Shenandoah - Jones Run/Doyles River Trail

I can't believe it was July before I made it down to Shenandoah. That is one downside to moving back to Maryland. It was just that much closer/easier in Virginia. But it was time.

The weather was insane that week. 95+, heat indices in the 105-115 range. It was gross. I uttered "I'm melting" far too often and probably annoyed some people with it. I love summer but feeling the air just engulf you is really not cool. But that didn't stop me from hiking. No sir.

We decided to camp at Loft Mountain, the southern campground in the park. I'd only been that far south once, when I had to pick up John after his trek on the AT. I basically was only there overnight. No hiking, just sleep. So I've wanted to go back and explore that area, versus some of the northern trails, which I've done a lot of.

So we landed on the Jones Run/Doyles River loop. It was just over 6 miles, which is just about a normal, not too hard but still a workout hike for me. I think I would have pushed in a few more miles if it weren't for the heat.

The trail was great because of all the little falls along the way. But man, some of the trail was slick and my boots did not want to stick to anything. I'm glad I'm smart about things like that and didn't tumble anywhere. Despite the heat, and the swimming holes along the way, we never actually got in the water. For some reason we just wanted to go as fast as we could and sweat like crazy.

That evening was lovely. We had a nice campfire and ate a ton of chicken kabobs. And by the time the sun started to set a breeze had picked up and it was actually cool. I actually had to put on my jacket at one point. So, leasson re-learned, when it's crazy hot, head to the mountains.

The next morning we decided to drive the rest of Skyline Drive south (so in all trips combined, I've now done the entire thing!...I think, maybe a few miles at the very north I didn't cover?) and head to Charlottsville, just to check it out. We saw a mama bear and two cubs race across the road. You know, they always say how fast bears are. And that's why you can't just run away when you come across one. But dang, I was kind of shocked. They were bookin' it up that mountain.  So yeah, really, don't run from bears.