Shanandoah National Park hikes, adventures, food!

We had a most lovely trip through Virginia to Washington, DC the week before Easter, 2024. On the way we visited the Shanandoah River State Park and enjoyed the Blue Bells in full bloom. Later that day we had a wonderful time in Front Royal, VA. We headed on into Washington, DC the next day an enjoyed the Cherry Blossom trees showing their flowery finest topping off the day with Amazing Creole Food in a cozy Jazzy Club on a rainy night. We spent a day at the National Arboreum, Wow and enjoyed a different Jazz venue with Italian food. The grand finale for the trip was the excursion through Shanandoah National Park on the way home.

This National Park is set up much like Glacier National Park and Grand Canyon National Park where the main activity is the Park road itself. With many view points the views from the road are a trip unto itself. Shanandoah National Park can be experienced without any hiking at all with stunning views around every bend. However, that is not how I do things. Since most of the trails are relatively short one to three miles. I decided to do as many as I could in one day. We arrived at the park around 10 or 11 and set out to see what it was all about.

Our fist stop was Hawksbill Summit.

Deciding to do this park all in one day on this trip was out of concern for the weather. A big rain storm was due the next day. It was obviously going to be a doozy considering how windy it was the entire day. I makes for some funny pictures though. I was going to make the best of it inspite of the windy weather. Next stop, Bear Fence Peak. This peak is not for the faint of heart. It is a short trail but don’t let that fool you. It is a rock scramble on slanted and rugged formations. The wind made it even more treacherous and a bit scary. At one point I thought I might launch like a bird right over the valley.

That was exciting. Maybe too exciting. Let’s head for a waterfall and some trickling streams in a valley and get out of all this wind.

https://youtu.be/jWrArK9NZEc

With a nice valley hike to a waterfall we were ready to hit another peak. On we went to the highest peak in the park, Stoney Man Summit.

I didn’t stay long on this peak to relish in the view. I feared being launched like a kite. Plus, being the highest peak it was the most crowded. These folks were on a mission and I was not going to get in their way. This was the highest and the last summit of this vacation. I was ready for the hot chocolate but I still had the rest of the scenic drive and a visitor center to see.

One of my favorite things is stopping at the park information and talking to the rangers. They always have a wealth of information. This time we learned about a waterfall that was not on the main map or the internet. As it turns out it is a popular waterfall for locals to hike to from their homes at the bottom of the mountain. We never learned the name of the water fall and it was not obvious to find it.

I had a nice place to sit and relax watching the water fall eloquently down the slope.

This was our last hike and it did not disappoint. On the way up the mountain back to the care we encountered a young woman struggling to make it up the hill. Her man (all too common) had left her and was waiting at the top. She seemed very discouraged. I told her the secret to making it up the hill. She looked at me with the most expectant eyes I will never forget. I told her what I do. Gather all your selves together and have them cheer on your body. You can do it and let them all encourage you and cheer you all the way up the hill. She looked at me with complete awe and smiled, nodded and took her first step up the hill with an entirely different point of view. This was the ideal way to end an amazing adventure!

Now we had the drive back to Front Royal to enjoy and dinner out on the town.

The best way to end a perfect day of hiking. A well earned beer and burger from Vibrissa Beer Restaurant and Brewery in historic downtown Front Royal, Virginia. They make amazing dark beer! I loved it. The burger fries and chicken wings were awesome too. Wow life it good!