Whiteoak Canyon

We flew into Pittsburgh and arrived there very late at night. We were picked up from the airport by a shuttle and dropped off at our hotel. We all fell asleep quickly and were up early. The time change was rough but we did a good job of powering through it. We met Jacqueline's dad Tom at breakfast at our overly expensive hotel. Then we were quickly on the road. Our goal for the day was to drive to Shenandoah with a quick stop at Cedar Creek & Belle Grove Battlefield. We went to the visitor center and saw a really interesting video, then drove the tour route to see some of the battlefield spots. Then it was off to Shenandoah. We drove through the northern entrance and were immediately on a highway with very slow roads and views off to the valleys below. We stopped at some viewpoints, but eventually made it to our hotel. The kids and I ran on the Appalachian Trail to get there running in for cross country. It was a rough trail with lots of slippery rocks and a lot of ups and downs. Mostly, it just made me sweat.

The humidity in the east was so bad. At least they had a lot fewer fires than we did out west because of that. We had dinner and went to the evening program. We stayed the night in a cabin connected with the lodge. It was nice and pleasant and we all slept well. The next day we had to pack it all in, so it started with a hike down Whiteoak Canyon. There were a series of 6 waterfalls that we were planning to see. The trail went downhill all the way to the waterfalls, so it was going to be a lot of work getting back out. Tom went with us for the first couple of miles as the trail started out not so steep. He turned around at the beginning of the first waterfall. The rest of us continued downhill. The trail was rather busy with lots of people including a couple of groups of backpacking teenagers. 

The views of the waterfalls were not all that spectacular with lots of vegetation blocking the way. The second waterfall was probably the easiest to see, but when we got there, there was a group of about 20 teenagers. We decided to keep walking and view it on the way back uphill. The trail continued downhill swiftly. We were sweating like crazy from the heat and humidity and that was just going downhill. We talked to a few people coming up and they talked about how pretty it was but also how rough the trail was. We went past many waterfalls without great views and eventually we went down many steep switchbacks and were finally at the final waterfall. Here there were numerous groups occupying every possible corner.

It was impossible to get a really good picture because there were people everywhere. There were people on rocks. There were people swimming in front of the falls. It was sort of sad to hike all this way and not really be able to enjoy it. Then we had the uphill slog to look forward to. I have a pretty tough family that they just start hiking back uphill through difficult conditions. We were all sweaty and hot with a steep trail to look forward to. We just plugged away though. We went past each of the waterfalls, looking forward to going to the second waterfall without all the people there. We slogged our way up to it and there was only one other group of two people there when we got to it. 

I was out ahead and I just heard Jacqueline and Conrad start to scream. I knew that could only mean one thing, bees. I ran in the direction I was facing which meant I ran toward the waterfall. They ran the other direction and I could rest assured that they were stung. I waited a few seconds to let the bees clear and then went down the trail. I got to them and they were both very upset. Jacqueline was stung once in the face and Conrad was stung once in the head and twice on the back. They had been swarmed. The other people at the falls had set off the bees and they had gone for Jacqueline and Conrad. They both did not want to go back through the trail, but we had to. I went out in front and tried to protect them as much as I could, but the bees were gone having defended their home. We made double time on the way back. Conrad was now very concerned about every bee and rightfully so. We hustled our way back to the car with all of us being happy to be out of the heat and away from the bees. Jacqueline and Conrad both swelled up quite a bit as they both are allergic. Jacqueline ended up having to go in because her face was so swollen to get it to go down. Conrad swelled less but was a bit traumatized by the bees circling his head. It would take him a while to get over it. Still, I was happy that we all got out for a hike while we were in Shenandoah and saw what the best of the east coast has to offer when it comes to hiking.