
The boys and I took my parents up to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park to hike on Tuesday. It was a beautiful warm day, perfect for being out together. We parked at the Ivy Creek Overlook and hiked on the Appalachian Trail about 1.7 miles to the creek.

We saw two couples that are thru hiking the Appalachian Trail. The boys and I have batted around the idea of thru hiking for a while now, and are still in the dreaming and researching stage. Alex loved the trail, and was so inspired that he chattered the whole hike about how he wants to be thru hiking right now!

The view from an overlook about 0.7 miles into the hike was beautiful, and the cool breeze felt lovely! We were so hot, I felt way overdressed in long pants.


The trail went through a magnificent tunnel of Mountain Laurel, that will be spectacular when blooming in June. Then we came to the beautiful Ivy Creek. We had a wonderful time resting and watching the boys play on the huge boulders. I soaked up the healing sound of the mountain stream, one of my very favorite things in the whole world is the sound of a clear stream.




I could have spent all day at the creek, but we were so hungry! The boys had packed snacks in their packs, and we had plenty of water. We hiked back to the overlook and set up our chairs in some shade to enjoy our picnic lunch. I felt so content to sit on the top of the mountain with my family after such a wonderful hike! After lunch Alex, Mom and I hiked some more of the Appalachian Trail heading north. It is such a nice section of trail there, not too rocky or steep, with lovely views now while the leaves are still off the trees. We walked a total of 4.5 miles. When we got home I got out the AT maps that I have, and we saw that there are 550 miles of the AT in Virginia, and 107 miles of the AT in the Shenandoah National Park. We live between the Elkton and Waynesboro entrances of the parks, so it's an ideal spot to get some miles on the AT. Alex of course wants to hike all 107 miles in one go, so we've been researching backpacking. I think we'll build up slowly, and first do a hike and overnight together. The possibilities are endless, we sure are thankful to live so close to so many wonderful trails!
