Making up for last weekend's night descent of Whiteoak Canyon, this hike would start, in daylight, going up Whiteoak Canyon. After many weeks dry, it now has water. Steve picked me up at 6am, and we were on the Whiteoak Canyon Trail in Berry Hollow at 8:15am. Only one other car there. At 48 degrees, not too cold, but the wind had quite a bite to it, and it would only get windier on the climb to ridge line.
Not ten minutes in, a rustling off to the right, surely a deer, turned out to be a young bear. It was running away and was quickly out of sight. A bear sighting early in the hike, and maybe this will be the "bear nirvana" hike... nope, that was the only one. In a race with the sun to the lower falls, we both arrived at the same time. I'm always looking for a dark or shaded waterfall scene to get long exposure shots. With the help of a few clouds, it worked out right well. It was mostly sunny in the canyon, but somewhat gloomy fast moving clouds were ahead on ridge line, though cloud base looked to be higher than anything in the Park. It would be a shame to have, say, Hawksbill, be above the clouds, in October, and not be there to see it (to see what that looks like, check out my SNPc20061008 album). Not often having Whiteoak falls exclusively, I took a little extra time to explore the lower and middle falls. Just how long could we have this canyon to ourselves? I bet that we'd meet hikers coming down from the Drive before reaching the upper falls... nope! We owned the upper falls too. Cool! The first hikers were encountered beyond the bridge crossing past the upper falls. First a few, then a group of perhaps 30. We had hit Whiteoak at a good time.
We'd left the best color behind before reaching the Limberlost Trail junction. Limberlost and Crescent Rock trails would get us to ridge line at Crescent Rock Overlook. Out on Crescent Rock, the wind was strong enough to make standing difficult. Gusts were easily 50 mph. It was mostly sunny now, but still a pretty wicked wind chill. The wind keep most folks near or in their cars. I saw one guy getting around on crutches here (last week there was a guy wearing a neck brace headed down to Camp Hoover- I can picture myself hiking out here in that condition). The best color was below, sheltered from the gales. An out and back to Bettys Rock for similar views, then down to the AT headed north to Stony Man.
Very few hikers were out on the AT. We made good time to Skyland, stopping, of course, below Timber Hollow Overlook for the standard picture of that overlook's sentinel tree. I had to wait out a few car people to get a clear shot. Skyland stables looked quiet, and no horses were in the field. Stony Man would be crowded- it always is when the Drive is open, but it has views, so that's where we went. People were huddled about, trying to fight off the wind. I had to hug low to keep from getting blown off. A few brave souls ventured on down the rocks. Stony Man was indeed crowded, but wait...
Next up, get to Skyland ASAP for a blackberry shake. Shortest route- the horse trail. Horse trails are dull, right? Not this one! All these years, not a tenth of a mile away, right there in sight of what most consider to be "the" Stony Man summit, lies outstanding rock ledges with fantastic views south. Skyland, Hawksbill, Fork Mountain, you name it, and virtually nobody else here. How had I missed this all these years? Forget the crowds- this is my primary Stony Man destination now (sorry about giving out trade secrets). We had to delay our shake for a few minutes to take in the views. My now favorite horse trail.
Skyland- like Big Meadows last weekend- filled parking lots with cars lined up along the road. After the lunch crowd but before the dinner crowd, we got a table in the tap room and prompt service. Now, the shakes at Skyland aren't your wayside standard fare variety. No, the blackberry shakes here don't come out of a machine with flavoring added. This is the real deal- super rich, super creamy, super thick, made with real blackberries and whipped cream on top, out of this world. You haven't had a Shenandoah blackberry shake until you've had one at Skyland. Trust me. It took some time for the shake to arrive (they apparently don't get many requests for them, as the waitress didn't know they had them and had to look up how to make them), but well worth the wait.
Except for Robertson, the rest of the hike was downhill, first via the horse trail from Skyland north entrance to Old Rag fire road at Comer's Deadening, then Old Rag and Berry Hollow fire roads and SR-600 back to the Whiteoak lot. I really like fire road walking this time of year. One can look up at the color without much worry of footing. There were a several hikers on Robertson, but surely nothing like Old Rag. The lowering sun cast long shadows, and unlimited visibility showed distant ridges south. The wind was slacking and it was very comfortable on Robertson. Much less color on the east side, still a lot of green with good color to come. A fast return to the fire road and a foot burner pace got us back to the car not long after sunset. On the descent, majestic Old Rag glowed golden through the trees. Too bad there's not a clear line of sight to Old Rag from the fire road, it would be postcard perfect.
Pictures 4 years ago above the clouds on Hawksbill
note: descending Old Rag fire road, we could hear the helicopter used during an Old Rag rescue. There was a ranger's car at the fire road junction, so we figured there must be a rescue in progress. Information on Bob Look's blog http://oldragpatrolsbyrsl-blook.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-post_18.html and full details at http://silverspringwanderer.blogspot.com/2010/10/orms-helicopter-rescue.html ("Silver Spring Wanderer" looks like an excellent blog, a bookmark for sure). The previous weekend we'd heard mention of a rescue on Stony Man. A few details at http://uspppressroom.blogspot.com/2010/10/daring-hoist-rescue-in-shenandoah.html
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