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SNP north section.
Apr. 3rd, 2005 11:54 pmI've only uploaded two pictures from today. They're here.
We set out today thinking we'd hike South River Falls. We got a late start, so we thought about hitting Lewis Falls. We got out of the car and remembered that the Big Meadows area is always frigid. We got back in the car and headed north. We ended up hiking out to Betty's rock (600 yards, not really a hike), where the window kept trying to impale us on twisted mountain laurels. We wandered back to the parking lot, where I discovered I could fall into the wind and stay upright. I spent a lot of time attempting to fall face first into the wind, mostly just getting blown too far *back*.
We drove north some more and ended up hiking on the AT and the Dickey Ridge trail. We clambered over Windham Rocks--large Catoctin basalt formation boulders. . . they're 40-50 feet high and well-weathered. We climbed all over them and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
explodingcat asked me what the hell I was doing more than once. I have a tendency to shimmy up crevices rapidly, looking down on him from above. We enjoyed the view and the climbing, then headed back to the trail junction, where we decided it was time to hike down to a spring. The spring shows some signs of being near an old homestead. We'll have to explore it some more later in the season. I saw lots of shoots for wildflowers--columbine, rue, ginger, bluets, violets, and lots more I can't recognize when they're still tiny. In a few weeks, there should be lots of flowers there.
We drove south along the parkway from there, retracing our earlier drive. There was snow on a couple of the mountains--a couple inches or so, probably from last night. Lots of ice, of course, especially on faces exposed to the wind. With all the rain, all the springs and gullies are full of water. We stopped at the overlooks and read the signs, then headed down the mountain at Thorton Gap, taking US 211 and US 340 through the valley, back and forth over the bends of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. We jumped on I-64 in Waynesboro and hit Kroger for gas and potatoes. It was a good day.
The wind is still roaring in my ears.
We set out today thinking we'd hike South River Falls. We got a late start, so we thought about hitting Lewis Falls. We got out of the car and remembered that the Big Meadows area is always frigid. We got back in the car and headed north. We ended up hiking out to Betty's rock (600 yards, not really a hike), where the window kept trying to impale us on twisted mountain laurels. We wandered back to the parking lot, where I discovered I could fall into the wind and stay upright. I spent a lot of time attempting to fall face first into the wind, mostly just getting blown too far *back*.
We drove north some more and ended up hiking on the AT and the Dickey Ridge trail. We clambered over Windham Rocks--large Catoctin basalt formation boulders. . . they're 40-50 feet high and well-weathered. We climbed all over them and
explodingcat asked me what the hell I was doing more than once. I have a tendency to shimmy up crevices rapidly, looking down on him from above. We enjoyed the view and the climbing, then headed back to the trail junction, where we decided it was time to hike down to a spring. The spring shows some signs of being near an old homestead. We'll have to explore it some more later in the season. I saw lots of shoots for wildflowers--columbine, rue, ginger, bluets, violets, and lots more I can't recognize when they're still tiny. In a few weeks, there should be lots of flowers there.We drove south along the parkway from there, retracing our earlier drive. There was snow on a couple of the mountains--a couple inches or so, probably from last night. Lots of ice, of course, especially on faces exposed to the wind. With all the rain, all the springs and gullies are full of water. We stopped at the overlooks and read the signs, then headed down the mountain at Thorton Gap, taking US 211 and US 340 through the valley, back and forth over the bends of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. We jumped on I-64 in Waynesboro and hit Kroger for gas and potatoes. It was a good day.
The wind is still roaring in my ears.
