I had two fawns playing in the field come running up to me every time I started walking. This did not seem to be thrilling their mothers too much, who were nervously eying them and the distance to me.
I had decided to take on the Knob Mountain Jeremys Run loop which I had considered a couple of weeks ago before heading to Mexico for a nice mini vacation with my wife. I postponed the hike then to spend more time with the boys. The loop is just over 12 miles long, and I was looking forward to a good long hike. The start and finish is at the Elkwallow picnic grounds near milepost 24 on the Skyline Drive.
The hike started out with a steady, and sometimes, fairly steep decent into a hollow below the picnic area. there was a cool enough breeze to almost warrant longer pants, but I warmed up quickly. The first thing I noticed was that the foliage was lush and that the woods seemed to have wonderful moist smell. I had seen that rains had been through the night before. We sure could have used them closer to home. Anyway, there was some nice switchbacks heading down, but I knew i would pay the price later that day when I had to come back up the hollowafter 12 miles of hiking.
At the bottom of the hollow, I veered off onto the Knob Mountain Cutoff Trail. I crossed Jeremys Run for the first of what would be about 15 crossings that day. The trail immediately started to climb sharply out of the hollow and up Knob Mountain. The trail was well maintained and blazed. Footing was generally good, with just a few loose areas. The breeze was a welcome friend now as I was breaking a pretty good sweat. After the steady climbing, I made my way to the actual Knob Mountain Trail. This trail is just over two miles to the summit of Knob Mountain.
It is a steady climb but nice enough not to cause undo stress. The trail is well packed and with good footing.
Views are evident along the way, but obscured due to foliage. It is probably quite beautiful during the colder months. I was just starting to wonder when I would reach the summit when I came across a marker notifying me of just that measurement..a welcome sign at that point. 
As I ascended the last bit to the summit I was greeted by shouts of "Hiker up"!! Three hikers were taking a breather at the summit, as was my plans. We talked for about fifteen minutes, discussing the trail and other trails hiked. I felt very connected to them as I spoke of my hiking adventures. My knowledge of the trails seemed respected and common to them, and I had a wonderful sense of camaraderie with them. we egged each other on to future challenges and parted our ways. Great rest stop! I had made the summit by 10:30 am.
From the summit of Knob Mountain, the trail begins a gradual and steady decent. Some areas were loose footing , but over all the going was pretty good. I stopped about midway down as I was amid a wonderful patch of rip blueberries. The stop offered a very nice view of Luray to the south with the Massanutten mountains close by. Off to the left rose Neighbor Mountain , and I began to consider doing an extended hike along the Neighbor Mountain Trail. I decided to postpone my decision until I made Jeremys run at the bottom of the mountain. I was making good time.
The decent continued, with numerous well placed switchbacks dotting the way. It became steep in some spots. Finally, I came to Jeremys Run right at noon. I had made it to roughly the half way point. I found a fabulous little stopping point along Jeremys run. Flat rocks and a nice swimming area was just the ticket. I had a brought a change of clothing and towel and was soon cooling of in some wonderfully cool water. I lingered at the spot for just over thirty minutes and was again on my way.
Almost immediately I was at the junction for the Neighbor Mountain Trail. I felt pretty good, but decided to continue with the planned route and stay to the Jeremys Run Trail. I was not really up for another 1000+ ft. ascent after lounging around the swiming hole for the past half hour. The Jeremys run Trail was a beautiful hike along the run. There were any number of spots for a quick dip or resupply of water. I had filtered water at lunch, so was adequately supplied.
I was about two miles up the trail after lunch, when I came upon a gorgeous Black bear. He/she was about 400 pounds, well beyond cub stage. He was busy in the dry bed of the stream , moving rocks aside to look for , I assume, food. This was about the closest I had been to a bear. 
I made some noise as I got the camera out, which the bear did notice. He seemed essentially disinterested. As I tried to get some decent photos, the batteries ran out on the camera. I crouched behind a log to reload batteries, and while I did so, the bear headed off into the woods up the trail from me. I saw him briefly in the woods, so I headed slowly up the trail, trying to relocate him. As I was walking, I heard a snap over my right shoulder and just behind me. There he was, about 30ft away and sitting and just looking at me! He had doubled around and was staring at me. I checked myself to make sure I hadn't soiled myself and then went to blow on the whistle I carry for emergencies. It's attached to a key ring and a bottle opener....yes, I admit it....I blew on the bottle opener. I think the bear at this point thought I was an idiot. He started making some weird growling/grating noise. I finally blew on the whistle which only slightly startled him and he headed off into the woods, continuing to make the strange noise. I headed off up the trail, figuring our encounter needed to end. The trail continued on up the hollow, crossing Jeremys Run no less than 14 times. Some of the pools were fairly deep and were teeming with small trout about 6 or 7 inches long.
Other areas were just dry bed, though I could hear the water flowing underneath. I finally reached the intersection with the Knob Mountain Cutoff Trail, which I had started down earlier in the day. I now trudged back up out of the hollow to the parking area. As I suspected, I was feeling the day's hike going back up to the starting point. The switchbacks helped, and were welcome. A wonderful day with a great hike completed. On my return trip on Skyline Drive, I was able to see yet another bear, though this one was very small and seemed quite scrawny. People were practically wrecking their cars to stop and get a picture. The Park police officer was there, just shaking her head and trying to get people to move along as soon as possible. A group of cyclists practically ran head on into me as they crossed into my lane as they stared at the bear. I leaned on the horn to move the bear along and yelled at the people that they were in the middle of the road. I received some nasty stares except from the Ranger who laughed and moved on in her cruiser. The bear disappeared into the woods to the disappointment of the crowd. If they only knew.
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