Skyline/Old Rag Loop

While I was on my one-month USA Rail Pass journey, I stayed with my High School friend Matt Chabala for a few days in DC. Shenandoah was one of the few national parks I had yet to visit, so we planned a two day trip there.

We had no plans other than wanting to camp out for the night. We got a late start a few hours before sunset and set off down the beautiful Robinson River. We couldn’t go very far anyway because we didn’t want to get into a no-camping area. I slept soundly surrounded by green trees and the roar of waterfalls after so many terrible nights of sleep on the rails.

Old Rag felt quite easy, after hearing so many people hype it up to be one of the hardest hikes in Virginia. We completed the loop just as it began to rain and headed back to DC. It is surprising how a place so peaceful and serene exists in such close proximity to a place so chaotic.