Raven Rocks

We had done hike to Raven Rocks on 19th August . It is located in Bluemont, Virginia State.

Hike Location
Name: Raven Rocks
Distance: 37 miles from Herndon(approx)
Total hiking distance: 5.8 miles.
Elevation Gain: 1350 ft
Hike Team:  my wife and me.

Hiking Experience: We started around 5:53 am. Reached the destination around 6:34 am. There were two cars already at the parking lot.

Climate was misty with clouds covering the sky. No hope of seeing sun today. There was a kiosk at the entrance of the trail. We started our hike around 6:38 am. It was behind the kiosk and it was uphill. The trail is moderate wide full of rocks. The rocks and the mud all were yet as it rained the previous night. We climbed the uphill and soon we were surrounded by huge trees , some of them have been dead due to lost of moss around them and some of the were fallen on the trail. The trail is full of big rocks and it appeared as though we were climbing and not walking. The climate was so cool and there was fresh dew on the trees making our day very pleasant.

There were some huge rock boulders on one side of the trail and we could see road on the other side as we were traversing along the hill. We saw a deer which startled on seeing us and ran away. Soon we were descending and there were three hair pin bends. It was a pretty steep descent and at some places there were big rocks like staircase. We climbed down slowly and there were few steep ascents as well on our way. There were lot of spider webs along the trail which can be easily mistook for mist. The hike was strenuous as we climbed the steep ascent but due to the cool climate we didn't feel the heat and able to hike with ease. We crossed a small river stream on the rocks. we saw our first fellow hiker after around an hour. Then we continued our ascent. In between we use to get a flat trail to keep us motivated and then the trail used to ascent. The trail is Appalachian Trail (white Blazed). our entire hike we are supposed to be on the same trail. We crossed a huge patch of rocks which is one of the views of the trail. We continued our hike.

Slowly we ascended and descended and started to enjoy the hike, beautiful scenic forest. We were walking in middle of jungle with fresh trees and plants.This is our first hike having so many rocks on the trail and climbing rocks as part of our hike. We then were descending continuously until we reached the second stream flowing under the huge rocks. There was a large campsite to the left of the trail and there were two tents pitched and some campers were out there enjoying the nature. We knew that from there it was 0.5 miles steep ascent to Raven Rocks Overlook. We hiked slowly and steadily. On our way there were so many squirrels which were biting small fruits of the trees and throwing them down. We soon reached the Raven Rocks Overlook. The view from the overlook was amazing. There were huge rocks to sit and observe the valley. We reached the top around 8:50 am. It was full of fog and no signs of Sun. It was a great place to sit and be with the nature and enjoy the view from the top. We had our breakfast at the top. Few more hikers reached the top some with their pets. we descended around 9:10 am and retraced our steps back.

On our way back we have seen plenty of hikers and were surprised to know how famous the trail and overlook.There were so many mushrooms on the trail in different colors and sizes. We carefully hiked to make sure we don't step or damage them . While returning we have ascended and descended again and were amazed to learn that we have done all that before with ease. We saw few rays of sun penetrating from the leaves of large trees. It started getting to heat and we reached our parking lot around 10:50 am. The parking lot was overflowed with cars and the other parking lot which was opposite to the road was also filled to most. While we were stretching we saw couple of cars which are entering into the parking lot. We left the parking lot and reached home around 11:40 am. IT was a wonderful hike with amazing views, great experience being with the nature in such a quiet and peaceful climate. We thoroughly enjoyed it. All is Well.
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Timber Hollow

We had done hike to Hawksbill Mountain/Timber Hollow on 5th August . It is located in Shenandoah, Virginia State.

Hike Location
Name: Hawksbill Mountain/Timber Hollow
Distance: 80 miles from Herndon(approx)
Total hiking distance: 5.5 miles.
Elevation Gain: 1260 ft
Hike Team:  my wife and me.

Hiking Experience: We started around 5:50 am. Reached the Destination, Timber Hollow Overlook around 7:27 am.

There were no cars around the overlook, so looks like we were the only one doing this hike at that time. The climate was moderate hot with sun started to show his presence. The view from the overlook is great. we could see the valleys, hills, small houses, farms , clouds. It was a very good panoramic view. We have done few hikes in Shenandoah (skyline Drive) but this was our first hike which started from the overlook. It was as though we are climbing down the hill straight with all the steep. We followed the trail from the overlook which was very narrow and there were small beautiful flowers on both sides of the trail. Soon the trail connected us with the Appalachian Trail(A.T.) having the white mark and we need to go south of A.T. (left). The trail is full of small stones and not much steep at the start. Soon we were in the middle of the large trees on the hill. We were in midst of forest with dense trees and rocks so the sun rays could not pentrate. This helped us to hike easily and as we continued, the trail got wider and we could see huge rocks, big stones on the trail and chopped trees along our path. As it rained heavily the previous two days we could see small waterflow over the rocks and heard the water clapping sound.

It was very pleasant and the water was very cold. we climbed steps which were overflowed with water and continued our path. The steep gradually increased. The trail was very good with jungle on both sides , stones on it. Few sun rays managed to reach the ground which made the hike very interesting and motivating. We crossed many small waterfalls on the rocks along the A.T. We were traversing the hill as we could hear the vehicle sounds (moving on the Skyline Drive ) above us. The steep increased and we reached intersection where we took left onto blue blazed Salamander Trail. The trail was leading us to uphill into the woods. We had our breakfast on the rocks of the trail around 9:00 am. We continued on the uphill. We met couple of fellow hikers on our way. It was continuous steep hike , which was strenuous. We saw a deer which was grazing in the woods. It was so engrossed that it was not perturbed when we approached near her. We reached the Hawksbill summit, around 9:30 am, which has a U shaped rock built structure. The 270 degree view from the  summit is amazing. There were huge rocks to sit and relax and enjoy the view. We could see old rag mountain, Shanenadoah valley from the summit.

There were wooden compass with iron arrow as well at the summit rock. We stayed there for 10 mins or so and enjoyed the natures' peace and pleasant atmosphere. There was shelter(known as Birds Nest) near the summit with a picnic table which looked like one of the typical shelters we have on the A.T. We continued our hike onto the blue blazed lower Hawksbill Trail. It was very Steep down. It appeared as though were were running due to the gravity and steep. We met many hikers along the path. soon we reached flat trail which connected to A.T. We took right(north) onto the A.T. This was the same path which we hiked at the start. we retraced our steps crossed the waterfalls and reached the overlook where we started around 10:48 am.Overall it was wonderful and amazing experience. we sat at the overlook for few mins to relax and then headed back to home. while we just started in car we saw a small bear on the cliff. As our car came near it vanished into the woods. We reached home around 12:36 pm. All is Well.
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