Wow, I can’t believe this is our last training hike before Yosemite!  This week we were supposed to be winding down and hiking for only 3 hours.  It was a “plan my own” hike, so my teammate Carey joined me, along with my friends Patrick and Kaustuv.  We started out in Warrenton a little later than usual, so we didn’t get to start our first hike until about 11am. 

The map at the trailhead for Hawksbill Mountain showed two trails, one that went steeply up the side of the mountain, and one that wound around the west side with a gradual ascent.  We were supposed to take the gradual trail, but we couldn’t find it at the trailhead!  Instead, we started up the steep trail thinking we’d find the spur, but we never did, though, we did spot a wild grouse along the way. We basically hiked straight up for 0.9 miles until we reached the summit of Hawksbill Mountain, the highest peak in Shenandoah National Park at 4,051 feet.  The National Park Service built an overlook at the summit, including a stone wall with a compass embedded in it.  To our north, we could see Stony Man Mountain (the second highest peak in the park), and to the east, Browns Mountain.  Check out pictures here.

Instead of retracing our steps, we decided to go the long way back down to the parking area – turns out it was MUCH longer than we expected!  We bypassed the turnoff for the Appalachian Trail and followed signs to the Lower Hawksbill parking area.  Thirty minutes later, when we reached the parking area, we realized it was NOT the same place we had parked!  In order to get back there, we need to hike back up (nearly to the summit), and take the AT to another trail that would take us back to our parking lot. 

We made our way back up the mountain (though this trail wasn’t nearly as steep as the first one) until we found the trail marker for the AT.  We took that trail, called the Salamander Trail, which took us by a couple of nice overlooks.  There we could see Stony Man Mtn., Shenandoah Valley and the town of Luray.  We also passed by a couple of areas where smaller rocks had broken up and slid down the side of the mountain.  We finally made our way down through the forest (where we saw a deer hiding out), and back to our parking area – for a total of 4.9 miles in 4 hours (with breaks).

On our way out of the park, we decided to stop off at Betty’s Rock for another view of the valley and of Hawksbill.  This hike was only 0.6 miles roundtrip, and we stopped and took lots of pictures from the overlook.  We left Shenandoah around 4:00 or so, and stopped for lunch (dinner?) at Sunnyside Market in Sperryville – possibly our last chance for tilapia sandwiches and organic burgers before they close down. 

Today’s hike was a lot of fun – and extra special thanks to Patrick and Kaustuv for coming out with us!