Getting a Little "Boulder" on Old Rag

While Virginia may lack the large mountains of the West, it makes up for that with the dense, tree-covered hills of the Shenandoahs and my favorite mountain destination thus far: Old Rag. Labor Day weekend I joined some friends on a camping, hiking, and bouldering adventure in Shenandoah National Park. After work Friday I headed down with some friends and on the way caught a milkshake at Checkers for old time's sake. (Curtis is a fellow Floridian and was entirely supportive of picking up the value shakes and fries, even after we'd already stopped for dinner somewhere else!)

Me, Curtis Seare, and Tim Turpin enjoying Checkers value milkshakes!

That evening we got things set up and went to bed. Well, I actually stayed up talking and laughing with Jen Pike for quite a while, but it was so much fun! Saturday morning we got up and drove over to Old Rag. We had camped about 30 minutes away from the trail head. We drove through a kind of rural community and in our car we were discussing what it would be like to live in a "front porch" society again. Everyone here had a porch with chairs, and many were actually outside using them! It seemed like the kind of place where people know their neighbors and wave as they go by.

The crew part way up Old Rag

It took a little creative climbing to get up on top of this boulder wedged over the staircase.

The hike was beautiful, and then fog descended and settled all around us. I'm sure some of the views would have been incredible had we been able to see more than 10 feet out! Luckily, as the day progressed the fog burned off somewhat and by the time we were at the top we had a lovely view of the valley. I have to say, this is probably my most favorite hike I've ever done. It was so much fun! The terrain was really cool. It's about a nine mile loop and the first few miles are about like any hike it the mountains, but the last mile or so to the top and a little after that, were so cool! There was a path, but not a dirt path by any means. We were climbing boulders all the way to the top. This section of the trail is called the scramble, and I have to say it was aptly named.

Here's a glimpse of what hiking "the scramble" was like.

Emma Ransom, Steve Meilstrup, and me. Behind us is "the scramble" we just hiked!

 We returned to camp late in the afternoon and started prepping dinner. We were so hungry, so we ate as things finished up cooking, with the ribs last around 9 or 9:30. We had a great time around the campfire, (although next time I go camping, I am going to invest in a camp chair so I can actually SIT around the fire!) talking and making s'mores and banana boats.  Emma and I learned it's not the best to put m&m's in a banana boat. It tastes fine, but it creates a grayish goo that doesn't look very appetizing. This was a great weekend and probably my favorite adventure I've had in Virginia thus far!