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Apr. 18th, 2005
Hiking in Shenandoah National Park 17iv05
Apr. 18th, 2005 08:06 pmYesterday, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nothingoth, aleiphein, and eilonwy joined explodingcat and myself on our weekly outing to the mountains.
On the way to pick upeilonwy, explodingcat spotted a bear in a tree off of US250. Naturally, I made a quick u-turn so that we could all see it and so that nothingoth could take pictures. Very cool.
Anyhow, we absconded with Jenna and headed up 340 to US33 and Swift Run Gap. Our trail for the day was the Bearfence Mountain, which we hiked withnothingoth last year
Anyhow, we spotted one blooming bloodroot on the trail, but it was otherwise flower-free. We stopped off at the first viewpoint and enjoyed what it had to offer After getting thoroughly chilled from the (warm, but brisk) wind, we headed back to the trail for the infamous rock scramble.
The view from the top was outstanding--very little haze since it's still early in the year. We could see pretty darn far! The top of Bearfence provides of the few 360° views in the whole park.
Chad and Jenna, at different point of the same trail. Tom, Chad, and Christen descending--some more quickly than others. Yep, still more to climb.
After we finished Bearfence, we realized it was still early and we wanted more. So we headed off toward Big Meadows. We stopped at the wayside so the boys could buy MEAT. I bought a wildflower guide to the blueridge mountains at the museum--it will be perfect until I can find my Audubon guide.
Anyhow, we decided to hike Dark Hollow Falls. It was an easy hike down and a perilous and tiring trek back up, of course, but well worth it. I saw coltsfoot, cutleaf toothwort, liverwort (hepatica), and leaves for many things which aren't yet flowering (violets, canada violet, columbine, rue, lousewort, ginger). The trillium and all the rest should be up in a few weeks. We stopped to rest on the way up, favoring the big dripping rock, of course.
We took the long way home, staying on the drive and watching the sun set as we drove.
nothingoth, aleiphein, and eilonwy joined explodingcat and myself on our weekly outing to the mountains.On the way to pick up
eilonwy, explodingcat spotted a bear in a tree off of US250. Naturally, I made a quick u-turn so that we could all see it and so that nothingoth could take pictures. Very cool.Anyhow, we absconded with Jenna and headed up 340 to US33 and Swift Run Gap. Our trail for the day was the Bearfence Mountain, which we hiked with
nothingoth last yearAnyhow, we spotted one blooming bloodroot on the trail, but it was otherwise flower-free. We stopped off at the first viewpoint and enjoyed what it had to offer After getting thoroughly chilled from the (warm, but brisk) wind, we headed back to the trail for the infamous rock scramble.
The view from the top was outstanding--very little haze since it's still early in the year. We could see pretty darn far! The top of Bearfence provides of the few 360° views in the whole park.
Chad and Jenna, at different point of the same trail. Tom, Chad, and Christen descending--some more quickly than others. Yep, still more to climb.
After we finished Bearfence, we realized it was still early and we wanted more. So we headed off toward Big Meadows. We stopped at the wayside so the boys could buy MEAT. I bought a wildflower guide to the blueridge mountains at the museum--it will be perfect until I can find my Audubon guide.
Anyhow, we decided to hike Dark Hollow Falls. It was an easy hike down and a perilous and tiring trek back up, of course, but well worth it. I saw coltsfoot, cutleaf toothwort, liverwort (hepatica), and leaves for many things which aren't yet flowering (violets, canada violet, columbine, rue, lousewort, ginger). The trillium and all the rest should be up in a few weeks. We stopped to rest on the way up, favoring the big dripping rock, of course.
We took the long way home, staying on the drive and watching the sun set as we drove.
For those who have asked . . . yes, the girl in my userpics is me. If you ever have questions about one of my userpics, feel free to ask in my journal. If you ask in other journals, I'm liable to tell you that the picture is of the girl I keep in the basement.
