Sibby’s Restaurant and Lounge: After-Hike “Sole” Food

If you like hiking, then chances are you also like eating after a hike. Us too. Lisa and I had just hiked the Whiteoak Canyon/Cedar Run loop – nine and a half miles and almost 2500 feet of elevation – and driven an hour from the trailhead near Syria, VA to Warrenton because we heard …

Waterfalls and Wildlife Part 2: Cedar Run

Doggedly we pushed upward … With three of the four falls along our planned route behind us, we were eager to gain the most impressive of Whiteoak Canyon’s attractions. Climbing steadily up switchbacks of ragged stone steps, we were beginning to work up a sweat. We had taken our time getting to this point, and …

Waterfalls and Wildlife, Part 1: Whiteoak Canyon

Whiteoak Canyon in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park gets a lot of love. It usually occupies the “second best” or “second most popular” spot on any given website’s SNP bucket list, giving way to Old Rag (an exciting, rocky, summit climb), or Dark Hollow Falls (a short easy waterfall hike). We must agree. Having done all …

Hawksbill Mountain: Peaked and Pantsless

  Hawksbill Peak was our third hike on this Sunday in February and, to our delight, the day had become relatively warm and partly sunny. Lisa and I had intended to end our day with an easy 1.6 mile trek to the Miller's Head observation platform with its gorgeous views of Page Valley and of the town of Luray, …

Dark Hollow Falls: 43 Years Between Hikes

This short hike to Dark Hollow Falls was an interesting one for me. When I was young my family frequently vacationed in Charlottesville, VA so I was no stranger to SNP. Mostly we did touristy stuff - visited Luray Caverns, drove the Parkway and Skyline Drive stopping frequently at overlooks, and always spent a day at Sherando …

Stony Man / Little Stony Man: Stoned Twice on One Hike

The walk out to Stony Man, the second highest peak in the SNP at 4,011 feet, is an easy hike with a great payoff. We turned this into a slightly more challenging hike by making a loop that included Little Stony Man and the Passamaquoddy Trail.  We departed from the Skyland parking lot (see trailhead coordinates at …