Sky Meadows State Park

 Michael had a date with some friends to go rappelling yesterday, so I decided to go out for a hike on my own at Sky Meadows State Park, which is near the sprawling metropolis of Paris, Virginia. We hiked through Sky Meadows once, many years ago, with our late friend, Anne. That day was frozen solid. Yesterday was quite a bit warmer, if still a bit chilly. It was 24 degrees when I started up the South Ridge Trail and the ground was, thankfully, frozen. The trail had obviously turned into a mud pit the day before. The climb wasn't bad and I had the trail to myself. I stopped now and then to look at birds. 

I reached the Appalachian Trail and turned north. It was as pretty as I remembered up there, with the open meadows and views to the east. Although it was bright and sunny, the wind made it pretty cold up on the ridgeline. I started to see more people once I headed down the Ambassador Trail. The trail also had melted a bit and was quickly turning to mud. I stopped for a few minutes at the Piedmont Overlook. There is a nice bench there and I thought about eating lunch, but it was still too windy and cold there. In retrospect, I wish I had eaten there. The trail got more and more crowded and noisy as I descended through the woods. I finally found a log to sit on to eat and watch the non-stop stream of people sliding down the hill of the Piedmont Trail. I did enjoy the descent down the other side of the Piedmont Trail. The view can't be beat and the trail is really pretty. I will say I was glad to be going down it vs. ascending it. The South Ridge Trail is definitely less steep. 

Once I was down the in the valley again, I took the Hardow Trail, which runs along a pretty little creek. It was still pretty muddy, but it was quiet. On my way back to the car, I ran into a couple out birding who nicely pointed out a Red-Headed Woodpecker, which was my first of the year. All said and done, it was a nice 8 mile day with some solid climbing. 

Definitely get to Sky Meadows early if you want to avoid the crowds.

An Eastern Meadowlark in the parking area first thing in the morning.

The view from one of the meadows 

Hiking through a meadow on the Appalachian Trail

Last season's dried flower stalks

Hiking down the Piedmont Trail

Hike to Emerald Pond

 We did the Emerald Pond hike in the Massanutten area today. It is a little over 8 miles and is a lollipop, so there is a little loop at the end, but there's some out-and-back as well. The hike starts from the abandoned Massanutten Visitor Center on Highway 211. I couldn't find any reference online as to when it closed. There is an article in the Washington Post from 1989 that references it being open, but other than that, there is little information on it. 

In any case, after a short descent, the trail climbs steeply for a bit more than a mile to a really nice overlook of the Shenandoah Valley to the west. We took a brief break there and then continued south on the Bird Knob/Massanutten Trail. From the overlook, there is probably another two miles of very gentle climbing and then a slow descent towards Bird Knob. About a mile after the overlook, the Massanutten Trail splits off to the left. We stayed on the Bird Knob Trail. The trail passed through lots of pine groves and mountain laurel, nice and green in the middle of winter. We came out into a meadow with a tiny frozen pond at the end of the Bird Knob Trail. From there, we descended to Emerald pond, which is, indeed, clear and and green. After a bit of confusion about which way to go, we headed up the hill to the Massanutten Trail, which follows a forest road for a few miles. We passed a lot of large Allegheny Mound Ant mounds, but I neglected to take pictures of them. At the junction with Bird Knob, we retraced our steps to the car.

A White Breasted Nuthatch near the overlook. 

The Shenandoah Valley from the Overlook

The tiny frozen pond

Emerald Pond

The overlook on our way down.