Day 6 - Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Day 6

Doyles River Falls and Jones Run Hike

Shenandoah National Park, VA

Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Today we would be making our way from our cabin in Standardsville, VA to our next accommodations in Waynesboro, VA.  I regretted not packing up the truck the night before, because it was pouring down rain when we got up and ready to hit the road.

The rain continued as we made our way to the Skyline Drive for our journey south.  We still managed to stop at several overlooks for a few quick photos.

View from the Skyline Drive

I could not check the radar on my I-Phone because this part of the Skyline Drive is a Cell Phone Service Dead Zone.  Despite the rain, I still wanted to go hiking, and maybe the first good rain of the week would help the waterflow for the waterfalls I would be checking out on my hike.

Amy wanted no part of hiking in the rain, so she dropped me off at the Doyles River Trailhead with plans of picking me up a few hours later at the Jones Run Trailhead a couple of miles down the road.

It was still raining pretty good for about the first mile along the Doyles River Trail.  I think I saw more Deer during this short section of trail than I have ever seen on one hike.  However, due to the rain, my camera bag was packed inside a plastic bag inside my pack and therefore I did not take any photos.

Fortunately, by the time I arrived at the base of Upper Doyles River Falls the rain had stopped and all I had to deal with was the water drops from the trees.

The good news is that the rain definitely helped out the waterflow!  Upper Doyles River Falls turned out to be a real nice waterfall!

Upper Doyles River Falls

Me at Upper Doyles River Falls

A short distance later the trail passes by the top of Lower Doyles River Falls.  I looked around for a safe way to scramble down to the base but didn't find one.  I am glad I didn't make effort because the trail actually switchbacks down a short distance later and takes you right to the base of Lower Doyles River Fals without any effort at all!

Lower Doyes River Falls

Me at Lower Doyles River Falls

The trail continues on and eventually leaves the Doyles River to head upstream along Jones Run.

As I was hiking along Jones Run I spotted movement in the creek and quickly realized it was a black bear.  This is the first time ever in the wild that I spotted a bear at close distance before it spotted me.  I slowly backtracked a short ways to a spot where I had a clearer view.

It was still overcast and rather dark in this section of the forest, so I had to remove the polarizing filter, crank up the ISO, and adjust the aperture to get a fast enough shutter speed.  Just as I had my shot lined up, the bear looked up and directly at me.  It froze just long enough for me to get one single shot off before it darted away into the forest on the opposite side of the creek.  Fortunately that one shot turned out to be the best shot I have ever gotten of a bear in the wild!

Black Bear

Seeing a bear in its natural habitat at close range really does get heart racing!

I continued upstream paying close attention to my surroundings when soon after the bear sighting I arrived at the base of Jones Run Falls.  Kevin Adam's gives this one a higher rating than both the Falls on Doyles River, but I wasn't overly impressed.  However, it was nice enough to stop and take a few quick shots.

Jones Run Falls

The hike out was a pretty good climb with about 1,500 feet of elevation change.  I took a quick stop to try and photograph some Deer in the forest, but didn't really get much in the way of Deer photos.

Deer

I ended up seeing about (40) Deer, One Bear, and Zero other humans on this hike!  Between the earlier rain, 100% humidity, and fairly steep climb I was soaking wet by the time I made it to the Jones Run Trailhead to meet Amy.  She handed me a pile of fresh clothes and made me change before allowing me back into the truck!

Good thing my truck is there!

We continued our drive along the Skyline Drive stopping at a few more overlooks.

Amy at one of the Skyline Drive Overlooks

View from the Skyline Drive

Eventually we made it to the end of Shenandoah National Park where the Skyline Drive officially turns into Mile Marker Zero of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesboro, VA.

It was too early in the day to check into our Bed and Breakfast, so we continued a few miles along the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Humpback Rocks Visitors center at around Mile Marker #5.  Here we decided to check out the short Mountain Farm Trail which takes you through a 120 year old Mountain Farm.

Old Farm House

Chicken on the Farm

Many aspects of this farm reminded Amy of how her Grandparents and Great Grandparents used to live.

After a nice visit to the farm we made our way back to Waynesboro, VA to check into the Belle Hearth Bed and Breakfast.

The Belle Hearth Bed and Breakfast

Waynesboro is a nice little town.  Our Bed and Breakfast was just a few blocks from Downtown Main Street so we decided to walk to dinner.  We had a great meal at the Green Leaf Grill which turned out to be our favorite restaurant stop of our trip.

There is a good bit of "Old Money" in Waynesboro and that became even more obvious to us as we passed by a unique car dealership which specializes in exotic and classic German Automobiles.  Even though we have no intentions of dropping a hundred grand on a Porsche, it didn't stop us from walking through the museum-like showroom!

The Porsche's are nice, but I am partial to the old Bug!

 I didn't know Porsche made Tractors

Amy by a Classic Porsche

The complete set of photos from Day 6 is posted here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/583399675IRWrck

Day 5 - Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Day 5

Cedar Run - White Oak Canyon Loop

Shenandoah National Park, VA

Wednesday, September 5th, 2012

One of the reasons why we decided to visit Shenandoah is that I saw a photo in the April 2012 edition of Popular Photography Magazine and I immediately knew I wanted to visit that spot someday.  That photo was of Whiteoak Canyon Falls.

Therefore, Whiteoak Canyon was on my must do list of hikes.  Further research showed that there would be a total of six major waterfalls in Whiteoak Canyon and I wanted to see them all!  A 9-mile loop hike would take me to those six, plus several others along the Cedar Run Trail.

This would also be the most difficult hike of the trip with over 2000 feet of elevation change.  This would definitely not be an Amy approved hike, but she was more than happy to stay behind at our cabin with her Kindle loaded with books!

I got a nice early start in hopes of catching a sunrise before the hike, but the mountain was all fogged in.  The fog was like pea soup making the drive much longer than I was anticipating as I did not feel comfortable driving more than 20mph.  There were many Deer out an about alongside and on the road and I definitely would have hit one if I was going much faster!  I came pretty close even at slow speed!

Just as I was about to give up on sunrise, there was a break in the clouds shortly before I arrived at the trailhead.  It was actually about 30 minutes after sunrise, but I still managed to get a few good shots.

Sunrise along the Skyline Drive

I started my hike on the Cedar Run Trail which descends about 2,200 feet over the course of about 4 miles.  Cedar Run Creek was almost completely dry, but as I continued my descent it did gain a little bit of water.  Unfortunately not enough to really make the waterfalls on Cedar Run photo worthy.

Waterfalls along Cedar Run

My only hope was that Whiteoak Run would be a larger creek with more water or else this would end up being a total dissappointment.  I took a connecting trail to meet up with the Whiteoak Canyon Trail and was happy to see a little bit more water in this creek.

As I was hiking along the creek, I heard a loud growl and turned around to see a large black bear about 50-feet away scampering out of the creek and into the brush.  I think I scared him more than he scared me.  The bear was out of view before I had a chance to pull out my camera, but it was still exciting to see it!

Soon after I arrived at the base of Lower Whiteoak Falls (aka Whiteoak Falls #6) where I took a little photography break.

Lower Whiteoak Falls (Whiteoak Falls #6)

According to my Kevin Adam's "Waterfalls of Virginia and West Virginia" guide book, the next two waterfalls up the creek would require a bit of off trail exploring to get to.  It was a steep climb, but not too difficult to make my way to the base of Whiteoak Falls #5.

Whiteoak Falls #5

I couldn't remember which side of the creek Kevin recommended to get to the next waterfall, but I chose the left side.  Crossing the creek was not an issue due to the low flow, but would probably not be a good idea with high water.

Again it was steep but fairly easy to get to the base of Whiteoak Falls #4

Me at Whiteoak Falls #4

Whiteoak Falls #4

After a nice photo break, I backtracked and returned to the trail at the base of the Lower Falls to continue my hike upstream.

The trail leaves the creek for a while, so if you stick to the trail you would definitely miss waterfalls #4 and #5.  It returns to the creek upstream from those falls and soon arrives at Whiteoak Falls #3 which turned out to be my least favorite of the bunch.

Whiteoak Falls #3

Continuing on the trail I soon arrived at Whiteoak Falls #2

Whiteoak Falls #2

Continuing on, I actually arrived all the way at the upper overlook for Upper Whiteoak Falls (aka Whiteoak Falls #1) before I realized I missed the side trail to the base, so I had to backtrack downhill and repeat that climb later.  But it was worth it as I would not have wanted to miss the base of the Upper Whiteoak Falls.

Upper Whiteoak Falls (Whiteoak Falls #1)

The Whiteoak Canyon trail continues a good ways upstream, but since there are no more major waterfalls, I took the Whiteoak Fire Road in order to complete my loop back at the Cedar Run Trailhead.

This was a great hike, but the low waterflow was a bit dissappointing.  I would definitely like to do this hike again someday during much higher water!

The complete set of Photos from Day 5 is posted here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/583395992JoaLdG

Day 4c - Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Day 4 - Part 3

Big Meadows, our next Cabin, and South River Falls

Shenandoah National Park, VA

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

After my hike to Dark Hollow Falls, Amy and I continued our drive on the Skyline Drive to our next stop at Big Meadows.  This is one of the few spots in Shenandoah where you can find a wide open Canopy which offered an interesting change.

Amy at Big Meadows

Big Meadows

After a quick stop at Big Meadows, we continued on to the Swift Run Gap entrance to Skyline Drive.  Our next cabin was located about halfway between there and Standardsville, VA.

Our cabin was a recently restored 100+ year old home which offered a nice blend of old.  Here are a few shots:

Old Barn alongside the driveway to our cabin

 Amy and Me at our Cabin

After an early dinner at our cabin, I decided to head back into Shenandoah for one more hike.  I figured I had just enough daylight left for the 5-mile South River Falls Loop Hike.

The South River Falls Trailhead

The first part of the trail descends about 800-feet of elevation to the South River Falls overlook.

South River Falls from the Overlook

The view from the overlook is less than impressive, so I decided to continue on to the base.  The additional 400-feet of elevation descent down to the base proved much easier than I was expecting thanks to a long sweeping switchback.

The view from the base was much more rewarding than the overlook, but again this one could have used a good bit more waterflow!

At the base of South River Falls

South River Falls

The 1200 feet of elevation climb back out was a great end of day workout and a quick rain shower helped cool things off a bit during the climb up.


There were quite a few people around the trailhead picnic area when I started my hike, but at the end I was the only human left in the picnic area.  However, there were at least a dozen Deer wandering about.  It was approaching dusk, and I don't like to use a flash with wildlife.  So even with a high ISO setting, most of my Deer shots turned out blurry, but here are a couple that turned out OK.

The complete set of photos from Day 4 are posted here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/583380027TnZthA

Coming Up
Day 5 - The Waterfalls of White Oak Canyon

Day 4b - Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Day 4 - Part 2

Rose River Falls and Dark Hollow Falls

Shenandoah National Park, VA

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

Me at Dark Hollow Falls

The next hike I planned was the Rose River Falls / Dark Hollow Falls Loop.  Amy decided she would sit this one out.  She was more than happy to wait in the truck with one of the (15) books she brought along for the week.

This also allowed me to do the hike as a shuttle and avoid what looked to be a rather boring section of the loop along a Forest Service Road.  I would start the hike at the Rose River Trailhead and end up meeting Amy at the Dark Hollow Falls Trailhead a couple of miles up the road.

Rose River Falls Trailhead

The Rose River Falls Trail descends about 800 feet over the first 2 miles before arriving at the rose river which barely had any water.  A short distance later I arrived at the base of Rose River Falls.  This would probably be a really pretty waterfall if it had a good bit more water.  But unfortunately, like most of the waterfalls I would see on this trip, I was a bit disappointed with the lack of waterflow.

Rose River Falls

There looked to be another drop a short distance downstream, but I saw no easy way to get down to the base.  With the lack of water, and the fact that I was hiking solo it just didn't seem worth the effort, so I decided to skip it and continue on to Dark Hollow Falls.

Before arriving at the main drop of Dark Hollow Falls, I stopped briefly to check out and photograph a few smaller drops downstream.

Cascades Downstream from Dark Hollow Falls

Cascades Downstream from Dark Hollow Falls

Eventually, I made my way to Dark Hollow Falls, which despite less than ideal waterfall was still a very nice waterfall.  I took a nice break to photograph this one from several different angles.

Dark Hollow Falls

Dark Hollow Falls

The climb out was very steep and Amy made a wise choice to sit this hike out.  She really does not like hikes with very much elevation gain!

Additional Photos from this hike are posted here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/583380027TnZthA?start=31

Coming Up
Day 4 - Part 3
Our next cabin and my late afternoon hike to South River Falls

Day 4a - Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Shenandoah National Park Vacation

Day 4 - Part 1

Skyline Drive and Stony Man Mountain Hike

Shenandoah National Park, VA

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

This morning we said goodbye to our first cabin in Luray, VA and hit the road towards our next accommodations in Standardsville, VA.  The Skyline Drive runs 105 miles through the center of the entire length of Shenandoah National Park.  We would drive about 40 miles of it today.

There were some fantastic cloud formations giving us good reason to stop at several of the overlooks.

View from the Skyline Drive

I must have said something funny!

View from the Skyline Drive

View from the Skyline Drive

I had also planned a few hikes along the way.  The first being Stony Man Mountain.

Amy at the Stony Man Trailhead

The mile long trail gains about 400 feet of elevation to the summit of Stony Man Mountain which offers some excellent views.

View from Stony Man Mountain

Me climbing up the rocks

 Amy Climbing up the Rocks

Jack and Amy at the Stony Man Summit

After a nice visit to the Stony Man Summit we decided to extend the hike a little and took a short section of the Appalachian Trail over to Little Stony Man Cliffs.  While slightly lower in elevation than the Summit of Stony Man Mountain, Little Stony Man Cliffs also offered up some nice views!

Bird in Flight - From Little Stony Man Cliffs

Little Stony Man Cliffs

We returned back the way we came for a total hike of about 3.5 miles, and continued our drive south along the Skyline Drive.

Additional Photos from Day 4 are posted here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/583380027TnZthA

Next up:
Day 4 - Part 2
Rose River Falls and Dark Hollow Falls