Event Hosted By Mitch J. Link To Event Start slideshow Weekend trip out in the Shenendoah II Written By Mitch J. 11/08/2008 click for full size he second weekend trip to the Shenendoah was a big hit!! We all arrived at the cabin around 11 am and got settled in. Ansalette brought some GREAT macoroni and cheese which we all enjoyed along with our sandwitches. After lunch we all took a quick tour of 7 Islands which as an 1.5 mile walk. We journeyed over the big hill and around the 50 acre lake. It was so warm it felt like it was May and all of us could have jumped in the lake to cool off At 2 pm we headed off for Stonyman trail which was 10 miles south on skyline drive. After we arrived we walked all the way to the edge of the cliffs and saw the most spectacular scenery. EVERYTHING down in the valley was bright and different shades of red an orange. We all did a little bit of climbing and took lots of photos while taking everything in. We all headed on down which took about an hour and had a hunch that we might be going in the wrong direction....but we pressed on thinikng the trail wen in a circle....and sure enough we wound up 3 miles south of where we parked. After much discussion Casey, Tony and I decided to hike up the road to get the car and then head back down to pick up Amy and Ansalette. This was about 6ish and soon getting dark. We literally had just over 2 feet of space on the ground we were walking next to the cars whizing by us on that winding road. Tony got a little creative and starting singing and adlibing " Just a couple feet away from us, in the dark" to boost our moral. In less then an hour it was pitch black dark with a cresceant moon. We finally got to our car and headed on down and picked up Ansalette and Amy and headed on back to the cabin. Anastasia and Maggie had been there waiting for us wondering where on earth we were. We started dinner and then played LOADED QUESTIONS which was a really fun game to help get to know each other. After that round was over we played IMAGIN IFF which was also an entertaining game with insightful questions. Around midnight we all went outside with flashlights and hiked up the big hill overlooking the lake. We then spread out a big blanket and laid down to watch all of the stars on this almost moonless night. We saw MANY shooting stars and the sky was so illuminated an beautiful. The next morning we had breakfast with sausage, bacon, pancakes and Ansalette made some incredible scrambled eggs. We took our time eating and decided to take one more tour around the property. I showed my friends a "young" sequoia tree that we got when it was tiny....now it stands 30 feet high and we all wondered how big it will get hundreds of years from now after we are all gone More Photos

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Heather	Fun times! Looks like you guys had some great fun on the second trip! Sure wish I could have made it back this time with you. Now you know what the stars were like when we camped out there last time--beautiful!
A-L-I-S-O-N	Cool! Those pics are great, guys! You were definitely in the right place for leaf-peeping. :-)
Tony	Whitesnake "Here we go again" say I. Great event! We have been having some great weather and great hikes. The views are magnificent. Next time, we will go back the way we came on the hike...That extra 3 miles, hoping a bus load of hollywood movie stars would pick us up along Skyline Drive...great experience, no need to repeat it. Excellent game play and thanks to Mitch for allowing us to have a celebratory chug after the hike. Cheers!
Anastasia	I was late! Glad, I was able to make it!!! It was more like 2 am when we went to catch some shooting stars..It was awesome! Thanks Mitch for hosting! It was great, as usual. James, I like that - very catchy..hehe, I don't drink.. It was Casey's way of [soundly] dealing with me..trust me, I deserved it ahhaha...
James	... "Casey on the Rocks" sounds like a new drink. Looks like Anastasia had a few... ;-)