Saturday Hike up Bear Den Mtn

Friday, I made like a politician and put out 250 pounds of fertilizer in the front yard, side yards, back yard, and the trees in the lower 40. The cost of fertilizer has gone through the roof. Last year, the 50-lb bags were about $4.00 each. This year, the same fertilizer is $12 per 50-lb bag! Unbelievable.
Saturday morning, after doing some morning chores, I decided to take the afternoon off and hike up to the top of Bear Den Mountain. This is large sugar-loaf-type mountain at the southern end of Shenandoah National Park, just north of where Skyline Drive turns into the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I parked at Beagle Gap parking area, and took the Appalachian Trail south about 3 miles, gaining about 450 feet of elevation. Starting out about 2 pm, the weather was looking quite nice: bright sunshine and a clear sky. The forecast called for clear skies and temperatures in the upper 40's, with clouds rolling in and rain predicted to start about 8 pm.
At the top of Bear Den Mountain, where all the radio towers are, wow, it was chilly, especially with the wind blowing. Glad I had my coat.
The monopod: This past Christmas, Mom got me a "monopod". It's like a tripod, except that it has only one leg. Basically, it is a collapsible walking stick that you can mount your camera on. With some ingenuity, you can secure the thing to a bush or tree or something, and set the timer on your camera and snap a picture of yourself by running around in front of the lens before the shutter goes off. I carried a long twist-tie to secure the stick to a bush or tree, and got a couple of photos of myself, up near the top of the mountain.
Before I could get down the back side of Bear Den, over towards Calf Mountain, it clouded up bad, and the sky quickly turned ominous. Since I'd failed to put a poncho in my backpack (oversight city: I did have my binoculars, water, some Girl Scout thin mints, map, etc.), I quickly hiked the two hours back up and over the summit, back to the car. I arrived at the car about 6:00 pm, just as the first drops of rain began to fall. I didn't even get my glasses wet.
It rained very lightly all evening, just perfect to soak in and dissolve the fertilizer.
Here's the view from the trail about a quarter mile below the summit of Bear Den Mountain, looking towards Charlottesville.



I can't remember which of my kids it was... but two of kids, individually, on separate occasions, hiked up here with me a while ago, and each time, we stopped to climb this tree.

It is a perfect climbing tree. The lower limbs are only about five feet off the ground, with great climbing limbs all the way up. I believe that perhaps Bryan, and also either Cathryn or Dianna came up here with me, on separate occasions, and we spent an enjoyable few minutes climbing this tree.

I used a long twisty to secure the monopod to an old apple tree branch I found at the edge of a meadow. This is looking southeast towards Schuyler, Virginia, which is where "John Boy" and the Walton family really lived.


The top of Bear Den has a fantastic antenna farm. Here are just two of about ten or more installations up there. The FAA has a site, Norfolk-Southern railroad has a site, ClearChannel has a site, Virginia public television has one, the state highway patrol has one, Comcast has one, AT&T has one, and there is a multi-purpose site, also. In this shot, taken with the monopod tied to a bush, the tower on the right (with all the microwave bubbles on it) is a military and government installation, although it sure looks like a cellular base station on the top. The one of the left is MCI's.


The W4PNT ham radio repeater site is also located up here.

I love walking in the mountains. It'll be even better once the trees turn green again. The rhododendrons and mountain laurel will be blooming in another month or two. I can't wait!