Fall in Virginia is a good time. The leaves can't touch those in northern New England, but they look nice all the same, the nights are cool and the days are warm...or mostly...but we'll get to that in a minute. It seems we've spent the better part of our October weekends exploring the western half of the Commonwealth--I'm beginning to think it is actually the better half. Needless to say, our outdoor monkeys have been happy to go along for the ride, even if saltiness was at a minimum.
We did a scenic and aptly-named hike called Cold Mountain while "out that way." The top is managed as a meadow, so the views were lovely to the east and west and the animals got to run, run, run. We hardly saw any other people, which was also pretty cool.
On the ride back to camp, we decided to use our portable electronic device to check-in on the weather forecast, as it was now cold AND rainy, and The Kingdome was still on its maiden voyage, with its weatherliness (is that a word?) untested. "Well, the good news is that it does not appear to be raining at the campground. The bad news is that it appears to be snowing just west of us." Awesome. The dress was going to have to make way for the stretchy pants and all the fleece I could muster, seeing as how I left all the down puffy clothes at home. Needless to say, we survived; although, we did opt for a hasty morning retreat to one of Charlottesville's finer breakfast locales over bacon and eggs in the 38 degree pouring rain. One trip down, The Kingdome survived the deluge and kept us mostly warm and dry, and we did a nice hike and ate some very tasty grub.
A week later, one of us was off being tough while running the Tough Mudder at Wintergreen (he IS tough!). The rest of us stayed local and headed for some outdoor wanderings at York River State Park. This place always seems deserted, but has great trails and good over-the-river and through-the-woods walking. My muddy friends seemed thrilled with the prospect of baths...or maybe they just didn't understand the implications of covering themselves in mud and rolling in dead things, but they did plenty of both. The Marlownator also discovered the hazards of walking through salt marshes--he created a giant muddy splash in the random channel that snuck up on him as he bounded through the Spartina grasses. Good fun.
And that brings us to the end of the month and our most recent exploits. Several months ago in a fit of needing to "get out," I booked the only available campsite for the only available dates at Douthat State Park in the very western part of the state. A friend of ours is from Bath County and we have heard how beautiful it is and I was eager to check it out for myself. Plus, the end of October promised nice weather and beautiful leaves. Well, we got one part of that right.
After a long drive, we got into the campground kind of late, with just enough daylight to set up The Kingdome, walk the dogs a bit, and cook up some dinner. The trouble was that, right after we crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway, it started snowing and we watched the temperature plummet from 55 to 31 degrees over the next hour and 50 miles. Yikes. Getting out of the car was not all that fun, but we were highly efficient in camp set-up, ate some food, and snuggled into our, thankfully, very high quality and very warm sleeping bags! The precipitation that hit the tent all night ranged from rain to snow and everything in between, but not being that enthusiastic about freezing my ass off, I decided not to even peek out until 6:30 when the dogs decided they were ready for the day. I opened the tent and saw snow on the ground and a lot of steam rising off the lake (unfortunately, I forgot the camera and I am not all that dazzled by the iPhone's photographic ability).
The Kingdome had withstood the snow load (it rolled off nicely all night long) and we had stayed toasty warm, especially with our two furry friends nestled among us. After a quick morning romp, even the dogs decided that maybe another hour in the warm confines of the down-laden Kingdome was the best option. Someone wasted no time finding the one vacant sleeping bag. She is cunning.
We stalled a bit, decided that we were not above, yet-again, skipping the Coleman stove breakfast in favor of the hot one the park restaurant could provide, and headed out. The food was simple, cheap, and the staff very willing to throw us a warm-beverage bone by filling up two thermoses and a travel mug--we liked that and left probably the largest breakfast tip ever, but full thermoses were worth it! By the time we finished up, the clouds were breaking and we had decided not to abandon our 7-mile hike up Beards Mountain, so went back to the campsite to pack our bag, don our boots, and have ourselves a little pre-hike pep rally of sorts.
It was a bit of a snowy walk, but nothing we weren't prepared to handle. In fact, it was beautiful, and as the sky continued to clear, we got some beautiful territorial views, made all the more scenic by the layer of snow blanketing them--and then it melted and the golden hues of fall took over. And in 7.1 miles, we saw one other group of people. Nice! This meant plenty of running for the furry friends, who are learning to be good trail citizens and have been practicing their "check-in" and "stay-close" commands, despite the lack of fellow travelers. They were in heaven, and didn't even mind being pelted by the occasional snowball. The fog rolled in and out, but all in all, it was turning out to be a nice day, albeit about 20 degrees cooler than we figured for this time of year! And the hills got the blood flowing and cold was no longer really a problem--funny how that works! The trails are very well maintained, so props to the park staff for that!
On the way back to the campsite, we stopped at park headquarters for some more "sticks," having burned through a few the night before and sensing that some warmth may be a good thing, as Martha says.
Besides the camp site fee, the $5.25 per dog per day pet fee (WTF?!!!), and the $4-for-10-sticks firewood fee (and they really were "sticks"), I think we single-handedly improved the economy of the Commonwealth (organized camping has its downsides, including the close quarters and manicured lawns of the campground, besides the fees, but I can't say I minded the heated bathrooms for the late night trips on this one!). Next time maybe we'll spring for a cabin--Douthat has many of the original CCC cabins that were built in the 1930s when the park was developed. A true treasure. Too bad we, as a nation, can't undertake that kind of economic development again! The stonework and construction from that time always amazes me whenever I see those projects.
We enjoyed an afternoon relaxing by the fire, an early dinner (a KS camping favorite of pierogies--only more deluxe as they were accompanied by brats and rotkraut!) and a few hot toddies to cap off the night before snuggling back into our downy cocoon. Another successful adventure in a newly discovered area. Yea, adventures!
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