Adventures in Shenandoah

Our second full day exploring Shenandoah National Park.

Fortunately the rain let up overnight and we weren't soaking in the morning. Just a little damp in places. We were determined to get a better hike in today so we headed to another trail the ranger had suggested. This trail was a fire road that met up with a trail to Dark Hollow Falls. It is the back way to get to the falls. The primary trail was steep switchbacks down then back up. The fire road was a longer route but a more gradual descent. We thought we would all enjoy a more leisurely hike and then we could eat lunch at the falls, hike back, then do some organizing at the campsite for the next day of driving.

We parked at Fisher's Gap Overlook, changed into our hiking boots, crossed Skyline Drive and headed down the fire road.

A beautiful day to go for a hike - at Fisher's Gap Overlook

It was absolutely beautiful. We were all alone on the trail (the shorter Dark Hollow Falls trail is extremely popular and that parking lot was packed when we drove by it). We took our time, as usual with Lucia, to stop and investigate plants, bugs and fungi along the way. I could hear lots of birds everywhere, and was hearing many distinct songs that were unfamiliar to me. It is so frustrating sometimes to be a novice birder, I can hear the birds but can never seem to actually locate them, let alone identify them. So, I had to be satisfied with enjoying the scenery and the walk.

We got to the bottom of the falls, and hiked a couple switchbacks up to the "main area" of the falls, where it meets up with the trail that is coming down. There were a handful of people there but we found a few rocks to settle on for our lunch. It was a pretty falls, and the water cooled the air around us, so it was a pleasant place to stop for a bit. Then we hiked back down to the fire road and worked our way gradually back up to our starting point.

Definitely in bear country

Happy Hiker with her well-deserved sandwich

Our destination - Dark Hollow Falls

It was this return trip that got exciting for me though. On our way down I had heard a really loud bird or birds that I couldn't identify. Suddenly though I was able to catch one out of the corner of my eye and see where it landed. I trained my binoculars up and saw a bright orange and black bird. It was definitely the bird that I had been hearing all morning. At first I thought it might have been an Eastern Towhee like the one I saw on the Limberlost Trail, but the orange seemed a bit different, as did the beak. I kept flipping through my bird guide and came across American Redstart. After reading the description I was fairly certain that this was the right ID. Small victories! I felt rejuvenated in my birding, like I wasn't a complete failure. I was able to locate the bird a couple more times to enjoy the satisfaction of my ID. And then things got even better. As Paul rounded a bend ahead of me, he waved me forward quickly, pointing to a small tree just off the trail. I held my binoculars up, and there right in front of us was a Red Eyed Vireo, with a giant of a spider in it's beak. I knew instantly that this was the right ID, as the park brochures I had read indicated that this was indeed a species you would find in the park, and the red eyes make it fairly unmistakable. The bird stayed on the small tree for just a few moments, but long enough for me to enjoy this sighting and study its features. He took off into the forest, but it was I who was flying high for the rest of the day! I had not only actually seen two new species of birds, I was able to identify them! Win-win! As we approached Skyline Drive I saw another small grayish bird that I believe could have been an Eastern Wood Peewee, but the little gray birds are still fairly impossible for me to discern. All in all though I felt very good about my birding for the day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging around camp, cleaning and organizing the car for the next day of driving. Lucia played, colored and hung out. We had Couscous Surprise for dinner again.

Later in the evening there was a Ranger Program being held at our campground. We decided to check it out. I can't remember the name of the Ranger, but he was an older gentleman who was celebrating his 47th wedding anniversary that day, as he explained that he had gone home for dinner before coming back to lead the program. The theme of the program was "Ask A Ranger", so he passed around note cards and you could ask him any question on any topic. While people were writing their questions he passed around some crackers and some local Shenandoah honey. It was a great program that covered a range of topics from how he became a park ranger (short answer: he grew up around Shenandoah, joined the NPS, left to be a teacher for many years, came back and was hired by a young supervisor who "gave an old guy a chance."); to answering questions about identifying various plants and insects that people had seen around the park or on the Appalachian Trail (everyone just calls it the "AT"). He also shared a lot of the history about the campground itself and how it was originally the segregated campground for African Americans who wanted to recreate at the park. They weren't allowed to visit any of the other resort areas, such as Skyland, and so Lewis Mountain really became the hub for African American visitors. After my time in Maryland and learning so much about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, I appreciated the frank delivery by this ranger on the topic of segregation and that he didn't shy away from the question or dance around the issue.

We leave Shenandoah in the morning for 9+ hours of driving to get to our next stop, Mammoth Cave National Park. See you in the morning!

Here is another slideshow of photos from today. There is even a bear sighting at the very end!