From Sarah’s house in Warrenton, it was a straight shot on a Virginia state highway to get to Shenandoah National Park. TomTom told us that our route didnh’t fit our specifications because of an unavoidable toll, but it turned out that the toll was the Skyline Drive park fee, which was covered by our National Parks pass. As we passed the manned toll booth the ranger double checked that our vehicle would fit through the 12’8” tunnel, and they we were on our way to four nights in the park.
You enter the park before you even get to Skyline Drive, and you’ve already climbed a thousand feet or so before you get to the Skyline Drive Park entrance.
We had checked, and double checked, and triple checked that we would fit through the tunnel…but we still gulped and went slowly.
But yes, we fit. Comfortably, even.
We arrived at the Big Meadows Campground, which is the only campground in the park open during the off season. Even with being the only open campground, it was only sparsely occupied, and the very nice ranger at the office talked to us and not only made a spot on suggestion of where we should park, but also suggested some good hikes, both for that afternoon and for the following days.
The afternoon hike suggestion was for the Lewis Falls Loop, which begins and ends just behind the campground.
Deer are constantly wandering through the campground, and they aren’t afraid of people or dogs.
We reached the overlook near the campground just in time for sunset. We definitely could not have planned that well but we got lucky.
The next day we took a full day hike on the Rose River Circuit, again at the ranger’s suggestion. It was an 8+ mile hike with over 1,700 feet of elevation gain. And, obviously, some beautiful views.
We came back to our campsite from the hike and found a van with very loud and vehement Bible slogans all over it parked in the campsite directly across from us. We both thought something along the lines of “Shit, at best he’ll pray loudly, and at worst he’ll try to make us repent.” We rounded the front of our truck and saw this deer standing right in the corner of our campsite just off the back of our truck. The dogs started barking, and she just looked at them, and didn’t appear frightened or worried. Eventually the dogs worked themselves into a true frenzy, and she trotted off. The man in the Jesus van backed out of the campsite and went elsewhere. I firmly believe she was a Forest Spirit saving us from the Bible Thumper.
The next day we took another long hike, this time on the Cedar Run-White Oak Circuit, which had been recommended to us by a hiker we met on the trail and talked to the day before. This hike was over 8.5 miles, with more than 2,500 feet of elevation gain.
The loop follows one river down the mountain and another back up, so the entire hike is one waterfall after the next.
The last full day we were there was colder and windier than the previous two days, which were already chilly, and after two long and strenuous hikes, we decided to take a “short” five mile hike on a park road. The road passed through the Big Meadow and into some woods, and while we didn’t get the spectacular views of the previous two days’ hikes, it was pleasant and not too cold.
Our intention for our last morning before pulling out to head to Richmond had been to go to a trailhead south of Big Meadows and do a half day hike. However, Tropical Storm Nicole foiled that plan as we woke up to driving rain and wind. She brought slightly warmer temperatures, but not warm enough to entice us to walk in the pouring rain. So, we packed up and headed south on Skyline Drive to pick up state route 33 which would take us all the way into Richmond.