Fall colors on Old Rag mountain

Old Rag is a mountain in the Shenandoah National Park that is famous for its unobstructed 360-degree vistas.  At this time of year, with the colors peaking and the weather literally perfect, crowds of hikers flock from cities, villages and farmland alike to soak up the natural beauty of autumnal Virginia.  Amy, Julie and I set out early on Saturday morning fully expecting a lovely hike; what we discovered exceeded all of our expectations.  It was the sort of hike where at every bend in the trail you just have to stop and laugh because you didn't think that anything could be more beautiful than what you just saw, and yet . . . . 

My iPhone's camera was woefully inadequate for the task, but here are some shots that give at least a sense of the colors.  (Additional photos are available here.)


We couldn't even wait to get to the trailhead before we started taking pictures -- we
passed this driveway to an old farm and literally did a u-turn to come back and gawk.



While we photographed random lanes, half the population of the mid-Atlantic states
beat us to the parking lot.  Thank heavens an enterprising indigena opened
up a neighboring pasture for overflow parking



Once parked, we followed the disappearing crowds up the road to the trailhead.





The trail went over, through, and beneath these rocks. 
It made for quite the scramble and a major bottleneck with all the hikers.
It took us nearly two hours just to do that little stretch of trail.



At the top.







Note the scale.  This section of trail felt like a cathedral.


Ten miles of wildnerness is grounds for a healthy appetite.  We spied a charming little pizzeria in the village of Sperryville and decided to stop in and give it a try.  We devoured the pizza with great enthusiasm.

And since an entire pizza apparently wasn't enough, we stopped in Warrenton to get some treats.  Amy and Julie got some sort of ice cream or milkshake -- I went for the funnel cake.



Because fried dough is never wrong.