Our second trip with Serenity and our last for the season took us back to Virginia – traveling known ground made it easier to get used to the van and logistics.
Sherando Lake and Park is beautiful, fairly small but it is in a great location within a fairly narrow valley. The road into the site has a few tight turns and I can imagine that it would be quite challenging in winter but with clear sky and dry roads, it was no issue.
The camp sites are dry, flat and with full hookup, its quiet but at that time of the year, the weather can turn iffy any time. We were lucky at Sherando this time, gorgeous sunsets against the foliage.
There are not all that many hiking trails, especially when it gets dark in the steep valley. Sunset comes early, sunrise comes late and unfortunately it was overcast, so no moon or stars.
The only “issue” were the deer that hang out right behind the camp. They sleep there by the dozens and our dog really wasn’t used to that all. Barking is of course an issue on any campground and our though has been that dogs bark when they are afraid and they are afraid when they don’t understand. So, in order to prevent the dog from barking, I took her (on a long leash) to the lawn where the dear hang out and let her sniff (not eat) the droppings. It made for some spooky scenes where the headlamp illuminates pairs of eyes all around us.
Quick morning hike(s), sun doesn’t come up until 9am or so and dog and I were already 5 miles in when we started breakfast.
When the sun came out, we packed up and headed north toward the Shenandoah National Park where we had reservations to stay that night in Big Meadows. On the way, we checked out Humpback Rocks, a spectacularly beautiful area and hike, quite steep with a tremendous view point on top. The last bit was a little to steep for the (exhausted) dog and we took turns taking photos and watching over the pooch.
We headed back down, stopped at a Walmart and refilled on dog kibble, then headed back into the Shenandoah and with a couple of short hikes went to Big Meadows. Weather was pulling in, it was getting windy and weirdly enough sitting by the fire wasn’t relaxing. Big Meadows is the largest campground in the park and it seemed completely booked. Neighbors are nice and all that but I can more of a nature experience sitting in our backyard than in that campground.
At night, real rain rolled in and we agreed that we much prefer to be in the van than in a tent. It would have been miserable. There is one thing to be in a tent in real wilderness where no other mode of transport exists but packed like sardines into a campground and still be freezing is not fun. Nah, a campervan is a great solution.
Dog woke me up at 6am, it was pitch black outside and wind was howling. We walked for about 2h when it started to get reluctantly light and decided to just have quick breakfast and get on the road. It was so overcast and windy that we really didn’t feel like another day hike, so we just kept going back home.
Shenandoah is a gorgeous area for hikes and camping but quite crowded. Restrictions on what to do with the dog and where to make a fire etc, are slightly annoying and I think we’d be better off in a National Forest across the road. That’s what we will aim for next time.