More Road Scholar Hikes

The first full week of October was spent in the central portion of Shenandoah National Park leading the Road Scholar group on hikes every day for four days.  It was a great group, and was a little older than the prior two groups: of the 23 people, at least seven were 80 or older, and 4 of them were 86 or older!  So the shorter hikes tended to be much more popular, with only a few people going on the longer hikes.  But everyone did well, finished the hikes, and had fun, and unlike the last two groups, no one needed medical attention.

The hikes were all around the Big Meadows area, and were about 30 miles on the trail: Dark Hollows Falls, the AT over Bearfence Mountain, the AT from Hawksbill Gap to Stony Man, and Camp Rapidan.  Here are some photos from my four days there.  You can see that the trees are barely changing, although the weather took a turn to the very fall-like during the week.

Dark Hollow Falls is running more slowly, but is still pretty.

Low mist with blue skies.

Blue Ridge views from Stony Man.

Little Stony Man from Stony Man.

Big Meadows.

Bumblebee on a thistle flower - unlike the June and July hikes here with the same group, we saw few insects, flowers, or birds.

Red-backed salamander.

Milkweed releasing it's seeds for the next generation.

Monarch caterpillar on a milkweed plant.

Milkweed beetles.

Chicken mushroom.

White-tailed deer.

I thought that the cavity on this hollow tree resembled a planter.

This little caterpillar has four eggs from a parasitic wasp, which will grow into larvae that will eat it alive - not a good fate for this guy, but that is nature - pretty ruthless.

Several kinds of lichens on a boulder.

An American chestnut nut - I don't think that I ever saw one before and found it encouraging.

This yellow birch started as a tiny seedling, and took root in a pocket of soil on this rock.  In time, its roots split the rock in two.

On Stony Man summit.

I find all the various kinds of lichens fascinating.

Spider web with morning dew.

At Big Rock Falls near Camp Rapidan.

Old fireplace at historic Camp Rapidan.

American chestnut sapling.

This maple leaf shows that fall is coming.

Once again, I had a great time leading the clients of Road Scholar on their hikes.  I hope that they enjoyed themselves and learned something our mountains and of nature.