the same spot where we had lunch (grilled cheese sandwiches this time). We saw
about 7 or 8 deer and one was a very young one. Unfortunately, when we saw the
young one it had started to pour rain and we didn’t get a photo of it. Later I
saw the prettiest rainbow. It wasn't that it was big or made a huge arc, but it
had all the layers of colors. (they didn’t show up that will in the photos, but
it was nice to actually see the violet.
we saw deer as we were exiting the park
It seems that National Parks no
longer will provide trash cans. I thought it was weird when we were at the
Tubman Museum and a lady came in after finishing her lunch and wanted to throw
away the container and she was told that they were trash free. The lady asked
what she was supposed to do with it and was curtly told she should take it back
on the bus with her. When we visited Harpers Ferry, it clearly stated on their
website that they have joined the “trash free” ruling that went into effect in
2019. It stated that picnickers, hikers etc. should use reusable plastic and
take everything out of the park with them when they go. Another suggestion was
to order your ice cream in an edible cone instead of using a cup. I’m curious
what people do with their baggies of poop since dogs are allowed in the parks.
It seems to me that people will tire of carrying around their trash and just
toss it anywhere or it will become the problem of the closest gas station or fast food’s
problem to take on more trash since people will throw it away somewhere when
vacationing on the road. When day hiking, we of course carry out any trash that
we had from food or drink. But, nowhere in the park to toss any trash?
It was late when we got home, and we
pretty much just went to bed.
Tomorrow, we are visiting Harpers
Ferry in West Virginia. If there is time, we will visit Manassas Battlefield
and later catch some fireworks.
aMAZING PANORAMIC VIEWS! WOW! Betty
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