Lace up those hiking boots!

Thursday, was a busy day. We opted for the shorter Lewis Falls Loop in the morning. Beautiful walk in the woods and then a long, steep rocky climb to another waterfall. I beg to differ with whoever rated the difficulty level of this portion of the hike as “moderate”. Lol.  

 Steep, rocky section of the Lewis Trail - does this look moderate to you?!

The waterfall, with an 81 foot drop, is one of the taller ones in the area. No nekked people at this one, but one gal did climb way out onto the edge past the signs reading – Do Not Climb on the Rocks – to have her picture taken. I just waited for her to clamber back. Patience, grasshopper. I am trying not to be cranky in my old age. Lol.

Lewis Falls (no photo bomb, yeah!)

The return trip was on the Appalachian Trail. We took a brief detour to Blackrock overlook – gorgeous views and you can start to see just a hint of the fall color.

Part of the Appalachian Trail - lovely.

View from Blackrock Overlook.

Just a hint of fall color.

Rog taking a break.

Thursday afternoon, we drove a short distance to the Bearfence Mountain trailhead. This was a short 1.2-mile loop that promised a 360˚viewpoint. The only catch was that to get to that viewpoint you had to traverse a rock scramble – bouldering is so not on my to-do list. But we met some other hikers who said the view was worth it, so I manned up and it was actually kinda fun.  

The promised viewpoint is waaay out there.

We're on our way!

Hmmmmm... "What in blue blazes was I thinking?!" (Get it? Lol)

We made it! 

Beautiful view too.

Friday was our last day in Shenandoah and our “big” hike. The Cedar Run/Whiteoak Falls Loop trail was a little less than 9-miles but rated “very strenuous”. (The description said 7.3, but they lied - we did 8.7 miles and I want credit for every step!) Tell me again, who thought this was a good idea?? The good news, there are multiple waterfalls (at least eight marked on the map) and the first half of the hike was ALL downhill. The bad news, the second half of the hike was ALL uphill. The trail was tough in places, but definitely worth the effort. I kept hoping to see a bear, but no luck. Kind of like the moose in Maine – I’m convinced it’s all marketing. Lol.

Whose idea was this??? Oh yeah, mine. 

Lots of waterfalls on this trail too.

Rog crossing the creek. 

Late season wild flowers.

One of several falls on Cedar Run.

I do love the forest!

Love the big rocks too!

Lower Whiteoak Falls.

Upper Whiteoak Falls.

Can you believe it - photo bombed again! Can you find it? Lol.

From here we head to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We have a few days to get there and then on Tuesday, 10/18, we drive to Knoxville, TN to pick Rian up at the airport. We are soooooo looking forward to her visit! The fall color is supposed to be just awesome. One downside to the campground we'll be staying at - there is NO cell phone or internet connectivity. So we haven't really fallen off the face of the earth, it will just seem like it. :)  I'll take lots of pictures so you'll have something to look forward to when we get back to civilization.