Old Rag Mountain, Virginia
Went hiking on Saturday (22nd July)with 2 of my colleagues over the weekend… destination Old Rag Mountain, Virginia (my first mountain in my life I think?!). Old Rag Mountain is part of the Shenandoah National Park and quite possibly the most spectacular mountain in the northern Virginia Blue Ridge.
Sign, Old Rag Mountain, VA
Jason and I met up with John back in Maryland and took his trusty truck up the hills of Virginia… really a nice break from all those hustle and bustle of city life! The mountain is actually only a couple of hours away from Washington DC, and so is usually pretty crowded on weekends. Luckily (or unluckily!), a thunderstorm was predicted that day, which deterred most of the would-be-hikers.
The climb!
Old Rag Mountain is really not an easy day climb and the 2000 feet climb was literally quite a mountain for me to climb! (I haven’t worked out since I left Singapore!) The really tough part of the climb for me was the constant 20-30 degrees incline from the bottom up, for like an hour non-stop up 2/3 of the mountain (I really need to get in shape!). Now, come about the last 1/3 of the way, there’s some rock scrambling (something like beginner’s rock climbing), which was really interesting and challenging!
At the 2/3 point
Already spectaular view, 2/3 of the way!
Rock scrambling to the peak
The peak of the mountain is at 3268 feet and offers some spectacular view of the Blue Ridge Mountains… It was simply awesome! On hindsight, I should have brought my cap and sunglasses along… after all that sweating, my hair was quite a mess… Come next spring, I think I would revisit this place again… Hiking is just fun!
The peak... awesome! That's Jason btw!
Team Everest... (Actually Team Old Ragged?)
Sign, Old Rag Mountain, VA
Jason and I met up with John back in Maryland and took his trusty truck up the hills of Virginia… really a nice break from all those hustle and bustle of city life! The mountain is actually only a couple of hours away from Washington DC, and so is usually pretty crowded on weekends. Luckily (or unluckily!), a thunderstorm was predicted that day, which deterred most of the would-be-hikers.
The climb!
Old Rag Mountain is really not an easy day climb and the 2000 feet climb was literally quite a mountain for me to climb! (I haven’t worked out since I left Singapore!) The really tough part of the climb for me was the constant 20-30 degrees incline from the bottom up, for like an hour non-stop up 2/3 of the mountain (I really need to get in shape!). Now, come about the last 1/3 of the way, there’s some rock scrambling (something like beginner’s rock climbing), which was really interesting and challenging!
At the 2/3 point
Already spectaular view, 2/3 of the way!
Rock scrambling to the peak
The peak of the mountain is at 3268 feet and offers some spectacular view of the Blue Ridge Mountains… It was simply awesome! On hindsight, I should have brought my cap and sunglasses along… after all that sweating, my hair was quite a mess… Come next spring, I think I would revisit this place again… Hiking is just fun!
The peak... awesome! That's Jason btw!
Team Everest... (Actually Team Old Ragged?)
