Valderee, Valderaaah... I love hiking in the mountains. And I love hiking in the wilderness. And I especially love hiking in the wilderness in the mountains!
This afternoon I drove over to Stokesville, in the George Washington National Forest, across this picturesque old railroad bridge over the North River, on my way to Todd Lake.
The lake is really beautiful this time of year. Click on the picture below for a nice big version to see the details of the rock outcroppings. The trees around it are huge.
There was no one up here but me. The campground and picnic areas haven't opened yet. Solitude! Yes!! I hiked the trail along the stream that empties into the lake.
The stream follows a gorge that is simply ..., uh, well... gorgeous! (no pun intended)
I then decided to hike up the Trimble Mountain Trail. Again, I had the entire trail all to myself. Not a single car in the parking lot! Perfect!
The wildflowers are indescribably beautiful, and make the air smell wonderful.
My ears popped four times on the way up. The temperature was perfect. Click on these pictures (above and below) and look at the large versions and imagine yourself up here. It doesn't get any better than this!
Solitude, serenity, peace and quiet. Ahhhh. And tiny wildflowers, too.
Up near the summit, the rhododendrons are blooming. Words can't describe the wonderful feeling I get out here in the wilderness.
I don't know what these flowers are (below), but they were everywhere. The bushes are much too large to be blueberries, and besides, I can easily recognize blueberry bushes and these ain't them...
Again, click on the picture below for the large version. I'd like my grandchildren to be able to enjoy this beauty. And I want them to have to walk two hours up a mountain to get here, too!
This isn't the summit, but it's pretty close. A nice rock to stop and take a break, dig into the backpack for a sip of ice-water and just sit and relax and enjoy the solitude...
View from near the summit, looking towards Reddish Knob.
There were thousands of these wild tiny irises all over the place, from the summit all down the western side of the mountain.
You can't really get lost up here. The trail is easy to follow, although steep in some places. The carpet of moss beside the trail is almost continuous, and where there isn't moss, there's a string of ferns.
The dogwoods were in full bloom, both in the ravines and up at the summit.
I don't have any idea what this was (below), but it sure smelled pretty. You could smell the sweet perfume from yards away. I think it's related to woodbine or honeysuckle. But it is a woody bush rather than a vine.
And I don't know what these are, either, but again they smelled heavenly. The clusters are much bigger than lantana, but smell even sweeter.
The lake is really beautiful this time of year. Click on the picture below for a nice big version to see the details of the rock outcroppings. The trees around it are huge.
There was no one up here but me. The campground and picnic areas haven't opened yet. Solitude! Yes!! I hiked the trail along the stream that empties into the lake.
The stream follows a gorge that is simply ..., uh, well... gorgeous! (no pun intended)
I then decided to hike up the Trimble Mountain Trail. Again, I had the entire trail all to myself. Not a single car in the parking lot! Perfect!This trail was "sponsored" and maintained by Al and Bry's scout troop many years ago. It meanders up the mountain about 2000 feet of elevation change across four miles.
The wildflowers are indescribably beautiful, and make the air smell wonderful.
My ears popped four times on the way up. The temperature was perfect. Click on these pictures (above and below) and look at the large versions and imagine yourself up here. It doesn't get any better than this!
Do you see her? The autofocus on the camera was confused by the underbrush, and by the time I got the camera set on manual focus, she'd decided to skeedaddle.
Solitude, serenity, peace and quiet. Ahhhh. And tiny wildflowers, too.
Up near the summit, the rhododendrons are blooming. Words can't describe the wonderful feeling I get out here in the wilderness.
I don't know what these flowers are (below), but they were everywhere. The bushes are much too large to be blueberries, and besides, I can easily recognize blueberry bushes and these ain't them...
Again, click on the picture below for the large version. I'd like my grandchildren to be able to enjoy this beauty. And I want them to have to walk two hours up a mountain to get here, too!
This isn't the summit, but it's pretty close. A nice rock to stop and take a break, dig into the backpack for a sip of ice-water and just sit and relax and enjoy the solitude...
View from near the summit, looking towards Reddish Knob.
There were thousands of these wild tiny irises all over the place, from the summit all down the western side of the mountain.
You can't really get lost up here. The trail is easy to follow, although steep in some places. The carpet of moss beside the trail is almost continuous, and where there isn't moss, there's a string of ferns.
The dogwoods were in full bloom, both in the ravines and up at the summit.
I don't have any idea what this was (below), but it sure smelled pretty. You could smell the sweet perfume from yards away. I think it's related to woodbine or honeysuckle. But it is a woody bush rather than a vine.
And I don't know what these are, either, but again they smelled heavenly. The clusters are much bigger than lantana, but smell even sweeter.
On the way home, I came across an old barn. Now, there's nothing special about an old barn, there are thousands of them all over the Shenandoah Valley. But I figured, what the heck, many photography awards have been handed out for pictures of ... old barns! So why not take a picture of an old barn? I've never taken a picture of an old barn before, so I was curious how it would turn out.
Now that I have some pictures of an old barn, I honestly don't know how they turned out. Is this award material? I think not. Some of the mountain pictures above are better, to me at least. But then on the other hand, mountain pictures and photos of wildflowers are a dime a dozen. What do you think?
Why do pictures of old barns win awards?
3 comments:
I guess there is some nostalgia in the old barns - Little House on the Prairie Syndrome. I like the mountain pictures best.
Beautiful pictures! I need to look at them much more slowly. I'll keep up with you now. Have a safe trip, and happy hiking.
Your pictures are fantastic! Have you ever thought about getting a really nice camera and doing some freelance nature photography? I wonder if you could send in some of your pictures to National Geographic or something. Seriously, they're amazing.
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