6 October 2019 Return to Finzel Swamp

It was time to go home.  I was still  in terrible shape, but I wanted to make a return visit to this place.  We had a great visit the year prior with many bird sightings on a misty morning.  There was much less mist this morning and no birds.

I struggled a bit to keep up with Ali.

We made it to the end of the trail and avenged a cache find missed last year.

This snapping turtle seemed about as ill as I was.  He had none of the normal movements and behavior of these cantankerous animals.  I suspect its days were few.

I had survived the trip.  My fever topped near 105.  When we reached home, I found I had lost ten percent of my body weight on the trip.  I hoped for better days ahead.

5 October 2019 Swallow Falls

This trip was a highlight reel of some of my favorite places.  We made a stop at Swallow Falls to hunt for an elusive geocache and see the falls.  I was still wobbly and relying on a hiking pole for my balance.

Caching here is not a great place to be when your balance isn't great.

Ali wisely made me sit down while she went to hunt our multiple dnf cache.  She made the find while I watched.

This was as close as I got to the falls.  They were beautiful today with a lot of flow.  To much for me to risk getting any closer.

4 October 2019 Paul State Forest

It was time to leave Shenandoah.  Our great plans were wiped out by a serious ilness, but I knew I needed to get home and hopefully begin to recover.  The relaxing balcony at our room will have to wait until hopefully another visit.

We stopped for a final early morning overlook.

Paul State Forest is a 175 acre preserve.  We stopped here for a slow walk in the woods and another find on the Smokey Bear GeoTrail.  The walk was mostly flat, and 175 acres is a relatively short walk for us, but the trip exhausted me.

3 October 2019 Visiting Rapidan

It was our last day in Shenandoah.  Our plans for long hikes vanished with a fever and other issues brought on by a virus that nearly shut me down.  Ali made the suggestion of the mild hike to Camp Rapidan as our last journey here.  Rapidan was the first presidential retreat built by President Hoover.  It was in use for only a short period of time before Camp David was commissioned.

We spotted hepatica leaves at the edge of the trail.

Rattlesnake plantain with no sign of a spike from blooming.  There were at least a half dozen of these orchids gathered in the area.

This visit we took the tour.  I was in such bad shape I thought I fit right in with the crowd.  Ali looked like a youth amongst this group.  The tour host was knowledgeable, but the official information displays removed much of the feel for what the building was like when it was in use.  If only I didn't feel so old...

It was a slow walk back, but I made it.  We stopped at an overlook where we had watched sunset before.  It was strange.  I've never been concerned about being on trails and the edges of rocks, but this evening I was tentative and concerned until I settled in on the rocks.

It was amazing!

By our cabin, there was a walking stick on the handrail when we returned.

2 October 2019 Visiting Pocosin Mission

We hadn't visited the Pocosin Mission site in a decade.  It seemed to be a walk I might be able to make so Ali planned a return visit.  Pocosin Mission was an Episcopal mission started in 1905 to serve the residents of the area.  Our first visit here was thirty years ago.  At that time the structures were more intact and some of the furnishings still remained.  As time passes the structures continue to fade, and visitors have removed much of the older items of the past.

The steps leading to the old mission church site.

There used to be the remants of an old bed frame here and a few kitchen items.  They have been lost.

Most visitors would pass by the old graveyard with no notice of the unmarked stones still in place marking the remains of the early settlers.  We only know where to look from the knowledge gained in a book.

It was time to leave Pocosin Mission and make a slow return.

1 October 2019 Back on the Trail, Sort Of

My fever dropped slighly so we were going to see if I could tough it out on a light trail day. Our plan was to visit a few overlooks, take a very short hike to Dark Hollow Falls and finish with a walk to Bushy Top for sunset.

It's tradition for me to take a picture of Ali while in front of the cabin where we stayed on each of our visits.

We managed a few pleasant overlooks.

Dark Hollow Falls was a different story.  It was a bright, sunny day, but I had issues with my balance and almost no strength to reach the falls.  In the end we were there, but it was a very painful journey.  My many falls on the way to and from Dark Hollow Falls made me realize I would be useless without something to hold me up.  For the rest of the week I used a hiking pole for balance.  It was the only way I could possibly join Ali for a walk to one of our favorite places to end the day at Millers Head overlook.

30 September 2019 103.1

29 September 2019 The World Crashed

We were headed to Shenandoah National Park. I was really happy to be returning to one of my favorite places to mark a milestone for our lives.  Our first stop was at Blandy Farms.  We enjoyed the trails and found a number of caches.

We planned to stop at a few Virginia State Parks on the way.  They have wonderful parks and are always great to visit.  By the time we reached Sky Meadows there was no doubt something was truly wrong.  We visited for a bit and found a couple caches before heading off to Front Royal.

Front Royal is usually where we stock up on provisions and water for a time in Shenandoah..Today's primary mission was locating a thermometer to take my temperature.  Once we reached Shenadoah I was able to suck it up and get through one very short hike.

It took forever, but I somehow made it.

28 September 2019 Virginia Bound

We were planning to end the evening in Virginia, but first there were a few fun stops to make.  We started our day with a visit to a Pennsylvania SGL.  There was Virginia Day Lily in bloom in the parking area.

Our walk in the gamelands included a few rock formations and only a small amount of rain near the end.  We enjoyed the formations and were careful to check for rattlesnakes.

They were past blooming, but finding round-leaf orchids with spikes in the woods is always a treat.

You know you're an old time geocacher when you are driving down a dirt road and one of you sees a benchmark.  Ali spotted this roadside one at about 45 mph.  It's still feels like a surprise gift to make one of these unexpected find and log it.  Unfortunately, this one did not show up on the geocaching database.  Too bad as it was in good shape.

We visited Quebec Run last year for the first time in many.  It was an amazing visit and a wonderful hike.  To be able to return again was a treat.  The hike was much shorter, but the visit was totally worth it.

Ali even spotted a number of American Chestnut trees on the walk.

We visited a couple West Virginia state parks on our way through and happily made it to the Virginia Farm Market to buy goodies for the trip.  It's a tradition for us to stop and buy apples and bakery items for the journey.  Little did I know it didn't matter what we bought.  We stopped at a newer and quiet Thai restaurant for a later dinner.

There was a good looking MG sitting in the parking lot when we returned from dinner.