| Long overdue hike to the Shenandoahs Trip Report |
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| Long overdue hike to the Shenandoahs   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Lat/Lon: 38.65910°N / 78.3214°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Mar 4, 2006 Activities: Hiking, Scrambling Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter | Page By: Peter Larkins Created/Edited: Mar 8, 2006 / May 3, 2006 Object ID: 179557 Hits: 520 Loading... Page Score: 79.4% - 3 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Hike DetailsRoute: Panorama Restaurant/Appalachian Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 38.6591, -78.3214
Time on Trail: 4 hours
Weather: Clear, breezy, and temps in the low 40s
Report
After nine months in Northern Virginia, I finally escaped to the Shenandoah’s for the first time. I do not have any good excuses, so I won’t bother defending myself. At 9am, I met my friend, Christian, in Fairfax and drove west. On Highway 211, the drive became visually pleasant once west of Warrenton. It was nice to return to the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont, far from DC suburbia. After an hour and a half drive, we climbed to Thornton Gap and parked at the Panorama Restaurant. There was only one other car in the parking lot. I thought there would be more people, considering it was a beautiful, cloudless day. It was cool and windy, but bearable.
Our plan was to hike to The Pinnacle and back, while bagging Mary’s Rock along the way. We easily spotted the trailhead and started off. There were a few patches of leftover snow and ice, but once we reached the eastern side of the ridge, the sun warmed things up, forcing me to shed a layer. The views to the east hiking up were nice, but we knew better awaited at the summit. The hike isn’t terribly steep, but it’s up hill all the way with no let up.
Once near the top, we went left at the AT marker and scrambled up the rocks (class 3) to the Mary’s Rock summit. We soaked in the views, able to see the double ridge of Massanutten and the ski area clearly. We also could make out a few ridges west of Great Northern Mountain. Other than that, I had no idea what I was looking at. I hadn’t visited the Shenandoah’s since high school and I had never been to the northern half of the park.
After taking some photos, we continued on towards The Pinnacle. The hiking was more gradual and the trail less rocky. When we got to The Pinnacle, I expected more of a view, considering the name. I guess the name refers to the neat rock piles that stay below the treetops near the summit. We took a few more photos from the rock outcroppings along the trail. Nice views looking north and west. We then hiked back to the car without incident.
We ended up only seeing three other pairs of hikers on the day. I imagine with the oncoming warmth, traffic will increase exponentially. Hopefully my next Shenandoah hike, Old Rag, will be just as pleasant, even though I’ll be sharing the trail with many more hikers. Images
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The Pinnacle
