Raven Rocks

Well, my daughter, Jess, left to head back to Connecticut today. It is always a hard day for me when she leaves. Hiking is a good way to get away and let it pass. So today, after dropping her off at Dulles, and making sure she was off on the plane, I headed out to Bluemont to get in a little workout of a hike. Raven Rocks is a nice little hike, and I have done this one a few times now. It offers some nice little climbs and descents, a couple of nice views, and a couple of streams, though these are small.
The trail was fairly busy, but I knew it would be. Still, they were sporadic encounters and nothing too overwhelming. I passed what I think was a girl scout troop heading back and ascending the last climb before reaching route 7. They looked pretty beat up. There was a girl trailing behind the group, with one of the adults, who was considerably over weight. She obviously was not used to the exercise. I'm glad they were getting this girl out, but I'm not sure they needed to do so on such a up and down section of trail. I debated checking her for dehydration, but figured the adults would have said something.
After the first descent and view, the trail winds down into a little gully where there is a stream. The cold water is always good for splashing on the face . The trail climbs for a short while after that. I always look forward to seeing this part of the trail. The trail is littered with white quartz rocks. It looks like snow at times in colder weather. Kind of neat to see, though. It is about 2/10 of a mile after this that one hits the first real climb that can get the heart chugging along. The reward is a nice rock outcropping with a pretty nice view. It's a good spot for a break. After this the trail is fairly level for a bit before a sharp decent into another valley. The trail is pretty rocky and with a couple of rock scrambles. I could hear water flowing pretty easily, but no stream is really visible. It passes under a rock patch, and it sounds like you are about to crash through into the water a times. Little waterfalls are visible from crevices here and there. Beautiful sound. At this point it is time to gear up for the last ascent to Raven Rocks. The cliff sides are visible from the valley , but because leaf cover is not quite enough to conceal it. It makes you take a breath to start the climb. With weather bright sun and mid seventies, I worked up a pretty good sweat. The occasional Spring breeze was a welcome relief. Finally, near the top, I passed into West Virginia. About 17 miles to Harpers Ferry from here....another day. Soon after the sign and a bit more of a climb, I came out onto Raven Rocks. The crystal clear blue skies offered a wonderfully rewarding view of the Shenandoah Valley beyond with mountains in the background. Just Gorgeous! I kicked back on the rocks and had lunch. Cuisine du jour was a can of Vienna sausages and 2 cups of jello with fruit. Fine fare on this little jaunt. I catnapped a for a while and watched some people rock climbing. Looked like fun, but I've seen the cost of equipment. Don't need that on top of Hiking and camping gear! Feeling rested , I started out for the return leg. Same exertion, different direction. I reached the stream before the final ascent. I thought of that girl earlier. I splashed a lot of cold water on me and drank a lot from my supply. Made the climb in 10 to 15 minutes and then stopped for a bit to replace the lung I coughed up on the way up. Actually... it really was not that bad.
After 3 1/2 hours, including my dining al fresco on Raven Rocks, I arrived back at the car having covered about 5 1/2 miles. Great little hike. I still miss Jess.