Shenandoah

Of all the mountains of Shenandoah, Old Rag is the most trekked. Along the path from the parking lot at Old Fire Road we initially hiked up the wrong road and came across a full grown black bear standing in the gravel path, eating blueberries. When he saw us he stood on his hind legs to get a better look at us. After a moment of staring in awe we continued to meander up towards him, bear mace held near, and he he ran into the woods. Continuing on, we realized we went the wrong way and when backtracked to where we met him we were met by angry grunting behind the thicket. Needless to say, we hustled fast down the road to the right trail that we completely passed by the first time.

What you don’t see if the massive amount of tourists that followed us up to the top of the falls. I was lucky enough to get a few pictures of Jazmin before they descended upon our spot. I can imagine discovering this feature in the mountains and sitting on the same rocks we did, the cooling mist, the never-ceasing sound of the water, and the world around you yet to be discovered.

This young black bear was hanging around the bottom of the hike at Old Rag mountain, he snuck up behind me on a bench and went for my pack, I grabbed it and got up in a rush. He didn’t seem to care much about me and went on scavenging the lean-to and fire pit for scraps. Hew was good enough to let me grab my camera, snap some photos, before he started coming towards us again and we decided it was a good time to take our leave and say goodbye.

Sunset at this secret spot along the main road