Shenandoah National Park

The next part of the trip took us driving Skyline Drive, a scenic byway that travels through Shenandoah National Park. The scenery is beautiful. I stopped and took a few photos.

A stop at the visitors center got us a good hike to take to Hawksbill Summit, using the Upper Hawksbill trail. Interesting thing is that the Civil Conservation Corps Camps, groups of over 10,000 boys, built much of the trail system in the park.

We checked in at our campground after the hike – the Jellystone Resort. 

The next day we drove back over to Shenandoah National Park and hiked the Mary’s Rock Trail. I was prepared for a more difficult hike than the previous day and Fred came prepared with his water pack.

On this trail we actually walked some portion (almost 2 miles) of the Appalachian Trail. We encountered 3 women who were reasonably older than I am, who were hiking a couple of days on the trail. They are the shadows in the picture of Fred and me at the summit. Good for them… hiking and sleeping out on the trail is not really a thing I’d ever envision myself doing… maybe when I get to be their age, but maybe not!

Fred was pretty tired when we were done with this hike.