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Family trip to Old Rag, VA
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Home › Forums › Campfire › Member Trip Reports › Family trip to Old Rag, VA
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Nov 4, 2015 at 2:48 pm #1333938
Old Rag is a beautiful mountain on the eastern face of the Shenandoah National Park. It stands quite separate from the other mountains in the park, which as a result, affords it’s visitors very impressive views from on top of it. Personally, it was home to my first backpacking trip as a young Boy Scout, way back in the early 80’s. The last time my wife and I had been up there was close to 20 years ago. Part of our aversion to going back has been due to the fact that it has become so popular a destination, that overcrowding is a huge issue on the trails. They also don’t allow dogs up there anymore. And as luck would have it, our kids were given a random Friday off from school a couple weeks ago, so we decided to take a stab at a short trip up the back side of Old Rag, camp below the treeline, then summit first thing Sat. morning, and head back down the ridge trail to the cars mid-day. The whole trip was around 10 miles or so. While our son is a pretty seasoned hiker, the girls are still figuring out whether they like this sort of thing out or not. Fortunately, I think they were pretty thrilled once we reached the summit. Here are some pics:
Nov 4, 2015 at 2:56 pm #2236074Good stuff Matt! Looks like the kids had a great time. Thanks for sharing.
Nov 4, 2015 at 3:42 pm #2236083Great pictures – glad the weather worked out for you so nicely. Any hassles with the backcountry permit or any other logistics? I'd love some more details about the trailhead, how far you hiked to your campsite, which campsite you picked, etc. I have 9 year-old twin girls who would love, from what I can see on your photos, this hike! Thanks!
Nov 4, 2015 at 3:43 pm #2236085AnonymousInactive"Good stuff Matt! Looks like the kids had a great time. Thanks for sharing." +1
Nov 4, 2015 at 8:36 pm #2236147Looks like a great trip…Thanks for sharing.
Nov 5, 2015 at 9:27 am #2236221What beautiful pictures! Was it as crowded as you thought it would be?
Nov 5, 2015 at 11:18 am #2236235Hi Kevin, Just PM me when you get to a point where you might be planning a trip there. The permit was as easy as it always has been, and the park ranger had a rough map with highlighted areas where camping occurs. You still have to pay the park entrance fee, though.
Nov 5, 2015 at 11:22 am #2236237Hiking up on Friday was great. The summit was rather crowded on Sat morning. Coming down the ridge trail mid-day Saturday was rather crazy. There were sections of the trail where there were complete bottlenecks and steady lines of people trying to fit through the different crevasses. I'm just glad we were going in the opposite direction as most folks. Once we passed these sections, there were many folks heading back down, having given up since the lines were so long. Like waiting for an amusement park ride. I would only recommend going if one were either traveling during the week, or going up at sunrise.
Nov 5, 2015 at 12:26 pm #2236242Beautiful forest and mountains there. Even more so is the family.
Nov 5, 2015 at 12:50 pm #2236248^ What Ben said!
Nov 6, 2015 at 8:48 am #2236407The one thing I really, truly miss about back east is autumn.
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