One of the things we like
about Shenandoah National Park is the abundance of
diverse hikes where Bill can find a challenging hike and Barbara can find a
nearby easy to moderate one. So with another beautiful day, we had his and her
hikes.
BARBARA’S HIKE
Barbara combined two hikes
in one: Stony Man Summit and Little Stony Man Cliffs. Together it made about a
3-mile hike.
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view from Stony Man
|
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| view of Skyline Drive from Stony Man |
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view from Little Stony Man
Cliffs
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She was excited to spot
these yellow ladyslippers.
BILL’S HIKE
In the meantime Bill took
the very strenuous 7.3-mile Whiteoak and Cedar Run loop.
Whiteoak canyon is a
beautiful series of waterfalls and cascades, the tallest being 86’. The trail
stayed close to the stream and there were many picturesque views not far off
the trail.
Whiteoak canyon has many
tributary streams, but perhaps the most unique was a misting waterfall down the
side of the canyon.
The Cedar Run link trail and
main trail were rougher and had fewer hikers. Bill saw a black bear on the link
trail, who scooted away as he approached. There were three stream crossings.
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| See the bridge? Me neither. :-) |
Another crossing had a
fallen tree he used to walk across, until he saw a black snake. It was an easy
decision to back up and find an alternative route.
The stream crossing near Lower Cedar falls was an easy rock hop and picturesque.
But most of the southern
section of the trail was not near the stream and it was difficult to get good
pictures. On one off-trail picture excursion, Bill fell into the stream.
The northern section of the
Cedar Run trail was pretty and close to the cascading stream, but Bill was late
for his rendezvous with Barbara, so he scampered back without taking pictures.
SUNSET
And we capped off our day
with another sunset. Each change in weather, lighting and angle paints a
different picture.
Campground: Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park
