***New hike!***

Who: Bryce, Kristen, Trevor

Trevor was home for the weekend again. Last week things didn't work out for us to hike together, but this week we were able to squeeze in a hike before dropping him off at UVa.

Our initial plan was to go to Humpback Rocks, since it's just a few miles off of I-64 on the Blue Ridge Parkway as you go through Rockfish Gap, pretty much on the way to UVa. Of course, when we got there, the Parkway was closed (Note to self: this happens a lot in the winter after ice and snow, which we had on Friday night). We quickly decided to find a hike in Shenandoah National Park, since we were right at the entrance. A quick check of AllTrails led us to pick Calf Mountain as our goal, just twelve minutes to the trailhead from the entrance.

Surprisingly, we've never hiked Calf Mountain before. Surprising because it's easy to get to, easy to hike, and a fun little hike. Starting at the parking area at Beagle Gap, you follow the Appalachian Trail up a series of switchbacks until you reach Little Calf Mountain, which is a small bald which offers nice views of some of the Blue Ridge. We noted it as a nice place to bring lunch some day.

It's another half-mile up the trail from there to the Calf Mountain summit itself, which is nothing remarkable - there's a cairn that people have put up to mark it, and a USGS benchmark if you're into collecting pictures of them (I am). Then a turnaround and a quick mile and a half back to the parking area, and ten minutes to drive back to the interstate. A nice option for a quick hike, like High Knob fire tower, Hightop Mountain, and Humpback Rocks. We'll do this one again.

Other notes: There were a ton of people out with their dogs on the trail. The wind was bitter and cold when we started, but it warmed up as we went and was quite pleasant by the time we finished. Got fries and sodas at the Emmett Road Mcdonalds before dropping Trevor off at his dorm.