Hikes and “Yikes Its a Bear!” at Shenandoah National Park

After having been on the road for several months and camping much of the time we were very excited to visit our first National Park.  From the fertile plains of the Shenandoah Valley between two mountain ranges we drove up to the ridge of the eastern mountain range to Skyline Drive, the main road running through Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

As twilight settled onto the horizon we cruised over the snaking asphalt of Skyline Drive.  Through short gaps in the trees lining the road we were dazzled by diagonal landscapes of huge mountain ranges nearby and tiny ones in the distance with varying degrees of tree-studded furriness and all bathed in the stormy glow of pink, dying light.

Silhouetted by this radiant landscape we watched as whitetail deer strutted cautiously yet unperturbed by the presence of our vehicle.  Silently as shadows they moved and posed, pausing always in half-step with their ears and tails standing vertically alert.

We continued down Skyline Drive as the inky blackness of night seeped into the forest, our headlights exposing the trees and road as if they were naked.  A black bear slumped across the road ahead of us–“Oh my god it’s a bear!” Amanda exclaimed, overcome with surprise.

It was here that we saw our first bear.  The bear had crossed the road and continued up a hill on our left as we drove slowly past.  It stopped and turned and looked over a hunched shoulder to glance cutely at us with its almond-colored muzzle and beady eyes before continuing up the hill.

The following day we met up with our friends Ashley and Ben and went on the first of two amazing hikes that we took in the Skyland area of Shenandoah National Park.  As we drove on Skyline Drive to our selected hiking trail we were greeted by massive views of towering green mountains and endless blue skies.  These views alternated between both sides of the road as it weaved back and forth over top of the mountain range.

Our first hike was to the Stony Man lookout point.  We tramped through rocky forests on the crest of the mountain ridge to reach Stony Man–the second highest point in Shenandoah National Park.  The altitude was so great from Stony Man that we looked down at birds soaring high above the treetops of the valley below, the towns at the bottom appearing to be tiny dioramas.

For our second hike we took the Whiteoak Canyon Trail which began at the base of the eastern face of the Shenandoah mountain range.  This trail followed a mountain stream that tumbled into waterfalls and settled into pools along stream bed.  The water had cut its wide canyon into the mountain over many thousands of years without regard for the ease of hikers, the trail often forced us to zigzag into a nearly vertical climb.

On this trail we passed a group of several exasperated hikers who, for lack of preparedness and sheer exasperation, were asking “is it worth it?”  For us it was!  We enjoyed every minute of this beautiful hike and embraced the challenge that it provided.  We also loved swimming in the cool, clear pools of the mountain stream and the view from the top was all the more beautiful because we had earned every inch of it!

The next morning as we were packing up our campsite to leave, I noticed that the sky looked gray in a strange way that I had never seen before.  As we drove up to Skyline Drive from Mathew’s Arm campsite, we drove straight into a cloud!  I realized that the reason the sky looked so strange was because that gray cloud was not thirty feet over our heads!  It was like touching the sky!