Gates Place: Washington DC, Day 2

We had planned to head a bit east to visit Shenandoah National Park. I had researched doing the Old Rag trail - but decided against it as we would be arriving more towards mid-day and the parking it somewhat problematic at the trail as it is so popular. So instead, we packed an extra suitcase with the snow-shoes hoping to make it up to the Big Meadows area and maybe even go to the Hoover's Rapidan Camp which we did not have time to make it to on our last visit.

We stopped at the entrance sign to the park. However when we got to the entrance gate at Skyline Drive - we found it CLOSED! I didn't even think to check - I figured it would be open. The ranger at the gate said snow and ice. I asked her about Old Rag and if she thought we could get a parking spot at the "back door" hike to the summit (to avoid the rock scramble with the potential of ice). She thought we would have a good shot and gave me a map to get there. Since I had researched it months before, I knew quite a bit about it. It was about a 30 minute drive. We got to the small parking lot where there were 12 spots, and only six filled...no problem. We sat in the car with the heat on eating our lunch that we got at Safeway. Then looking around, didn't see any bathrooms - so we used the woods...brrrr... It was warmer than the day before, but only in the 20's. Off we went. The first mile or so didn't have snow - after that, it was a light snow the rest of the way.

Since we were coming in the back door of a very popular hike (the most popular in the park...maybe even in Virginia) - we came across a pit toilet about 1.5 miles in...naturally. Oh well. It is not like it would have been that much warmer. When we got to the summit, we had it to ourselves. Not many people can say that about Old Rag. Another couple coming down (probably the only other ones that were older than us) agreed that it was a pretty perfect day to do the hike. A little cold, but if you kept moving - it was okay. Very quiet and peaceful.

The views were fabulous at the top. So glad Skyline was closed and we did this hike instead!

We searched for the survey marker, but found nothing. Another couple arrived after we had been up there maybe 10 minutes, and they also couldn't find it.

We stopped and sat down for a snack, but quickly realized we just had to keep moving to stay warm. On the way down, the blue skies were replaced with clouds and the sun went away - making it cooler.