Old Rag Mountain, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

I first began to hike Old Rag back in February of 1996. My friend John Rock, my brother Justin, and myself went to make the climb, only three weeks after the 3 feet of snow that pounded Virginia that winter. The conditions made the hike very difficult and very dangerous, but the challenge added to the enjoyment. About 1/2 way up the switchbacks, the trial became covered completely in a solid layer of ice. The rocks were covered in even more ice. It took all day just to get midway through the rock section, thus we did not make it to the summit on this trip. Lessons learned on this hike: bring food and water next time.

Stream off the Old Rag Fire Road, about 1/2 mile from the Berry Hollow Parking lot.

Scene from the lower part of the switchbacks. Over a mile from the Old Rag parking area.

My second trip was in the Spring of 1996 and was with John Rock, again. This was probably one of the coolest hikes I've ever been on. John and I had been indoor rock climbing all winter long and were finally ready to handle the real deal. We hiked to the summit and then set our gear up at a nice rock face off the top of the mountain. It had several nice climbs. By far, it was the most thrilling and most exhausting trip to the mountain thus far.

The third time that I hiked Old Rag was with my father, not too long after the second trip. It was a hot day and the shoes that I wore were too small. I paid for it. This was the first time that I did the full 7.2 mile circuit. In the past, I had always gone back down the same way that I came. While going down the fire road is a much easier hike, it's a lot longer in distance.

At the beginning of the rocks... the first good look into the Shenandoah Valley

The natural staircase along the hike.

My fourth trip to Old Rag was my first solo hike in late May 1998. I dropped my friend, Curtis, off to go skydiving. I would've gone with him if it weren't for a bad landing back in February. I parked at the other side of the mountain and hiked the fire road to the main parking lot. It was a good hike and it is where I took the photos that appear on this page. The weather was hot, but there was a nice cool breeze up top.

Created and Maintained by:Jason O. Watson http://www.cs.virginia.edu/watson/ Send Comments and Suggestions to: watson@virginia.edu Last Modified: Tuesday, 17-Nov-1998 03:06:59 EST