HIKE OLD RAG MOUNTAIN
BIKE VIRGINIA FALL FOLIAGE

October 22, 1997 - Wednesday Hike Old Rag Mountain

Got up and ran 5.1 miles. Drove to Syria, VA with Anne. Hiked up Old Rag Mountain with 28 members of the Mountain Club of Maryland Wednesday Walkers. We hiked up a rising wooded trail for about 1 ½ miles until we came out on a big slab of rock outcrop with views west to the Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive and east over the lowlands towards Washington, DC. We then started scrambling up rocks and boulders, through cracks, a cave and under wedged rocks. We leveled off and then up again to the rock piled summit. The summit on this clear day had great 360 degree views. We ate lunch, mine my trademark macaroni chicken salad, while enjoying the views. We headed down the trail on the backside of the mountain which is not too difficult. We passed Byrd’s Nest a stone shelter and then a Potomac Appalchian Trail Club (PATC) cabin. We intersected with a fireroad and turned right a couple of miles to the parking lot. Our circuit took us 7.1 miles. We all drove up to the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park which cost $10 to enter. We checked into the Big Meadows Lodge room 88 and cleaned up. About 5:00 pm we all gathered in the Kapperts and Bowies double cabin with a roaring fire in the fireplace. It got cold when the sun went down and there were several deer grazing outside the window. Everyone brought snacks and a bottle of wine so we had quite a variety of both. We enjoyed a couple of hours of socializing and snacking. A young male lodge employee came with more firewood and to stoke the fire. Jimmy Huelskamp corrupted him with wine and so he stayed for a while before leaving in a merry spirit. We all walked down to the lodge dining room in the dark for a leisurely supper of stuffed mountain trout at $42.23. We stayed in room 88 of the Big Meadows Lodge in the Shenandoah National Park, VA for $100.90.

October 23, 1997 - Thursday Hike to Hoover Camp

Got up and ran out to the Skyline drive and then part way down the mountain and back for 5.6 miles with Pat Mooney. We ate a big breakfast in the lodge’s dining room for $14.75. We drove a short distance south on the Skyline Drive and parked. Jim and Pat Huelskamp, Don and Pat Bowie, Pat and Carol Mooney, Marty and Sandy Kappert and Anne and Dan McQueen hiked down the mountain from Skyline Drive to Hoover Camp. Hoover Camp is a complex of buildings located in the confluence of two mountain streams at 2600’ and built for President Herbert Hoover who was an avid fisherman. He entertained many heads of state there. We explored the site and ate lunches we had packed in. We returned up the mountain via another trail. The trail was closed in with dense foliage overhead and on both sides. Sandy Kappert who is not used to being in the woods suffered a minor panic attack and lagged behind. Anne was suffering from an infrequent attack of severe pain in her side. This one lasted over an hour. (Despite many doctor visits we didn’t find out what the problem was until a day before the Old Rag hike a year later. It was discovered that she had a hernia and was operated on 2 days later.) Anne also was lagging behind needing to stop frequently to alleviate the pain. We finally reached the Appalachian Trail where we turned right for about a mile to our cars. Our circuit hike had taken us 7.1 miles. After cleaning up, we again gathered in the cabin for snacks and wine. Gary Gray’s wine was voted best with my red Spanish wine a close second. We walked down to the lodge dining room for dinner at $36.98. We stayed in room 88 at the Big Meadows Lodge for $100.90.

October 24, 1997 - Friday Bike Leesburg on W&OD Trail

Got up and ran 5.1 miles in the cold mountain air. Said goodbye to everyone and drove to Leesburg, VA for the Senior Cyclers Friday ride at 10:00 am led by Bob Benhoff. We cycled out of Leesburg on the W&OD Trail for several miles to VA-9. Here we left the trail going down a hill to a right turn on a country road to Waterford, VA. Waterford is a small mill village frozen in time around the late 1700s. We spent some time there looking at the historical landmark buildings. We left via another route over country roads to lunch at the Beautiful South for $17.05. We biked back to Leesburg via the W&OD Trail. Again we said goodbye and drove to the Staunton Armory where we registered for Bike Virginia’s Fall Foliage Rally. We ate dinner at the Armory for $17.50. We drove back about 10 miles to Wayneboro, VA and the Comfort Inn room 269 where we spent the night.

October 25, 1997 - Saturday Bike Staunton, VA

Got up and ran 5.1 miles. Drove to Staunton where we met Barry and Carol Nelson and Lew and Kathleen Frain. Ate breakfast at the Armory for $8. Biked out of Staunton north and west into the hills. We biked a circuit turning at the Natural Chimneys State Park. On the way back after a rest stop Anne had some problems with flats on her rear tire (Lew gave me a boot with glass in it) so the Trek Truck replaced her rear tire and tube for $25. My derailer cable was frayed so Trek replaced it for $8. We returned to our motel to clean up and then back to Staunton. Went to Rosa’s Cantina in downtown Staunton for supper at $23.51 with the Frains and Nelsons. Stayed at the Comfort Inn room 269 in Waynesboro, VA for $106.34 for the 2 nights.

October 26, 1997 - Sunday Drive Waynesboro,VA to Columbia, MD

Woke up to rain. We decided not to ride but instead drove to a firehall pancake breakfast in the middle of the bike route. We ate with the Frains and Nelsons and a couple we met from Smith Mountain Lake. We drove home to Columbia, MD arriving in the afternoon.