804. Shenandoah Valley

Where: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
When: October 19 - 21, 2018
With: Dave, Ashley, Steve, Loren, and Jason (plus the pups! Izzy, ClintE, and Jersey)

Now that we have a dog, we love taking vacations that she can join us on. While this may limit us to road trips, she is such a trooper in the car that it's really just a matter of how far Dave and I are willing to drive. My sister and her husband got a dog this summer so we all thought DOG TRIP! And the destination matching all of our needs (dog friendly, drive-able, new and exciting) ended up being Shenandoah Valley.

Sat just over an hour west of Washington, DC, this gorgeous area nestled next to the Blue Ridge Mountains is a common day trip for avid hikers looking to get out of the city. The mountains and surrounding wilderness has been designated Shenandoah National Park, offering up gorgeous views, plenty of hikes, and quaint surrounding towns.

While it was a bit more of a drive for us from Michigan, it was still totally doable for a long weekend. We also coordinated with my best friend, who also lives in DC, for a triple-couples-plus-dogs weekend of hiking. We found an AirBnB in Front Royal, at the northern edge of the park, that was both rustic and dog-friendly (as well as having a lovely hot tub). We arrived Friday night for our weekend away.

Dave and I arrived first and hungry for lunch. Another perk of this area is that it's home to several Virginia wineries and breweries. We found a great spot in the middle of beautiful farmland to have an outdoor lunch with Izzy, drink a beer, and bask in the sunshine.

After lunch, we were feeling well fed and up for some hiking in the National Park. We decided to stick close to our lodgings at the northern end of the park. Upon entering the park from Front Royal, we were immediately on the famous 105-mile Skyline Drive. Full of overlooks and views, it weaves from north to south through the length of the park. 

For our first hike, we decided on the Snead Farm Dickey Ridge trail, a fairly easy hike with some great overlooks. Right from the parking lot, we spotted the first of the wildlife. We laughed about how my sister had warned of the abundance of bears in the area and how we believed the unlikelihood of seeing any. This was probably as wild as it was going to get...

Izzy, investigating her first deer. 

The trail started off with a bit of an incline, but gave us this gorgeous view pretty quickly. We laughed because the entire purpose of our late October timing for this trip was to catch the leaves changing color. While we were worried we may miss the leaves entirely, this photo shows that we in fact came too early to enjoy them. However, we decided if we had to be too late or too early, we'd much rather be too early. 

The rest of the trail was fairly closed in, but very peaceful and empty. We only passed maybe four other hikers in our hour plus walk. It was very relaxing to be one with nature. 

Aww, my loves. 

At the end of our hike, as we headed back to the parking lot, we laughed about all the bears we saw (making fun of my sister). And then, as though fate was slapping us in the face, we almost walked right into a mama black bear with a few of her cubs, right in the middle of the picnic ground adjacent to the parking lot. 

We thought about walking the outer perimeter of the picnic ground to get to our car. However as the mama bear's ears pricked our way and we saw four little cub faces turn to stare at us, we decided it was best not to chance it, even from a distance (and particularly with a hunting dog on our leash that is prone to bark when she sees new wildlife). So we ended up having to walk the long way around, along Skyline Drive, back to the car, this time laughing at how ironic the whole situation was. We were just happy we didn't stumble upon the bear family while hiking out on the trail in the middle of the woods. 

Before heading home, we stopped for one last lookout at the sunset over the Massanutten Mountains towards West Virginia. While I'm fairly indifferent to the view of rolling green mountains, I'll admit, this scene is pretty spectacular.

Continuing to be plagued by wildlife on the drive home. 

Back at the house, everyone arrived and we hung out and ate pizza while catching up. There was a lot of puppy wrestling (mostly between ClintE and Izzy), but also plenty of puppy cuddles too.  

The next morning, puppies were ready to go for some hiking. 

We split up into two cars to head to a more southern part of the park for our Saturday hikes. We entered at the much busier Luray station where the daytrippers appeared to have congregated - much different from our fairly empty experience the day before. While Skyline Drive was not as bumper to bumper as it can be, it definitely had some traffic when we finally got past the ranger's station. We thought at first it was just high volume of people, but as we crept forward, we realized why everyone had stopped: more bears. Ok, Ash, I will give it to you. There are lots of bears. 

For our first hike of the day, we picked a nice long loop called the Rose River Trail. It was almost 4 miles and would take about 2 hours with stops. For all the cars up on the road, it was actually pretty quiet on the trail. Just us and our puppies. 

One of the main attractions of this trail is a scenic waterfall created by the Rose River. It's not very big, but definitely made the whole place feel like a fairytale land. 

After a gradual decline, we followed the Rose River through as it wove between the mountains, surrounded by trees and green. 

Ash and ClintE with his sideways walk. Such a happy boy. 

Just enjoying the nature. 

Happy to be traveling together again!

We headed back to the car for some packed sandwiches and a break. It was amazing how quickly we got cold when we were back up on top of the mountains and not hiking. 

Izzy and Jersey relaxing on their break just before Izzy got manhandled by all of us attempting to remove a tick from her belly. 

Ready to set out for another hike. 

This time, we were going for short and hard, but with a pow factor of a view.  The trail was only a mile, but it was straight uphill. However, at the top, the view was worth it. This was the summit of Hawksbill Mountain, the highest in the park. 

Views and puppies. 

Family portrait. 

From up here, we could see the other side of the mountains from the day before. It was amazing to watch the cloud shadows pass over the endless swath of rolling green mountains. 

The viewpoint on the other side of the peak was of Shenandoah's most famous peak, Old Rag. To climb this mountain takes a whole day but it is sort of a rite of passage for those living in the DC area. 

Group shot. 

Just some men and their dogs on top of a mountain. 

Izzy is done with photos. What's next? What she isn't done with are ticks. We found three more on her that day. 

Some zonked out puppies ready to drive home and relax. 

Zonked, but must...not...miss...a...thing. 

After a busy day, it was time for some of Ashley's famous cooking, some hot tub time, and relaxing in our house. Every dog got a bone and every adult got some champagne. After some rest, the puppies were ready to go again the next morning. 

For our final hike in Shenandoah, we actually ended up on the wrong trail, and walked a portion of the Appalachian Trail by mistake. It was fine and beautiful, but we were all very confused when we weren't seeing the sights we had hoped we would. 

Oh well, guess this means that it's time to give up and head to a winery! We went to an amazing dog friendly one where the wine may not have been the best, but the pups could sit inside with us while we ordered brick-oven pizzas and other appetizers. 

This was a fantastic road trip to Shenandoah enjoyed by both human and fur friend alike. Looks like a future stop the next time we drive out to DC!