Jones and Doyles Falls (VA)

Jones Falls, Shenandoah.

With a fine forecast and feeling anxious for some good spring hiking, we made another foray to Shenandoah National Park on May 18, 2012.  The plan was to car camp at Loft Mountain Friday night and hike Saturday.  Our objective: a 6.6-mile down-and-up loop that would take us past several of the park’s nicer waterfalls, along Jones Run and Doyles River.  Camping was perfect, not counting the tick that Kris spotted that was latched onto the front of my lower leg.  You could tell this guy was thinking “Drill, baby, drill!”  I think the bugger was going for my tibia.  In any event, we managed to pluck him off with the tweezers without dismembering him.  After a leisurely start, the hike was fairly straight-forward and well worth the effort.  The falls were many, if somewhat subdued due to the lateness of the waterfall season, though enchanting nonetheless.  The loss of elevation and sense of being enclosed in a rocky canyon gave a feeling of remoteness to be treasured among the finer rewards of hiking in the Shenandoah.  We’ll go back earlier next time when the streams’ feet-per-second are more cubic.  We might even try a winter visit when icicles, reportedly, can grow as big as trees.  The return trip home along Skyline Drive was fabulous in the low-angle light preceding a mid-spring sunset.

Doyles Run Falls.