Andy Guest State Park/PaveMint/Glen Manor

For our walk this week, Ann chose Andy Guest State Park in Bentonville for the ability to take a swim in the river mid-hike. She certainly didn't plan on an almost 3-mile traverse of open ground in the blazing 97-degree heat, nor could she predict that my hip would go south on this particular walk. In the picture below, you can see the open ground to the left of the river for the entire frame of the photo: yeah, we walked that in the blazing mid-day sun, me with a gimpy hip. Bad plan. Suffice it to say that although it was a beautiful walk, there were parts of it that we hated.

Our day started about 8:30am as we entered the park off of US340 and proceeded to the Visitor's Center a couple of miles into the park to use the restrooms. Once parked there, we looked at the map and saw that the hike we planned to take started just slightly more than a mile upriver but that there was a connecting trail from the Visitor's Center to where we wanted to be. Given that our hike was only about 8.5 miles, we decided to just hoof it the extra mile for a total of about 10.7 miles on the day.

This view of the park was taken on the Overlook Trail perhaps a hundred yards north and 30 feet below the actual wood-deck overlook for which the trail is named. This view is actually prettier because it is framed by the surrounding trees. The trees have been cleared around the overlook but otherwise the view is pretty much the same. The Massanutten Mountains to the west are in the background.

South Fork Shenandoah River, Andy Guest State Park

Looking Down on Brown-Eyed Susans

Backlit Moth Mullein

Although I have been expecting to see Hoary Mountain Mint during our hikes this spring and summer, I haven't seen any until this hike. I found a huge patch of it and another of what looked to be escaped Spearmint.

Hoary Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum incanum

These American Bellflowers were so beautiful but there was no way really to photograph them in the very dim light of the forest understory. Just to get this, I opened my lens as far as possible and backed off to the minimum focal length. Unfortunately, with this setting, there is no depth of field and getting a decent view of a gorgeous flower was nearly impossible.

Pretty American Bellflower, Campanula americana

I've been keeping an eye out for all the lobelias, but this Pale-Spike Lobelia is the first lobelia that I have seen in bloom this year.

Pale-Spike Lobelia, Lobelia spicata

There are miles and miles and miles of trails at Andy Guest State Park, more formally known as Shenandoah River State Park, some winding along the cliffs and bluffs fronting the river, some in the floodplain along the river, and some running in and out of the glens and creek ravines of the surrounding woods. We worked our way south along the river through the woods for about three and a half miles and then worked our way back along the riverbank. We stopped for lunch at an observation point, a slight tree-covered promontory in the line of bluffs a few hundred yards off the river, on the northern end of the Redtail Ridge trail.

The network of trails is well-marked on the ground, but at times, relating what we were seeing on the ground with our map and with the written description of the hike was confusing. Still, with the river as an unmistakable landmark, it was easy enough to get where we knew we had to go, despite the slight confusion.

River and Floodplain from Redtail Ridge Trail

Enjoying Lunch at the Observation Point

I got a brisket in last week and so I corned it and used it in making our lunch for the trip. As Ann said, "This would be really good with a beer."

Corned Beef and Slaw Wraps

While we were stopped for lunch, Ann spied this prickly pear just down the dry slope from us. We missed the gorgeous yellow blooms (ours at home bloomed 4-6 weeks ago), but the fruits are starting to whiten. Later on this fall, the fruits, the tunas, will go red and will be good eating for something or someone.

Eastern Prickly Pear, Opuntia humifusa, Fruits Starting to Ripen

Beat up Spicebush Swallowtail with Spoon-Like Tail

Down along the river, the long walk in the sun commenced. Although it was a great opportunity to see wildflowers and critters, we kept moving as fast as we could, given my crappy hip, to get out of the sun. At times, Ann would be thirty or forty yards ahead of me in the span of time that it took me to go ten yards.

Common Soapwort, Saponaria officinalis

Despite the oppressive heat, I confess to taking a minute to watch a group of Red-Headed Woodpeckers hawking bugs from the top of a large Sycamore and the top of another immense Cottonwood tree. Though we think of woodpeckers getting their food by pecking insects out from dead snags (or the ground in the case of Flickers), Red-Heads are unique in that they act like large flycatchers, sallying forth and taking bugs mid-air on the wing. It is very impressive to watch. I wish I could have stayed longer.

Red-Headed Woodpecker, Click to Enlarge

Successful Mission; Enlarge to See Insect in Bill

Skittish Doe; Wild Parsnip in Foreground

About a mile along the river, we came upon an opening down to the river and Ann was off, trying to cool off from the long march in the sun. She was surprised at the current in the north-flowing river. After saddling back up with another mile to go in the sun, we saw a lot more wildflowers from here on out as we veered slightly more inland from the river, but we really didn't stop to admire them as the sun was so fierce.

Cooling Off!

Butter and Eggs

A Sunflower, Jerusalem Artichoke?

Common Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum

Cutleaf Teasel, Dipsacus laciniatus

Tickseed, Coreopsis verticillata

Back at the Visitor's Center, after getting off the trail, we were brutally hot and Ann was at the point of heat exhaustion. We sat in the car with the AC blasting on full for a long time before setting off home. Ann had wanted to stop by Glen Manor on the way back, but after the hike, she just wanted to go home and who could blame her? So you can imagine my surprise when as we were pulling in to Front Royal she asked if we could go to PaveMint for a beer and lunch. Well, all right then!

Ann Liked This Dogfish Head Namaste

Wings

Fish and Chips for Ann

Duck Tacos for Ed

About a half an hour after we arrived at PaveMint, about the end of beer number one, Mike texted me that he was on his way to Glen Manor, asking if we wanted to join. Ann wanted to head home after lunch, so I demurred. Meanwhile, Kelly texted Ann asking if we would come later for a mystery tasting. Methinks Mike and Kelly were working in cahoots. And so after we finished our lunch, we headed off to Glen Manor.

Look Who We Found!

Although the tasting room closes at 5:00, the staff couldn't shoo everyone away until about 5:30 at which point we set up tables on the back patio and Kelly brought out another of her huge ("impromptu") spreads.

Pimento Cheese

Cookies; BLT Dip

Miraculously Recovered!

There were three brown-bagged mystery wines on this occasion. The first had a nose of sulfurous stone fruit and white flowers with medium gold color, good body, and OK acidity. It could have been Chenin or Viognier or a bunch of other things. It turned out to be Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. I've tasted all kinds of fruit profiles on SB except this: live and learn. The next wine had a bit of oak to the nose but wasn't very aromatic otherwise. It had plenty of body, light melon fruit, and was lacking acid. It could have been manipulated (oak/malo) Chardonnay. It turned out to be a local Roussanne. The final wine was a very aromatic red that was dull ruby going brick around the edges. The nose reminded me of cool climate Nebbiolo, but the alcohol was very high. The palate reminded me of Nebbiolo too except for the fruit was a bit too briary and extracted. I was stumped. It turned out to be 2012 Cabernet Franc from next door at Chester Gap Cellars.

Mystery Bottle: Local Roussanne

The Home Team

Jeff and His Domain, Skyline Drive in Background

The Huckster, Late Arrival to the Party

For those who know the vineyard, this photo will appear reversed; the new vines being on the north side and not the south. This is actually a picture of the vineyard reflected from the winery window.

Mirror Image of Vineyard

About dusk, the Barn Swallows made a raucous appearance, coming in to roost for the night and we knew it was time to leave. We helped Kelly clean up the mess and then made our way back home, having bitten off a bit too much today. Ann was unconscious by hiker midnight. I was soon to follow.

Barn Swallows Coming in to Roost

Whiteoak Canyon

Knowing we wanted to get up and get out early on Sunday to avoid the heat, somehow my body woke itself at 6:54am when all it wanted to do was sleep off the hard dinner service from the night before. While I was getting the dogs taken care of, Ann pulled herself together and we were out the door just slightly before 7:30 headed for Whiteoak Canyon in Madison County just south of Old Rag.

Whiteoak Canyon can be hiked from basically two different locations. At the top of the hill on Skyline Drive or from the bottom of the hill near Old Rag. We decided to start at the bottom of the hill and walk up, leaving the second half of our day to be downhill. I pity the bastards that started at the top of the hill and had to finish by walking uphill all the way.

Winding our west south and west of Sperryville, we reached the trailhead parking about 8:45. I saw several fields on the way in with signs reading "Parking $10" and I noted that the parking lot for the trail was enormous. There were a half a dozen cars there when we arrived and checked in with the ranger on duty in the little hut at the end of the parking lot.

We got ourselves all saddled up and headed into woods on a very flat but extremely wide trail. I should have put together the parking situation and the very wide trail to figure out how crowded this place would become later in the day, but my math skills were a bit fuzzy on short sleep.

Lowland Forest at the Beginning of the Trail

Baby Cucumber Tree with 12-15" Leaves

The first part of the walk was naturally uphill along Robinson River but really pretty flat, all things considered, up to the first waterfall and large pool, the so-called Lower Falls. When we got there, Ann, never shy around a body of water, headed straight in. The lower pool is a couple feet deep and maybe ten by fifteen yards, a nice little swimming hole. It was peaceful and a great place to sit for a few minutes.

Lower Falls

Annie Did Not Enjoy Herself

Second Fall

Beyond the second fall, we started to climb pretty quickly and as we climbed the scenery changed entirely, leaving the lowland forest behind in favor of a lot more rock and higher elevation flora. My favorite stretch was along a dry sunny clifftop where a lot of flowers were blooming unlike along the majority of the shaded wooded trail where the only thing blooming were viburnums. I have been watching heucheras for the last several weeks waiting for them to bloom and finally that has happened. Ditto for Mountain Laurel. Bumblebees were busy working the penstemons and I saw a low shrub that is new to me, New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americanus, that was blooming profusely in many locations, mainly dry areas. The best sight of the day for me was a sea of low roses growing out on the cliff rock. Standing about a foot tall with single pink five-petaled blossoms, I thought they were geraniums from a distance.

Heuchera americana in Full Bloom

Bumblebee in Penstemon canescens

Lots of Tiny Wild Roses with 2" Blooms

Finally, Mountain Laurel in Full Bloom

New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americanus

Halfway up to the top falls, we stopped at an inviting place in the river, a rock shelf where Ann kicked back for a few minutes while I looked around. There was a crazy chute between a couple of rocks where the water was flying. And speaking of flying, lots and lots of butterflies flitted about us while we were out on the rocks. I don't think I have ever seen as many butterflies in one place before, aside from a butterfly house. As we were leaving, I saw a tiny ring-necked snake scurry from one rock to another, notable because they are generally not out and about during the day time.

Water Moving Rapidly Through Chute

Living the Life!

A long weary trudge led us to the upper falls through some very steep terrain. We noticed really how steep several sections were when we had to come back down through them after lunch. As you can see in the photo below, the upper falls are beautiful but really not the most interesting. We had been led to believe that the uppermost fall was the most spectacular; however, we found the lower two falls to be the most picturesque.

The Uppermost Fall

Warrior Ann

At the head of the top fall, we had a brief lunch on a rock in the river and then turned around and headed back down the hill to the car. From the top of the falls, we could have gone one of two ways: back down the hill the way we came or across the hillside on a fire road to pick up the Cedar Run Trail that also goes back down the hill. We decided to go back down the way we came because neither of us are big fans of fire roads, though in retrospect in reading about the Cedar Run Trail, we may have missed a wonderful opportunity to see a wilder side of this walk with some equally impressive water features on Cedar Run. We're definitely going to have to go back and do the Cedar Run Trail. The spectacular scenery will make this an absolute hardship.

Black and Tiger Swallowtails Drinking

Nearly at the bottom, one particular Tiger Swallowtail, the Virginia State Butterfly, of the hundreds I had seen during the day, caught my attention and as I followed its flight, it dipped behind a rock. When I peered over the rock, I saw many dozen Tigers and a few Black Swallowtails drinking in the shale alongside a small creek.

Down below the first pool, we were both glad that we had made an early start. The pool that we had to ourselves in the morning was filled with screaming kids and people were coming up the path in dozens. This must be the local water hole as accessible as it is. I doubt many of these people ventured higher up on the hill. I was truly glad to be back in the parking lot, because although the trip was downhill all the way, it was really, really tough on my knees to the point where each step was painful. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "I hate downhill."

Though we had just eaten a couple hours earlier, the word ravenous would be a great word to describe us after the hike. And thirsty. Beer thirsty. "I just finished a grueling hike and I would love a glass of wine," said no one ever. We had it in mind to stop at the Thornton River Grille in Sperryville to grab a late lunch and a beer. And so we arrived at 2:50, not knowing that they close at 3:00. There isn't cell phone service in the area so there was no way of checking and we would have never gone that close to closing had we known. But we didn't and we were there and it was obvious from her body language that our server was pissed that we were there. She let us know that the kitchen would be closing in 10 minutes and then she left. As in said goodbye to someone in the back and got in her car and left. Being in the business, I understand the sentiment when at the end of a long shift when you are tired and ready to go, a last-minute table walks in. But I will personally strangle any employee of mine who acts like that. After a couple of serverless minutes, we got up and left.

Although we thought about stopping at the Griffin Tavern in Flint Hill, based on the so-so last meal we had there, I decided to keep going to Pavemint Taphouse in Front Royal where we got our beer fix while deciding what to eat. I started with a Sierra Nevada Hoptimum Imperial IPA and Ann had an Allagash White. For round two, I had an Evolution PINE’HOP’LE IPA which sounded weird but tasted pretty good, the subtle pineapple working in tandem with the citrusy hops. Ann had a blackberry cider from Cobbler Mountain Cellars in Delaplane. I had a Whisky Melt burger and Ann got the fish and chips.

Whisky Melt Burger

Fish and Chips

Ravenous Annie