16 September 2014 Bearfence Mountain and Doyles River Falls

For our honeymoon we stayed in the Dogwood Cabin at the park. We've started taking a few more creature comforts with a few nights at one of the larger (warmer) rooms, but we always spend a few nights at Dogwood. It has become an old friend. At each visit, I've ended up with a picture of Ali at the steps by Dogwood. The images give a view of some weather extremes we've seen while here.

We had some great, if cold, weather here 25 years ago.

A wet and foggy celebration of ten years together

A bright and sunny visit at 20 years

Our cars have changed a bit over the years. The fun Mazda is still with us.

Our first journey today was a hike to the top of Bearfence Mountain. It's a fun, short hike with some great rock scrambles and a super view at the top. It was early in the week with high clouds so the day was perfect for Bearfence.

It's usually late in the season when we visit, but we do get to occasionally spot interesting flowers along the trail.

All the rock scrambles eventually lead you to this.

A hike up a little farther along the ridge gives more views.

Between Bearfence and Doyles River, we made a stop to enjoy the views from another lookout.

Over the years we have gotten much better at spotting flowers. Earlier in the year we spotted a number of orchids on a journey through the northweest. Today we were able to spot orchids in Virginia as we walked the Doyles River trail.

We've seen a lot more flow at these falls (during a huge rain storm). Today we enjoyed their beauty on a dry,pleasant day.