Hiking the Mountains of North East
The beaches said bye to me so it was time to head again to the mountains. I picked what seemed the most beautiful campground so far on this trip. The Award Winning brand new Madison Vines Campground on the outskirts of Shenandoah National Park had the most amenities I’ve ever seen in a campground. Outdoor pool, pickle ball courts, two dog parks, tennis and basketball courts, a full store and free dinner and entertainment for guests every weekend. Saturday was spent settling in the campground.
On Sunday I woke up super early and went up in the national park. I covered three different trails and really enjoyed the peaks, valleys and waterfalls. The highlight was Bearfence Mountain Trail that took me climbing rocks for an hour to get to the highest point of the park where both sides of the valley are visible. It was a beautiful sight to see, but one I had to leave early as the rain started coming in. In Front Royal at the end of the Skyline Drive of Shenandoah I visited Vibrissa Beer and Kitchen for some tasty burger and fries.
The rest of the week was spent in the campground getting to know and playing music for my neighbors and enjoying the beautiful campground. I also had to go get my hair colored and cut again as it had been quite a while since I went to the hair stylist.
Mid week I went to check out Charlottesville and really fell the local charm of narrow streets and fun themed restaurants. I checked out the Trophy Room rooftop bar. As I was walking down Main street, I overheard latin music. I found out The Quirk Hotel rooftop bar was holding a bachata night. So I could not help but check it out and enjoy the evening dancing to some salsa music. Meeting some wonderful local young women really made my night.
Saturday I headed towards New Jersey at Mahlon Dickerson Reservation near Sparta, NJ. I arrived earlier in the day and had an opportunity to hike a four mile trail with Ziggy around the campground. It was so much fun to get caught and also run in the rain which helped cool off my body. While eating dinner at a local Thai restaurant, I was recommended a hike called Stairway to Heaven by some locals sitting next to me.
While doing research on the hike, I actually found out about another trail in the reviews that would possibly offer views of the Manhattan skyline.
But before I went on the Sunday hike, I really enjoyed the pier by Sparta, NJ and took a walk on the boardwalk after getting some ice cream from the corner store. The town’s architecture really reminisced a small German town. The hike at Norwin Green State Forest was the hardest one I’ve done on this trip yet. It rained in the morning so the five mile hike was very slippery, most of the it was climbing through rocks and the elevation gain was significant. But as the rain stopped, the beautiful skies really cleared up. And by the time I climbed the summit, the most beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline appeared. It truly was worth the early waking up, 2 hour wait for the rain to stop and another two hour climb.
On my way from New Jersey to Cape Cod, I took the opportunity to check out a local Bagel Shop called Five Brothers. It really had an amazing selection of bagels and my asiago cheese bagel sandwich was the tastiest breakfast sandwich I ever had! I will definitely miss the north east bagels. This was a short trip in New Jersey as I headed to Cape Cod mid week on Wednesday.
