Being so close to Shenandoah National Park during our end of summer vacation, most days we would go into the park for a short (around 2 miles) hike. Since our kids think they are part mountain goat and like climbing around on rocks, when we read about a hike called the Bearfence Rock Scramble, that sounded like it was up their alley. It was a little challenging to help Derek up some of the boulders we had to climb, especially since it was a little wet which made the rocks slippery, but I really enjoyed it. The site we initially looked at rated this hike as 'moderate', which is why we chose it. It was really not safe for Derek though. After the fact, we saw that other sites rated this hike as 'strenuous', which it was. In this next picture, you can see the blue mark indicating the girls are on the right path. With effort they could get up spots like this by themselves, but Derek could not.
Much of the scramble part of the hike was over and between jagged rock outcroppings like this.
We climbed up boulder after boulder on the trail.
There were a couple of nice viewpoints that were good to sit, rest, eat a snack, and enjoy the view. This viewpoint is on the actual main trail of Bearfence Rock Scramble. The drop on the side was steep and dangerous.
On our next hike, we hiked along a stream to see the Dark Hollow Falls. The stream was very peaceful and this trail seemed to be very popular. Unlike Bearfence Scramble, it was safe for the kids to run ahead.
The falls were very pretty and peaceful.
We took a break from Shenandoah one day and made the short drive to Charlottesville, Virginia to tour Thomas Jefferson's plantation Monticello. This picture was taken inside the dining room.
The reconstructed slave quarters outside the mansion demonstrate the different living conditions between the slaves and their masters.
The gardens outside were beautiful with all the flowers and butterflies.
It was nicer to be outside since we could spread out away from other people and as long as we were distant from others, take off our masks. They also provided a scavenger hunt type activity that gave us something to focus on as we explored the grounds.
Our next Shenandoah hike we scaled Hawksbill Mountain, the tallest summit in the park. The kids found a few boulders to climb and play on.
It was a beautiful clear day when we got to the summit and we could see mountain ranges that were 70-100 miles away.
It was a little nerve wracking when the kids wandered around on the rocks along the cliff face of the summit.
One of the highlights for the kids were the large puddles in holes along the rocks that were populated with tadpoles. They spent a long time catching tadpoles.
Here's Lydia with one of her tadpoles as the wind whipped her hair.
At the very summit, there is a nice platform overlook that made for some good pictures.
The kids continued trying to catch tadpoles while Tanja and I were on the platform.
The last hike we took in Shenandoah National Park was climbing Stony Man Mountain, a fairly easy trail that led to the second highest point in the park. Derek had a lot of fun running up the trail and he kept picking up sticks to use as magic wands shouting spells and curses from Harry Potter. The other hikers we met thought he was pretty funny.
Even though the trail was rated easy, we still found a few rocks to climb on.
When we got to the summit, it was so foggy we couldn't see anything off the edge of the mountain which honestly was a cool effect. Here are some of the pictures we took from the edge of the void.
Slowly the fog began to lift and blow away which created a different cool effect.
I think it is really cool being above the clouds. Supposedly there are peregrine falcons that nest along these cliffs. While initially I thought for sure we saw some, in retrospect, I am not as sure - they might have been other species of hawks or other birds.
This mountaintop had tadpoles swimming in the puddles too.
This picture may look like three tired kids drinking Gatorade after a strenuous hike. Looks can be deceiving - they hurried to finish their Gatorade so they could try and catch tadpoles in the bottles (and succeeded).
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