I mentioned that we went for a short drive along the Skyline at the Shenandoah National Park a few days ago. I am always thankful that we don't live that far from it as on a sunny day it is a beautiful drive.
The trees are still bare compared to where we are. I can't remember what elevation it is right now.
We used to go on the trails up there but am content these days to stop at the overlooks. One of these days I hope to get some trail walking in again.
On the way there we pass a lot of orchards. These are apple trees as I see the shape of one on the side of the truck. Way past picking time. Fall will be when we go back for that.
We entered the park near the town of Front Royal. Normally we go to the Thornton Gap entrance.
This is where we entered. I had it in mind to visit the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, but it was all closed up. It looked like they were having a new roof put on as I could just make out the tarpaulin. From what I read they will be opening soon.
This is the Front Royal sign we passed not too long before.
The following photo shows a young man with a slow-down sign. It is still early enough to do maintenance before the tourist season starts. Second photo is of the contraption we were both interested in. We had to come to a halt for several minutes. I had to look this one up after dear other half expressed an interest in me looking for the information when I showed him the picture. The contraption attached to the John Deere tractor is called a Tiger Bengal boom mower and is a heavy-duty, mid-mounted hydraulic mowing attachment. It is designed for thick brush, clearing overhanging branches and maintaining steep roadside ditches or embankments, using interchangeable rotary or flail heads.
It can reach up to 24 feet to cut thick brush, trees up to 6" in diameter and grass in hard-to reach areas like over guard rails and steep ditches or hillsides, like those along Skyline Drive. Out of more curiosity from the dear man, I found the cost of these two together was anywhere from $180,000 and over $278,000. Finding out this kind of information is just so easy and not every one will be interested but my curiosity kicked in once I started looking, and the dear man's curiosity was appeased as well. I didn't know I was going to find all this out when we came across this interesting scene.
More curiosity when we came across several bicycle riders and I noticed they all had the same shirt design on the back. Next curiosity search revealed that the cyclists we saw were most likely participants in Bike MS, a premier fundraising cycling series for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Since April 1st falls within the MS Awareness Month, riders often use scenic routes like Skyline Drive for training or informal group rides ahead of the official event season. You can read about the organization here.
It is the largest charity cycling series in the world, dedicated to raising funds for research and support programs to end multiple sclerosis. There are 50 rides held annually across the United States, ranging from one-day loops to multi-day journeys of 15 to 150 miles. The events are fully supported with rest stops, bike mechanics and medical teams to ensure safety for cyclists of all skill levels. We passed these people all along our drive.
We also stopped at several of the overlooks.
The skies were gorgeous as you can see, along with those views.
Photos never do these views the justice they deserve.
No birds, no deer, no bears, though I thought I read somewhere that the bears are starting to wake up; I could be wrong as it seems early and I'm wondering if the chilly weather will keep them slumbering. It is estimated that several hundred American Black Bears live in Shenandoah National Park, with estimates generally ranging from 200 to 1,000 within the 300-square mile park. This density, so I read, equals approximately one to four bears per square mile, offering visitors a high change of spotting them. It's been a few years since we saw any.
It was time to leave and we drove down out of the park going through pretty farmland.
Still in the foothills making our way home.
We didn't expect to see Longhorn Cattle...
They were some distance away and this is about as close as I could get to them. I only had my cell phone ready as we were driving along. No stopping on this road as cars were behind us and none of us were moving very fast but nowhere to pull in for a look-see.
That's all from our trip this time.
Thanks for taking a look and I hope your day is a great one.
