Last Camping Trip of the Year: Shenandoah

Even though we were camping down the mountain from the park, that didn't mean we couldn't go in for the day. Saturday afternoon we enjoyed the amenities at Jellystone, but Sunday we got up early (thanks for nothing, DST). So we packed up and headed into the park. My plan was to do a four-mile hike and then see how we felt. I didn't care how long it took us, just that we finished.

I made the boys pack their backpacks. Glad to see they brought the necessities.


At Dark Hollow Falls.


It's kind of fun to have a kid big enough to take pictures. And when I say, "pictureS" I certainly mean plural. Multiple. Plethora of.


One of Rose River's many cascades.


One of our many water/candy/real food breaks.


The hike was gorgeous. We had incredible weather, slightly chilly but beautiful blue skies. Overall, the boys did great on the hike. Ollie had some weird breakdown at the start of the hike that was loud and long, but I just thought, "Hey. He's keeping the bears away." But once that was over, he did great. And once the hike was over, they were done. We headed back to our lovely camp and enjoyed its amenities.

Monday morning we wanted to do another hike before leaving. Rhett wanted a peak hike and chose, of course, the highest in the park. It's a fairly steep, but relatively short (only two miles roundtrip) hike.


At the summit.


Chuck stripped the hiking sticks bare. The boys received many compliments on them!


Lessons Learned: If we're going to camp in Shenandoah in the fall without reservations, we must take off Friday. Regardless, we had a great time! Sure, it was cold, but manageable. Especially with a heated Scamp.