Not only am I going out of my jurisdiction here, this is probably the largest assembly of Team Crash that will ever appear here!
Not too far from the metro area of Washington DC are the famous Shenandoah Mountains. Protected by a National Park, this scenic ridge offers some of the East Coast's best vistas; from simple pull-offs on paved roads to long distance boot-killers like Old Rag Mountain. On more of a middle-of-the-road kind of journey is the hike to Mary's Rock, a mountain peak with a stone precipice offering great views of the beautiful valleys below. The hike has a lot of elevation gain over two miles, so its no particularly long but it is a bit strenuous. But any challenge is worth it for those lofty views.
The medium challenge, high reward combination of Mary's Rock lured me in while I was spending my spring break in Virginia. After a weekend of Penguins hockey in the Capitol with Bilo, Monty, and Scooter, the boys dropped me off in Front Royal where I rendezvoused with a massive contingent of the ROC (Recreational Outdoor Club) from Clarion University. It was a well-choreographed-- albeit somewhat complicated-- plan, allowing me to meet up with long time Team Crash sidekicks like Ox, Mary, and Ber-Ber, who even brought my Jeep, Roxie, with them. Hell, even Sandy the Dog was there. They were counting on me to guide them to a hike or two, so after converging on their camp and many long rounds of Uno around the campfire, I obliged.
And with that, we were off to Mary's Rock!
After the jump, many pictures of the platoon I guided up the mountain, my buggered up eyeball, and, of course, fantastic mountain-top views from Mary's Rock...
After a few days of living it up in downtown Washington, eating slop out of a pot in the freezing cold kinda sucked. But I was thankful to have Ber-Ber and Mary cook for me nonetheless. And despite the rain, we had a great place to camp along the serene Shenandoah River.
Early in the morning I rounded up the troops for the hike. Took awhile but they were all accounted for. The weather cleared up for us just as we got to the trailhead-- always a great sign-- and I was stoked that, even for a brief distance, our route would get my boots back onto the legendary Appalachian Trail again. The entire hike afforded great views into the surrounding forests and valleys, but it was the ones from the high perches on the rocky peak that wowed us the most. Usually I give commentary for each step of my journey, but it's not really needed this time. The following pictures will give you all you need to know about just how breathtaking the views were.... and how amusingly chaotic hiking with this many followers can get!
I spent the rest of the trip nursing this gnarly eye wound... that I didn't sustain hiking or camping... it actually came from the Penguins game at the Capitals arena. Go figure... For the record, the Caps still suck, lost that game to the Pens, and have never won the Stanley Cup. Wooooooo.
That'll do it folks! It may not exactly be a day trip from Pittsburgh, but still certainly worth the trip. Can't wait to head back to Shenandoah... next time you can rest assured I won't be weighted down by 7842689273648632 newbies tagging along (plus will have full vision in both eyes) so things will be much more exciting! But seriously folks, these views are the exact kind that just don't translate into pictures. Definitely one that ya just gotta go see yourself.
Tally-ho!
-Crash
The medium challenge, high reward combination of Mary's Rock lured me in while I was spending my spring break in Virginia. After a weekend of Penguins hockey in the Capitol with Bilo, Monty, and Scooter, the boys dropped me off in Front Royal where I rendezvoused with a massive contingent of the ROC (Recreational Outdoor Club) from Clarion University. It was a well-choreographed-- albeit somewhat complicated-- plan, allowing me to meet up with long time Team Crash sidekicks like Ox, Mary, and Ber-Ber, who even brought my Jeep, Roxie, with them. Hell, even Sandy the Dog was there. They were counting on me to guide them to a hike or two, so after converging on their camp and many long rounds of Uno around the campfire, I obliged.
Early in the morning I rounded up the troops for the hike. Took awhile but they were all accounted for. The weather cleared up for us just as we got to the trailhead-- always a great sign-- and I was stoked that, even for a brief distance, our route would get my boots back onto the legendary Appalachian Trail again. The entire hike afforded great views into the surrounding forests and valleys, but it was the ones from the high perches on the rocky peak that wowed us the most. Usually I give commentary for each step of my journey, but it's not really needed this time. The following pictures will give you all you need to know about just how breathtaking the views were.... and how amusingly chaotic hiking with this many followers can get!
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