We camped in the Loft Mountain Campground in Shenandoah.   This campground is on the south end of the park.   This is a very nice campground.  The Rangers rock and they made sure that we had a great time.

We started out the camping trip in a walk-in site, A7.  It was way too crowded and there was no view at all.   There were 8 sites in one area and little room for anyone in this area.  Be careful with the walk-in areas as all of them we saw were setup the same way.

Our Ranger was really cool and let us move out to A12 which has a spectacular view and a direct link to the Appalachian Trail.  We loved this site and would have stuck around for weeks if not for the rain and plans for a July 4th celebration in our nation’s capital.

There were lots of opportunities to explore from this site.  My brothers and I found a way to repel down a cliff to the forest floor.  It was about 20 feet down.  We gathered firewood, which is legal in Shenandoah National Park, and did lots of climbing and exploring.  We really had a good time.

My whole family and I hiked 4 miles down to Doyle’s River Cabin and back.  This cabin can be reserved by hikers on the AT.  This section of the AT was cool, but very steep.  Many AT section and thru-hikers stopped in our campground to use showers and get more food at the camp store.   It was cool to see all of the folks hiking the AT.  We want to do that someday as well.

We also took time to complete the Junior Ranger program and spent part of a day taking an amazing hike in the Big Meadow with Ranger Bob.  On the hike we saw tadpoles, lots of deer, and tons of rain drops.  It was a blast and we got soaked.  It pretty much rained every single minute of every day we were in the park, but we had fun anyway.

Washington DC is up next.  We will visit lots of places.

By the way, my brother Ben caught a Barracuda last year in the Keys.  Oh, and he also caught a Hammer Head Shark.  He loves this year’s trip, but just cannot stop living in the past.  Please pray that he catches a fish this year on this trip or we may never hear the end of it.

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