The Cascades

Semi-frozen Cascades

    The waterfall wasn't entirely frozen, but it was still a pretty incredible sight.  The Cascades is a fantastic w
aterfall and a 'must-do' for any Virginia Tech student.  As such, it was no surprise that even on this blistery day, it was quite crowded.  Fortunately, where there could have been ice, there was snow instead.  This meant that no wipeouts ensued while traversing the trail.  I've done this hike once before in the winter when the path was covered in a thick sheet of ice.  On that occasion, the views were comparable to those that we saw today, but the going was much slower.  Last time, I experienced a multi-person pileup, when my friend lost his footing while climbing up a set of ice-coated rock stairs and took the rest of us out on his way down.  This time we had no such excitement.  Regardless, it was a picture perfect day.
   My apologies for the photo quality yet again.  I brought my small camera again this time, only to find that I had left my memory card in my laptop.  I took these on Casey's cell phone, and although they turned out surprisingly 'okay,' they're still a far step down from the quality from a real camera.

Casey and I at the semi-frozen falls

An icy creek

Casey and Matt at the falls

Crabtree Falls

Supposedly, these falls are the tallest falls east of the Mississippi.  I didn't do the research, so I'll have to take those claims at their word.  What I do know is that they are pretty beautiful, even in the dead of winter.  Not that my photos ever do justice to the true natural beauty of any area, but these is particular don't depict reality.

The day started at 5:55 AM when my alarm clock woke me up in my pony themed bedroom of Northern Virginia.  The plan was set.  Casey was going to meet me at my home at 6:30 and we were going to caravan down to Virginia Tech, stopping for a hefty midday break to do an 8 mile hike from Spy Rock to Crabtree Falls.  The day got off to a slightly late, albeit not unexpected start.  Following this, the drive from 66 to 81 was uneventful.  Upon nearing Montebello, VA, we began our winding drive up the mountain.  We had not accounted for snow in the area.  The roads were not horrible, but having come from an area that calls snow-days for "cold" (and by this I mean positive 15 degrees F) and panics at the thought of an inch of snow, I gripped the steering wheel like a little old lady.  My tiny car dutifully rolled along and I had my first experience of what the anti-lock braking system feels like when activated.  Needless to say, we arrived at lot #1 alive.  Because this hike was an 8 mile, one-way hike, we decided to park one car at the Crabtree Falls lot and one at the Spy Rock lot.  Casey left his car in the Crabtree Falls lot and jumped into my car to hitch a ride to the other lot.

I must say - karma is real and it's not friendly.  I had read that the Spy Rock lot was in the back of a little fish hatchery.

"Good," I thought.  "It must be decently maintained then."  And so, when I saw the Falls lot which was covered in a nice layer of packed snow and ice, I became a bit selfish and let Casey put his car there.  Long story short, I was wrong.  After arriving at the fish hatchery (which was at least decently maintained) and then seeing a tiny sign in the back pointing up a one way, steep road covered in (not terribly packed) snow with a ditch on one side, I regretted my decision.

As much as I try to push it, my little car is not a mountain car.  It is more of a "long drives near the beach" kind of car.  We got partway up the road when my car stopped going forward.  The wheels spun, the engine revved, but alas, even while making the noise to rival NASCAR, my car wasn't moving.  I started to back down the hill, praying that no one would come up at the same time.  A few skids and swerves later, I panicked and made Casey take the wheel.  He backed us down the road much more smoothly.  At this point, I was anxiety ridden and adamantly refused to park alongside the road.  Whether or not this would have been entirely legal, I am not sure, but either way, I wasn't having it.

Being a good boyfriend, Casey drove us back to the first lot without so much as a complaint.  And so, as it was, Crabtree Falls became our single destination.  It was an 'out-and-back' this way, with 1.7 miles in each direction.  Despite the interesting morning, the hike was pleasant, despite being quite busy by this time.  I wasn't a huge fan of how "built up" the hike was.  There were guard rails and stairs and a rock wall at the top to prevent natural selection from occurring, but the waterfall was definitely a plus.  Overall, not a bad hike and I came out in better spirits than when I had started.

This was originally going to be our 10th out of 10 hikes on a "Ten Best Day Hikes in Virginia" list created by Mike Vaughn (list here).  Now I suppose we have 9.5 out of 10 done.  Ah well, you win some, you lose some.  We'll be back, I can promise you that.

Part of the falls (they're way too long to get them all in one shot)

Me in front of the falls

Casey and I at the top of the falls

Old Rag Mountain

Old Rag Mountain.  It's probably one of the most famous hikes in Virginia.  It's the Virginia hike that has made many a novice hiker feel like a "real mountaineer" (whether or not this is actually the case!), draws crowds in the summer months, never goes empty even in the winter months, and has splendid views.  Or so I have been told.  Before this week, I had hiked Old Rag twice.  Each previous occasion was memorable for the rock scrambling and the company, but I had not yet had the pleasure of hiking it on a sunny day.  Don't get me wrong; there's no shortage of sunlight on this splendid mountain.  But, for whatever reason, I seemed to have caught this hike on the days when the sun didn't want to show its head from behind a wall of clouds.  This time it was a different story.

My friends were visiting Washington DC from Roanoke, VA and Michigan respectively.  We were in the middle of a "life sharing" of sorts.  Casey and I had spent the previous several days in Michigan, gaining a glimpse into Kevin's life before college.  Now it was our turn.  Being a stones throw from the city, Washington DC was obviously on the list of "must dos," but along with playing "tourist" in our nation's busy capital, we decided that it might be nice to take them to see some of the natural wonders of the area. Granted, at a 1.5 hour drive from my home, Old Rag Mountain isn't exactly close to us, but we jointly decided that the hike would be worth the drive.  As it turned out that I had forgotten, there is also a fairly hefty parking fee to do this hike ($5 per person during the winter months, albeit with a $15 cap).  Nevertheless, if you have not yet had a chance to hike this hike, it's a must do for anyone living in the DC metropolitan area.

Kevin and Courtney nearing the summit on their first trip to Old Rag

The hike was pleasant and I think that Kevin and Courtney were surprised at the immensity of the rock scrambling.  There's a brief section that I still haven't managed to do without assistance.  Although this peeves the over-achiever side of me, the four of us did eventually make it to the summit and were graced with some astounding views.  I can now honestly say that the claims of fantastic summit views were not overstated.  A good day was had by all.

Casey and I on the trail

Old Rag Mountain views during the climb

The group at the summit