Earlier this week we finally moved on from the Washington D.C. area, but we didn’t travel too far. We toiled with the decision as to which direction to head: the mountains, the coast or down through central Virginia. We opted for the mountains and headed in the direction of Shenandoah National Park. Time to get back to nature! It is not a huge park and we were only spending one day here.
I checked the weather and was prepared for rain that day; however, rain was the least of our problem. As we entered the park, it quickly became apparent that we were not going to see much of the park as it was blanketed with fog and clouds. You could not see anymore than 20 feet in front of the truck as we drove, let alone over the valley floor from the pull-outs. This made for some treacherous driving; especially watching for wildlife. To top it off, earlier in the morning, freezing rain came across the higher elevations of the park and left it’s mark.
Nonetheless, we took advantage of being there and were not going to let a little fog stop us from enjoying Mother Nature. We took some cool photos of the trees covered in ice and we hopped out of the truck and hit the Appalachian Trail. We hiked for about an hour as it was getting dark and the chill was setting in quickly. Hopefully, we will be able to return for a second visit and actually see the park!
A Little History
Homesteaders initially settled in the valley in the 1750’s. In the late 1920’s, a proposition to establish a National Park in the area forced the nearly 2000 residents to leave. Of course, the federal government paid the families to relocate, but several families fought to remain on their ancestral property. As we all know, you are not going to win against the U.S. Government. There were about 76 people permitted to remain, of which the last died in 1979. With that said, there are cemeteries located on the park property. Guess what we happened upon during our hike? I won’t lie, it was a little creepy coming upon a cemetery in the fog.
