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.
Photos