Flora of Rapidan Loop

A selection of four pictures showing some of the interesting colors seen while hiking the Rapidan Loop. I identified these as I wrote this post by comparing my pictures to the pictures found here.

1. Yellow blooms of Black-eyed Susan.
2. Pink petals of Purple-flowering Raspberry.
3. Vivid orange of Turk's-cap Lily.
4. Red fruits of some variety of raspberry. I wanted to make this the fruit of the Purple-flowering Raspberry that is in the second picture, but the leaves of the plant looked different (I have other photos that show this difference better than these photos). I bumbled around the web trying to identify the berry (or actually...not berry, but aggregate fruit), but I ran out of patience before I could make the ID. So for now, it is just a raspberry.

Snakes of Camp Hoover

You may remember me writing a few weeks back about the Rapidan Loop hike that I took in July. I have finally worked through the pictures that I took earlier in the summer and have "caught up" to the photos from the Rapidan hike. As mentioned in that earlier post, my friend Rich accompanied Tammy and I, and he also wrote about this hike. Even better, while we were enjoying the views from Hazeltop, he took a picture of me taking a picture. Then, when he got home he turned that photo of me into a banner for my blog. I liked it so much that I promptly incorporated it into my blog template.

The first third of this hike takes you down from Skyline Drive to Camp Hoover, where you can explore the history of the presidential retreat used by Herbert Hoover. A park ranger is resident in the camp, and he gives tours that describe the history of the camp, the various buildings that remain, and what they were used for. He also pointed out a couple of snakes that regularly sunned themselves on a rock in the camp.

Unfortunately, the snakes were halfway inside a shady crevice in the rock. We did not get great looks at the snakes. One was a Timber Rattlesnake, one of three poisonous snakes in Virginia, so we did not attempt to get very close.

In the first photo, you can barely see two snakes. The one of the left is a Northern Watersnake (the camp is right next to where Mill Prong and Laurel Prong come together to form the Rapidan River). The one on the far right is the Timber Rattlesnake. In the second picture, I was able to crop a photo to provide a closer view of the rattlesnake's head. He looks mean.

Rapidan Loop

This past Sunday, Tammy and I hiked what I am calling the Rapidan Loop, in Shenandoah National Park. We also had a guest hiker: my friend Rich joined us.

Sunday was a fantastic day. Lots of sun. Unseasonably cool. Gentle breeze. All in all, it was a great day for a hike.

The Rapidan Loop, as I call it, is a 7.4 mile loop that starts at Milam Gap, milepost 53, on the Skyline Drive. The first part of the hike follows Mill Prong Trail, which, in an amazing coincidence, parallels a stream called Mill Prong as it cascades down hill. This stream joins another stream, Laurel Prong, to form the Rapidan River. All this water ends up in the Rappahannock River and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.

Where the two "prongs" come together to form the Rapidan River is the former summer getaway of President Hoover, called Rapidan Camp. He would come here, sometimes with his entire cabinet and dignitaries, for summer vacations during his tenure in office. Now it is preserved as part of Shenandoah National Park. For those not inclined to hike down to (and back up from) the camp, there is a van that will shuttle you down to the camp from Big Meadows Campground. History buffs would definitely enjoy the tour, graciously provided by a resident park ranger.

To complete the Rapidan Loop, we left Rapidan Camp along the Laurel Prong Trail, following Laurel Prong upstream. Where the Laurel Prong Trail ends at the Appalachian Trail, turn north and follow the Appalachian Trail back to Milam Gap.

Once you leave Camp Rapidan, you are climbing back up to the elevation of Skyline Drive, and then higher as you cross the summit of Hazeltop, the third highest peak in Shenandoah National Park. The last mile or two of the hike is a gentle descent from Hazeltop's summit down to Milam Gap. At the summit of Hazeltop, there is a nice stopping point where you can gaze into the hills and valleys to the west of the park.