“Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River”
John Denver: Take Me Home, Country Roads
Shenandoah National Park is relatively close to NYC. It was May and we already knew that we were moving to Boston at the beginning of June. We only had a couple of weeks to visit this park by car since the distance from Boston would be too ... distant. Sure, there was a lot to pack and do but the mountains simply couldn’t wait. We hit the road early in the morning on May 22nd.
The visit of West Virginia was not optional. We made a stop at Harpers Ferry.
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River”
John Denver: Take Me Home, Country Roads
Shenandoah National Park is relatively close to NYC. It was May and we already knew that we were moving to Boston at the beginning of June. We only had a couple of weeks to visit this park by car since the distance from Boston would be too ... distant. Sure, there was a lot to pack and do but the mountains simply couldn’t wait. We hit the road early in the morning on May 22nd.
The visit of West Virginia was not optional. We made a stop at Harpers Ferry.
We had dinner at a restaurant along the river and of course we made a quick stop at the Appalachian Trail Visitor Center (unfortunately it was closed due to COVID). Harpers Ferry was a beautiful quintessential small town with historical landmarks.
At the end of the day we built our tent in Low-Water Bridge Campground. The Shenandoah river was flowing right next to our tent but we were so tired that we did not end up going in.
The next morning, we had a classic American breakfast at L'Dees Pancake House in Front Royal. We hit the road prepared for the rest of the drive to the park. As always, coffee was our best friend, especially while on the road. Otto decided to wear his yarmulke that day. Recently we discovered that Otto is jewish.
After we entered the park, we stopped at the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center to rest, obtain a stamp for our passport and further support the National Park Service - aka shopping souvenirs for our family. We sat down on a bench and shortly after, a young woman came to us and told us that she took a photo of us, because we looked so nice. She transferred the photo via bluetooth to us and here it is:
We decided to drive the entire Skyline drive (105 miles / 169 km), but at the same time we did not want to sit in the car the whole day. Therefore we picked two hikes. The first one was called Compton Peak. There were three cool things about this hike:
1) It was on the Appalachian trail and we met one person doing the whole hike (~ 2,200 miles / 3,500 km)!
2) There is this exciting geologic feature that is very very old.
3) Compton Peak offers a nice view:
Skyline drive itself offers numerous stops with beautiful views. It was really a pleasure to drive on that road.
The second hike was Dark Hollow Falls. This is somewhere in the middle of the park. We hiked all the way down to the falls and found a spot on rocks. The little valley was stunning and you couldn’t tell by the picture but it was very very windy!
We ate a quick dinner on the road overlooking Big Meadows and then headed to our first camping experience in the national park. I managed to book a place before we left. The campground was called Lewis Mountain Campground, and we both agreed that it was one of the best campgrounds we’ve ever visited. It was super clean, quiet and we even had a little driveway in front of our tent!
Shenandoah Park is known for its wildlife, black bears especially. My wish was to not meet any bears during our stay. We were lucky, we met only a deer that was wondering a couple of feet in front of our tent.
The next morning we had to wake up very early so that we could make the trip back to NYC. We had to drive approximately 100 miles back home.
The best part of traveling back home was the morning drive through Shenandoah valley. We made it safely to NYC and we were ready to pack our entire studio for our new home in Boston.
And of course, this song in various covers was on repeat the entire drive home.
John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads (from The Wildlife Concert)
At the end of the day we built our tent in Low-Water Bridge Campground. The Shenandoah river was flowing right next to our tent but we were so tired that we did not end up going in.
The next morning, we had a classic American breakfast at L'Dees Pancake House in Front Royal. We hit the road prepared for the rest of the drive to the park. As always, coffee was our best friend, especially while on the road. Otto decided to wear his yarmulke that day. Recently we discovered that Otto is jewish.
After we entered the park, we stopped at the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center to rest, obtain a stamp for our passport and further support the National Park Service - aka shopping souvenirs for our family. We sat down on a bench and shortly after, a young woman came to us and told us that she took a photo of us, because we looked so nice. She transferred the photo via bluetooth to us and here it is:
We decided to drive the entire Skyline drive (105 miles / 169 km), but at the same time we did not want to sit in the car the whole day. Therefore we picked two hikes. The first one was called Compton Peak. There were three cool things about this hike:
1) It was on the Appalachian trail and we met one person doing the whole hike (~ 2,200 miles / 3,500 km)!
2) There is this exciting geologic feature that is very very old.
3) Compton Peak offers a nice view:
Skyline drive itself offers numerous stops with beautiful views. It was really a pleasure to drive on that road.
The second hike was Dark Hollow Falls. This is somewhere in the middle of the park. We hiked all the way down to the falls and found a spot on rocks. The little valley was stunning and you couldn’t tell by the picture but it was very very windy!
We ate a quick dinner on the road overlooking Big Meadows and then headed to our first camping experience in the national park. I managed to book a place before we left. The campground was called Lewis Mountain Campground, and we both agreed that it was one of the best campgrounds we’ve ever visited. It was super clean, quiet and we even had a little driveway in front of our tent!
Shenandoah Park is known for its wildlife, black bears especially. My wish was to not meet any bears during our stay. We were lucky, we met only a deer that was wondering a couple of feet in front of our tent.
The next morning we had to wake up very early so that we could make the trip back to NYC. We had to drive approximately 100 miles back home.
The best part of traveling back home was the morning drive through Shenandoah valley. We made it safely to NYC and we were ready to pack our entire studio for our new home in Boston.
And of course, this song in various covers was on repeat the entire drive home.
John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads (from The Wildlife Concert)
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