Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links

 

Sabotaged by Waze

When long-time blogging friend Judy let me know she’d be in Virginia for vacation, I jumped at the chance to meet her in Shenandoah National Park for a hike. A quick search informed me that it would take about two hours to make the drive so I planned accordingly. On the morning of our hike I pulled up Waze, typed in the address of the lodge where Judy was staying, and left 30 minutes early so I wouldn’t be rushed.

Less than ten minutes out from my destination Waze crashed and each time I tried typing the address back in, Waze said, “Something went wrong.” I stopped at a service station and a local informed me that Waze regularly sends people to that destination which has no roads up the mountain for completing the drive.

 

Frustrated, but not willing to give up on being outside on such a beautiful day, I opened Google Maps and learned that I was 59 minutes from Judy’s lodge and would have to backtrack several miles and get on Skyline Drive, a lovely road following the ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

By the time I pulled onto Skyline Drive at Thornton Gap, I was running so far behind that I didn’t want to stop for a picture of the Shenandoah National Park sign so I snapped this on my way out of the park.

 

The Meet Up

Judy and Mr. Judy were kind enough to wait for me after I texted to let them know my GPS dilemma and that I would be an hour late in arriving. The wonderful thing I’ve observed when meeting blogger friends in person for the first time is the ease with picking right up in conversation like old friends seeing each other again.

The obligatory photo, courtesy of Mr. Judy…

 

And from a distance because the tree was so cool…

 

A Beautiful Day for a Hike

At 64° and sunny, the weather was perfect for a hike. The fall foliage was nearing the end of its run along the higher elevation on top of the Blue Ridge Mountains as compared to the valley below. Even though many leaves had already fallen, some trees were still showing yellows and reds. Hogcamp Branch had a descent flow giving the waterfalls plenty of show.

The hike down was easy enough even though I fell once; however, the climb back out is a bit strenuous. If you’re not used to regular cardiovascular exercise, be prepared to take a few rest breaks.

 

Hike Overview
  • • Location: Dark Hollow Falls, Shenandoah National Park, Stanley, Virginia
    • Start/Finish: Dark Hollow Falls trailhead
    • Course Type: Out-and-back
    • Course Surface: Packed dirt and rocks
    • Distance: 1.8 miles
    • Time: Not available
    • Average Pace: 30:31*
    • Elevation Gain: 710 feet
    • Elevation Range: 2,818 to 3,431 feet
    • Start time: 12:43 PM
    • Weather: 64° and sunny
    • Course Map:

 

Elevation chart from the climb back up (reverse it for the first half of the hike) …

 

* The above average pace is a guesstimate. I had auto-pause engaged on my Garmin (affiliate link) which often pauses unnecessarily during hikes due to my slower hiking pace. This little blip resulted in only recording .48 mile on the descent. At the turnaround point of our hike, I turned auto-pause off for our climb out and recorded .91 mile.

 

Hiking Dark Hollow Falls

The following pictures were taken with my iPhone (affiliate link)…

Dark Hollow Falls trailhead…

 

The first and only fall of the hike happened when I didn’t stay on the dirt trail and took a shortcut across a slippery rock. My feet went flying out from under me and I landed on my behind bouncing down the rock until finally landing on my feet. Luckily, nothing was hurt but my pride and I had muddy shorts to remind me of my klutziness.

Green line represents the trail, red line was my shortcut…

 

First picture of the waterfalls after brushing myself off…

 

While focused on the waterfalls, Judy shared that her photographer husband taught her that sometimes great pictures are right behind you so always look around, not just at the point of interest. Looking downstream from the waterfalls…

 

Judy capturing the perfect picture…

 

Judy had previously given me some tips on how to shoot waterfalls with an iPhone and get the smooth water effect associated with a DSLR camera – simply shoot in Live mode and choose long exposure in the Live dropdown on the photo to get the slow shutter effect.

Original photo…

 

With long exposure…

 

Another waterfalls farther down the trail…

 

At the bottom of the trail before turning around for our climb back out…

 

Rocks and tree trunks/branches have been used to form steps on the steeper sections of the trail…

 

Skyline Drive

After our hike, I dropped Judy back at the lodge and headed home. I took my time and stopped at a few overlooks. Looking northwest toward the Shenandoah Valley…

 

Looking southeast toward Syria…

 

Marys Rock Tunnel at mile marker 32.2…

 

Heading off of Skyline Drive toward Luray…

 

Questions
  • • Have you visited Shenandoah National Park?
  • • Have you been to a national park recently? If so, which and which is your favorite?
  • • On hikes which do you prefer, waterfalls or views for miles?

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.