{"id":5108,"date":"2020-09-20T22:59:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T14:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/?p=5108"},"modified":"2021-03-13T13:42:34","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T05:42:34","slug":"202009shenandoah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/2020\/09\/20\/202009shenandoah\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Trip to Shenandoah, Hiking and Star Gazing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A weekend of hiking to South Shenandoah with my friends, in the middle of September at the tail of summer.<\/p>\n

\"Saint<\/a>

<\/br>Saint Mary Falls<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

It’s the middle of September when weather forecast indicated sunny days and clear skies for the weekend. Given the fact that my NPS annual pass had only been used once since its purchase in July, my friends and I set off for the southern part of Shenandoah National Park, and planned two days of hiking and a night of stargazing.<\/p>\n

We left home at 10am, on the morning of September 19. Unfortunately, construction along I66 in Northern Virginia was in full swing, which created a huge traffic jam near Manassas even for a Saturday morning. So by the time we reached the town of Culpeper, it’s already 12:30pm.<\/p>\n

Burgandine House<\/span><\/h3>\n

In the town of Culpeper, we planned a short visit to Burgandine House to stretch our legs. Built about 1800, it’s the oldest residence in the town of Culpeper. Now it’s a museum into the town’s colonial past.<\/p>\n

\"Burgandine<\/a>

<\/br>Burgandine House Exterior<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Burgandine<\/a>

<\/br>\"Burgandine<\/a><\/br>\"Burgandine<\/a><\/br>Burgandine House<\/p><\/div>\n

Once inside, we were greeted by a wonderful couple that served as the museum’s guide. Dressed in colonial clothes, they gave a very detailed walkthrough of both the town and the house’s history. The house wasn’t very large, the above photos showed most of its ground floor. But it’s well preserved, like the guide’s own house, where every seemingly insignificant object has its own story, like clothes for the Virginian militia that once roamed this land, the pots that were used to cook food, so on.<\/p>\n

And here were some objects that most fascinated me.
\n

\"Tea<\/a>

 \"Tea<\/a><\/br>Tea Bricks<\/br><\/p>\n

It’s my first time seeing tea bricks, a traditional way of preserving tea. The brick was much harder than I anticipated, more like a construction brick than something to dissolve in water. The guides told me the marks on both faces indicated the tea’s manufacturer, that’s how the word “trademark” originated.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

\"Coins<\/a>

<\/br>Coins and Buttons<\/br><\/p>\n

Another surprising discovery, that people long ago didn’t even bother to mint coins of different values, they just broke them up into smaller values, literally.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Blanket\"<\/a>

<\/br>Blanket<\/br><\/p>\n

The different symbols on this blanket served as \u201csecret codes\u201d for underground railway, offering information to fleeing slaves to safety.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

The house served different functions in different times. Most interesting to me, it used to be the town’s only public house, serving as both the courtroom and the jail (talk about streamlined process). When I asked how they could hold a court session in such tiny spaces, the guide told me, “oh they held it outside and the entire town watched”.<\/p>\n

\"Guns<\/a>

<\/br>Guns on Display<\/br><\/p>\n

With the town of Culpeper changing hands multiple times during the Civil War, Burgandine House wasn’t short of firearm exhibit.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Markings<\/a>

<\/br>Markings on Gunstock<\/br><\/p>\n

This gun certainly saw quite a lot of battle. Each small dent on top marked a soldier killed, the two X’s in the middle are for two generals killed.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

Speaking of the house’s multitude of functions, its second floor was preserved as an inn, with a few beds lying around.<\/p>\n

\"Beds\"<\/a>

<\/br>Beds<\/br><\/p>\n

Here space was used to maximum as this child bed would be tucked underneath an adult bed during the day. I was shocked to learn from the guide that 4 adults somehow managed to squeeze onto the larger bed in this photo.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Beds\"<\/a>

<\/br>Beds<\/br>Well, at least the handicapped got to have a more spacious bed.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Here just some highlights of the tour were shown, but the two chatty guides really went through every object in the house in great detail, that when we said goodbye to them, it’s 80 minutes since we stepped into the house.<\/p>\n

Shenandoah National Park<\/span><\/h3>\n

After a quick lunch, by the time we entered Shenandoah National Park through Swift Run, it’s 3:20pm, only 4 hours to sunset. So planned to hike a short trail before heading farther South, watch sunset somewhere epic (preferably Humpback Rocks) before reaching our overnight hotel in the town of Waynesboro.<\/p>\n

The trail to Hightop, just near the entrance, was a perfect choice. Unfortunately, the small trailhead parking lot was already full, with more cars parked alongside Skyline Drive than in it. So we moved on.<\/p>\n

\"Park<\/a>

 \"Park<\/a><\/br>\"Park<\/a> \"Park<\/a><\/br>Park Road<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Mountains\"<\/a>

 \"Mountains\"<\/a><\/br>Mountains<\/br><\/p>\n

Along the road, we stopped at a few turnouts and appreciated the scenery of distant mountains, so that we didn’t have to stick behind some slow traffic.<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n

Blackrock Summit<\/span><\/h4>\n

Since the parking lot at Hightop was full, we picked another trail, Blackrock, to hike instead. The parking lot at Blackrock was almost full, but we managed to find a spot.
\nThe trail to Blackrock was only 900m one-way. Although one could proceed farther to Hall Mountain or Trayfoot Mountain, most people made Blackrock their destination. <\/p>\n

Here’s GPS tracking:
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