The Three Falls hike is a circuit that passes Rose River Falls, Dark Hollow Falls, and Lewis Spring Falls. These are three of the most beautiful falls in the SNP. We had a total of 9 adventurous hikers today. Charles Staples, Dan Ralston, Jeanne Densmore, Dan Funkhouse, Jacque Ensign (visiting from Seattle), John Brandt, and James McAdams. We had lunch along the Rose River and met up with the short hiking group lead by Iva Gillett and took a group photo at the base of Dark Hollow Falls. We walked past the visitors center to the horse trail and around to Lewis Falls and back to the amphitheater where we parked. No flowers yet, but the temp was pretty mild and the rain held off. Everyone had a great time.
submitted by Iva Gillet
In addition to the long hike, nine hikers chose a shorter, though similar loop. This group included: Jeanne Siler, John Herrity, Karl Mons, Pete and Bev Fink, CJ Woodburn, David Crowe, Bill Holman (sweep), and Iva Gillet. We started on the Skyline Drive, descending toward the Rose River Falls, along the horse trail. As we approached the first falls, we spotted some guys fly fishing. Upon inquiring about their success, we found that they were elementary teachers from Northern Virginia, out for an overnight camping trip. Edward Abram had been raising brook trout in his classroom, and were curious to see how the fish compared to those in the wild. Continuing on, we reached the Hog Camp Branch, and climbed the hillside to see if we could find the old copper mine. Iva has seen it years ago with John Shannon. Since we did not have the benefit of him and his GPS, we poked around the rocks and found an opening that Iva thought was what John had shown her. Is this it, John? Despite Bill Holman clamoring for lunch prior to the climb, the group followed the leader’s directions and hiked onward so that we could eat beside the stream. CJ chose a perfect spot, and we enjoyed our lunch and some dark chocolate chip almond cookies. During our meal, the long hiking group stopped just below our spot, and despite his best efforts, Bill was not able to sneak up on their group undetected. Up we climbed to the base of Dark Hollow Falls, where we took this big group picture. We let the faster long hikers go first, and then followed up the Dark Hollow trail, enjoying the magnificent flow in the falls. When we arrived back on the Skyline Drive, we followed the horse trail back to our cars, finishing about 2:30. Though a bit overcast, we had no complaints about the pleasant temperatures and ample water in this beautiful section of the Shenandoah Park.
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| Iva's "lost" copper mine |
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