After a week of eating and drinking our way through Kentucky, we were excited to head to Virginia to do some hiking and exploring in Shenandoah National Park! Don and I took a week off from work…our first week off in about a year and we definitely made the most of it!
We are staying in Staunton’s historic district. It has an adorable downtown with shops and restaurants, a farmers market, and of course a brewery that we frequented. We’re actually staying in an apartment above a coffee shop for our 3-week stay.
It had been a while since our last hike, so on our first day in Staunton we decided to ease into it with a 3 mile mostly-flat trail in George Washington national forest. A ways into the trail, we crossed paths with some hikers that told us there was a black bear up ahead, so we turned back around since we were not exactly feeling up for a black bear encounter.
Instead, at the same trailhead we found a different 2.5 mile trail heading in another direction to Humpback Rocks. Little did we know the hike was a straight, rocky, incline for 1300 feet (almost the height of the Sears tower…here’s a chart for reference).
So much for easing into it, but the views at the end were absolutely worth it! Even though it kicked my ass and I complained a lot the whole way up.
On Tuesday, we headed to Crabtree Falls, a 3.5 mile hike recommended by a few other hikers we met on the trail the day before. It was a pretty little trail following the incline of a waterfall most of the way. Not very difficult or particularly scenic, but a good way to get us back into the swing of things! As a reward for surviving, we stopped for ice cream afterwards and I had the best off-brand blizzard ever.
We took a day off of hiking on Wednesday to visit a nearby lake with a sandy beach (and a little island in the middle!). We brought a cooler full of snacks and our books, and laid in the sun for a few hours with views of mountains on all sides. It felt like a hidden gem! After the beach, we headed to Veritas winery, where we each tried 4 different wines on their large, very southern-looking, back deck overlooking mountains and their vineyard. A great end to an amazing day. We are loving our week off so far, and our stay in Stanton!
