Longwood Gardens Chrysanthemum Festival

My attempts to visit Longwood Gardens once every season didn't really work out this year, but as soon as I found a free weekend I made a Fall trip. And it was as magnificent as always. It was the Chrysanthemum Festival - a flower I don't give much credit to. So it was nice to see all the different varieties. Plus it was gorgeous outside and even though some things were dying there was beauty to be found.

Catoctin Mountain Hike

We've been very lucky with the weather out here. I often have to stop hiking once November hits but it's been nice enough to still get out there. We were supposed to do this hike during the Government shutdown, but some lame people decided that we shouldn't trespass. Ended up still hiking in a national park that weekend, so it's funny that we moved this hike, but yeah.

I'd been up near Catoctin Mountain many times, just this spring actually. But there's a lot of hiking in the area so I hadn't done this trail yet. Fall hiking offers some challenges, mostly the leaves often cover the trail. This means you have to pay more attention to blazes and sometimes you trip on hidden rocks. We managed to stay mostly on track, but it does slow you down a little. Still, the fall colors always make it worthwhile.


First up, Chimney Rocks. I was very sad that I couldn't find a safe way over to this one set of rocks. There's so much to play around on. But I could not safely leap over this huge crevasse so I had to hold back. I was ready to go scrambling down the mountain to find an alternate way up, but there were some people in the group who aren't fans of rock play so I didn't want to keep them waiting. Ahh well, next time.

The second cool spot was Wolf Rock. Even more rocks to play on! Someone asked me recently how I choose my hikes. Ones with rocks to play on most certainly win over some others. Waterfalls also win over straight strolls through the woods.

The rest of the trail had some overlooks and a few ups and downs. We did a short run over to Cunningham Falls, but since everyone had been there we didn't stay long. Overall this trail wasn't too steep, had a lot of amazing views, and the weather was right on our side. Definitely need to do it again.

Ilchester Climbing

Sometimes you just need to skip out of work a few hours early and go climb some rocks.

Ilchester Rock is in a park that's fairly close to my house, so no long drive to the mountains. There's also only a few routes there so easy setup and doesn't take too long to try out everything. So pretty nice thing to do on a random Wednesday.

I have not climbed outdoors nearly as much as I wanted to this year. So it was nice to get in some real rock time. Of course outdoors is much more difficult so it took me a bit to get back in the swing of things. But overall, a good few hours on a rare warm November afternoon.