Hiking in Virginia

    My wife and I were on the Blue Ridge Parkway in mid October to do a little hiking and view the changing of the leaves.  We decided to stay in a place called Wintergreen.  What a beautiful area it was.  It was in their off peak season, so the accommodations were very reasonable, and the views were awesome.  We took a lot of pictures, thanks to digital cameras. 

Some of the best views we got were off of the parkway at the scenic over looks.  We hiked at an area called Humpback Rock.  We started out in mid morning with a trekking cane, a fanny pack, water bottles and cameras.  The natural and man made paths and steps were a little challenging, but it felt good to be out in the clean fresh air.  We would stop to take pictures along the way of the rock formations or the colorful leaves.  The trails were well marked and crossed the Appalachian Trail several times.  We made our way to the top on a rock over look that had a fantastic view over the valley.

      As we were resting on the rock over look, a backpacker climbed on to the rocks with us.  She told us that she wanted to finish the whole Appalachian Trail by the time she turned 70.  Her trail name was the Medicare Minister and that she had about four years and three hundred and fifty miles to go.  She was in great shape and moved right along, carrying a well-worn backpack and used a pair of trekking poles.  Her knees were a little tired, but nothing was going to slow her down.  We took a picture of her and she did the same for us, and we bid her good luck as she headed for the trail.  We stayed a while longer to enjoy the beauty that nature had to offer us. 

Another hike we took was at a place called Crab Tree Falls.  It was a switch back type of trail that ran next to the waterfalls that ran down a large rock formation.  It was a little strenuous as it was non-stop upward motion, and there were a lot of people that didn’t continue on to the top.  We did go to the top because that was where the reward was.  Seeing how a stream that was mostly covered by leaves and downed trees turned into a good size waterfall was amazing.  My wife and I said that we would like to hike like this everyday instead of walking on a treadmill or on the track at the YMCA.

All in all we saw some of the best that nature had to offer.  The red, yellow orange and green of the leaves with the gray color of the rocks were absolutely beautiful.  At times we felt that we found the meaning of life as we gazed out over the valleys.  It was as peaceful as you could ask for, with just the birds and the sound of crunching ground under our feet.  I would recommend everyone take a fall trip to Virginia to take in the beauty that can’t be found in the city or even the suburbs.