Shenandoah in October anyone?

Foochar · September 26, 2008

This post got me thinking that it would be a great idea to get some of the Mid-Atlantic dgrin shooters together for a day (or weekend) of shooting at Shenandoah while the leaves are changing.

Right now I'm thinking about either the 11th or the 25th, and possibly both, I've got another commitment the weekend of the 18th, but if someone else wants to take the ball and run with it for that weekend that's cool. The weekend of the 11th I'd be open to turning it into a Saturday/Sunday 2 day trip... In case you aren't familiar with Shenandoah, Baltimore MD, Washington, D.C., Harrisburg, PA, and Richmond VA are all within 3 hours of the park. Pittsburgh PA, Philadelphia, PA, Charleston, WV, as well as all of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware are within 5 hours.

For anyone thinking of turning this into a multi-day trip, the in park lodging appears to be booked solid both weekends from what I can see online. There are towns in the area that have rooms available both weekends. In addition for anyone thinking about camping, all the reservable spaces for the weekend of the 11th appear to be booked (there are first come/first served spaces as well, but no guarantees of availability). There are reservable spaces at some of the campgrounds the weekend of the 25th still available.

To whet your appetite here are a few pictues. These were taken at Shenandoah on October 21st of 2007, and all are SOOC i.e. no enhancing of colors in photoshop etc.:

View of Old Rag:

Big Meadows

Sunset from Big Meadows

Lastly in case anyone is curious about how early they would have to be there if they wanted sunrise pictures, or how late they would have to stay for sunset, here is the USNO Sun/Moon data for Luray (where the park headquarters office is) for the two days I'm thinking about:

        Saturday 
        11 October 2008       Eastern Daylight Time          

                         [B]SUN[/B]
        Begin civil twilight       6:53 a.m.                 
        Sunrise                    7:20 a.m.                 
        Sun transit                1:00 p.m.                 
        Sunset                     6:41 p.m.                 
        End civil twilight         7:07 p.m.                 

                         [B]MOON[/B]
        Moonrise                   4:29 p.m. on preceding day
        Moonset                    3:42 a.m.                 
        Moonrise                   4:55 p.m.                 
        Moon transit              10:47 p.m.                 
        Moonset                    4:49 a.m. on following day

Phase of the Moon on 11 October: waxing gibbous with  88% of the Moon's
                                                       visible disk illuminated.

        Saturday 
        25 October 2008       Eastern Daylight Time          

                         [B]SUN[/B]
        Begin civil twilight       7:06 a.m.                 
        Sunrise                    7:34 a.m.                 
        Sun transit               12:58 p.m.                 
        Sunset                     6:21 p.m.                 
        End civil twilight         6:49 p.m.                 

                         [B]MOON[/B]
        Moonset                    4:08 p.m. on preceding day
        Moonrise                   4:13 a.m.                 
        Moon transit              10:27 a.m.                 
        Moonset                    4:32 p.m.                 
        Moonrise                   5:16 a.m. on following day

     Phase of the Moon on 25 October:       waning crescent  with  11% of the Moon's 

                                                         visible disk illuminated.

RogersDA · September 26, 2008

I might be up that again.

From last year: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=74444

Foochar · October 8, 2008

Looking at the current forecast, as well as where we are at with the leaves changing this coming weekend (October 11th and 12th) looks to be an ideal weekend to head to Shenandoah. If anyone is interested in meeting up down there let me know, I can go either day, but probably not both. I'll be heading down from the Hagerstown area, and I'd be open to discussing a carpool with anyone in the area...

kits · October 8, 2008

I am thinking to heading down there Saturday Oct 11th along with couple of our friends to take several family portraits along with landscape shots.

What are some of the great locations there? Steams, small falls, slopy hills, etc are some of the locations we will be aiming for.

I am watch the webcam park services has HERE. I have a feeling the following week might be better one unless the colors change fast in the next few days.

Foochar · October 8, 2008

With Shenandoah a lot depends on how far you are willing to walk to get to what you want... I haven't done any portraiture, so I'm hesitant to make too many recommendations. That being said here are a few ideas, I'm assuming you'll be coming in either at Front Royal or at the intersection of Skyline Drive and 211, so I'm trying to keep this from the Big Meadows area and north. As far as the colors go it is always a roll of the dice, it looks like there are some patchy colors already, and that camera looks down into the valley, normally the color spreads from the top of the mountains (where it gets coldest at night) down.

In my opinion the Big Meadows area has several options for you. First of all there is the meadow itself, which is right along the road so access is very easy. Early and late in the day you are pretty much guaranteed to see white-tail deer on the meadow (and throughout much of the park, be alert while driving). In the same vicinity are the Dark Hollow Falls, these are close to the Skyline drive, however I've heard that the walk back up from the falls can be somewhat difficult. Also since these falls are the closest to the drive they tend to get crowded on the weekends.

What may be a better option is the Rose River fire road, and the first part of the Rose River loop. There is a map of the area here. Where the Rose River loop trail turns off of the Rose River fire road you have this waterfall

.
Additionally on the way down the fire road I believe there is an old cemetery. If you follow the Rose River trail it parallels a stream that has numerous small pools and cascades, similar to this one.

The shot of Old Rag Mountain in my original post was taken from the Old Rag Overlook, which is also just north of Big Meadows. As you travel north from there, the hike from the Upper Hawksbill parking area to the Hawksbill summit is a fairly moderate hike to the highest point in the park. The hike from the Lower parking area is more strenuous. There is an observation platform on the summit, as well as several large rock outcroppings that are easy to get to.

kits · October 8, 2008

Travis, thanks for all that great information. It should help me a lot.

kits · October 12, 2008

Thanks again Travis for your great information. I wish I followed your advise about the Dark Hallow Falls as well. We went down the Whiteoak Trail to see couple falls and ended up not seeing any as we started on the Trail quite late and have to walk back up as we were worried some in our team can't make it back up before it becomes dark. Still, that trail was fun as it had very scenic bridge, streams, and small falls before we could get to the real waterfalls. We might be going back there next week as it's less than 2-hour drive for us.

I mostly took family pictures but took few nice pictures to share to those who are looking to go to Skyline drive next week or two. I think next week might be the best week to be there.

Camera: Alpha A700
Lens: Sony Carl Zeiss SAL1680Z (most shots here), Minolta Beercan (maybe one or two or none)

Foochar · October 12, 2008

kits wrote:

Thanks again Travis for your great information. I wish I followed your advise about the Dark Hallow Falls as well. We went down the Whiteoak Trail to see couple falls and ended up not seeing any as we started on the Trail quite late and have to walk back up as we were worried some in our team can't make it back up before it becomes dark. Still, that trail was fun as it had very scenic bridge, streams, and small falls before we could get to the real waterfalls. We might be going back there next week as it's less than 2-hour drive for us.

Glad I could be of help, if you do end up going back you might want to take a look at http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/mapshiking.htm. There are some maps with estimated distances in the descriptions. You mentioned a scenic bridge on the Whiteoak trail, is that about where you turned around? If I remember right there is a large metal bridge only about 100 yards from the first of the waterfalls...

Unfortunately life interfered, and I didn't make it down there this weekend :cry. It does look like sometime in the next week or so will see the colors peak.

Morris On Location · October 23, 2008

Managed to take some time and visit the Park on this past Sunday..Here's a pics from the trip..
1.

2.

3. - View from the Big Meadow's campground lodge...i ate a yummy bar-b-que sandwhich..:)

4. - A little different shot.. My daughter and sister were swinging at the lodge's playground...with a great canopy above them...

Shenandoah in October anyone?

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