It was the night of the “Hunter’s moon” and we had two hikes planned to see the concurrent sunset and moonrise. The earlier hike was attended by Jacque Ensign, Jayne Mayne, Lisa Lampe and Maxwell, John Brandt, Brad Young, and Nancy Handley who joined hike leader Iva Gillet on an eight mile hike to Seely-Woodward shelter using the old AT, the new AT, and the Lovingston Springs trail before returning to Spy Rock. This creative loop was pulled from hike leader Jeff Monroe’s blog of less travelled trails:
http://www.wanderingvirginia.com/2014/02/appalachian-trail-south-of-spy-rock.html.
We hiked this remote area enjoying the yellow leaves, abandoned orchard, and peaceful tranquility of the woods. We scurried along in order to witness the big event- sunset and moonrise. The final ascent to the top tested our wind, but more noticeable was the huge number of folks camping below Spy Rock this warm weekend. There were tents thickly spread out throughout the area between the AT and Spy Rock. The other noticeable factor that overwhelmed us was the impending fog that continued to roll in as we looked for sunset. We joined up with Bill Holman’s group of Sunny Choi, Carol Wise, Neil McKinney, and Jeanne Siler who had arrived to Spy Rock just ahead of the other group. Unfortunately late arrivals of both groups meant that Gabriel Garretson and Dave Bennick did not join up with us, and also were disappointed by the fog. While we enjoyed our picnic dinners and lots of amazing treats hoping the fog would lift, after an hour we descended with the knowledge that Mother Nature has her own plans. And as we descended, there was less fog and after we reached the cars, the huge full moon could be seen. Upon returning to Charlottesville we discovered that the awesome moon was visible to all, without hiking or fog. However, we enjoyed our adventure and will hope to meet the moon next time.
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