Mount Vernon, VA; Harpers Ferry, WV; Shenandoah National Park, VA, October 24 – 26, 2019. — This was a good week. It opened with a quick trip to Annapolis Rock in a drippy drizzle and closed with similarly soggy weather in Shenandoah.
In between the sunshine was brilliant when we came knocking at George’s house. Mt. Vernon hasn’t seen my shadow since 1985. What a difference 34 years make.
Last visit, there were a small number of tourists, much of the house was undergoing restoration and few outbuildings that had been reconstructed. Other than a mention, there was next to nothing about slavery or the other people and infrastructure that made the plantation economically successful.
This visit, we found a huge visitor center, plenty of docents, museum and hoards of tourists and herds of school kids on field trips. The house is looking good too.
Mary Thurman occasionally visits and we explore the region. She’s a member of the Cherokee nation, so last summer we visited the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian. This visit we had a choice of Mt. Vernon or the Spy Museum. Our choice was a good one.
The spits, hooks and other kitchen paraphernalia reminded me of torture tools that might be found in a medieval dungeon. The audio tour was excellent and downloadable for future use.
Fall Colors in Harpers Ferry. The church is antebellum as is every building in the photo.
The next day Mary returned to her ridgerunning duties while myself and two other PATC volunteers led 20 Northern Virginia Community College students on a hike to the Maryland Heights viewpoint.
Great idea: The college parks a bus in front of its student center on Fridays. Nobody knows where it’s going until they board. This day the destination was a rendezvous with us at John Brown’s fort. The fort is in its third reconstruction and location.
This photo was taken from the fort’s original location which was elevated for a railroad bed (no longer used) after the civil war. The foundations of two buildings that were once part of the pre-civil war federal armory are visible.
Not sure why people feel free to vandalize national parks, in this case the fort which was originally a fire house.
Maryland Heights was crowded in addition to our students.
The view is worth the effort.
Stephanie is using a professional model electric chainsaw. It’s power and longevity was impressive as was its light weight. Dear Santa …
In the predawn murk I slammed down a coffee and hightailed it to Shenandoah for chainsaw sawyer recertification – required every third year. Chairsaws are no joke and the park service pays attention to safety.
The information on which certified sawyers are tested is at this link: Sawyer Handbook
After passing the test, my intent was to refresh the white blazes on my trail section. Several of them are peeling. Unfortunately Mother Nature and her liquid sunshine suggested other ideas. So I simply took a stroll looking for work that will need doing in November after the leaves are down.
The spring is barely flowing.
The tread is in good shape.
Nature’s art.
Northern Red Oak.
Another view of the overlook. Shenandoah to the left. Potomac in the town foreground.
Next week: Final Road Scholar hikes of the year and the end of Mary’s ridgerunning season. Stay tuned for the blog.
Sisu
Harpers Ferry looks fabulous. Fall is so beautiful!
Peak color. Believe it or not Shenandoah isn’t peak yet. Probably a week for them.
Beautiful scenery in your photos. We were fortunate to have visited Mt. Vernon quite a few years ago.
Love the fall colors. Trees are a few weeks behind in their color here in northern IL. We are supposed to get some snow spits today and Thursday !
Jim,
Your latest post ended with a reference to “Next week: Final Road Scholar hike of the year”. That piqued my attention, for today, I was scheduled to have lunch in my home town of Fredericksburg, TX, with a high school classmate from Pittsburgh, PA. Barb had mentioned something vague in her texts setting up our meeting about “Road Scholar.”
To, today, over a warm lunch on a cold rainy raw day, I learned that she had been on seven different Road Scholar tours, with this one bringing her to Texas for the first time, that followed a wide variety of formats. Hence, a hike on the AT in the mid-Atlantic states. So small world …
Peace … and have a good winter,
Bill “Javelin” Sadd
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