Normally every fall Jesse and I try and get away for one night or two this fall is a little bit different because of Covid. So we wanted to do something outdoors we looked into Shannondoah which is about 2 1/2 hours away, and old rag mountain. The hike looked treacherous and a lot of uneven terrain so I wasn’t sure how it was going to be with my sore foot. Old rag is a 10 mile heavily trafficked it loop located in Virginia it has a river and it’s rated as difficult the trail is primarily used for hiking and it’s best used in the spring and fall elevation gain is about 2600 feet and it’s a loop the fee to get in is $35 per vehicle if you are entering on foot it’s $15 per person.
It looks like the perfect covid getaway. We booked a room at the Hilton in Culpepper could because there were a winery and brewery that was close by. However it was about 40 minutes from the old rag hike.
We went November 6 and went out in old town called pepper which was really cute not a lot of people follow the Covid guidelines but we were out very long. Saturday morning we got up and got ready to go to old rag we are meeting friends there at 8 o’clock and by the time we got there the parking lots were full. Locally there was a homeowner there that let you park on her land for $20. We also had zero service so we are lucky to meet my friends. The first part of the hike was all uphill, And starts off relatively steep right out of the shoot it was a good long climb 5 miles to the top including the scramble view from the top is beautiful and a great place to take a little break the trail down is nice until the fire Road it’s almost about 3 miles on the fire Road which seems like it takes forever once down it’s about a mile to the lots which is tough on sore legs. We were happy to be done it was a really good hike just exhausting on the way back. Total time 9 am - 2 pm. We didn't stop often except waiting in line for the summit and climbing rocks (my favorite part)
We headed back to the hotel and got ready to go to the winery and brewery called old House Vineyards it had beautiful views. The first main building you come in is a winery, The second building you come to the distillery the third building is the brewery there’s some thing here for everyone but I know they cannot serve any spirits on site you have to buy the bottles. It was nice because they were six of us so there was a little bit for everybody after the winery we went to Culpepper which is a really neat town the restaurant that we went to was Italian and again it had a little bit of some thing for everybody. We headed out to the garage bar after word where there was social distancing in effect and we sat outside and listen to live music.
Overall the trip to Shenandoah was perfect it was a perfect vacation and being active and being able to relax I cannot wait to go back!
Where to stay - Hampton Inn by Hilton
Must Haves on Hike - hiking sneakers or boots - I was NOT wearing any!
LOTS of water, snacks (trail mix, bars, fruit)