On Sunday, Mary and I decided to head up to Skyland in Shenandoah National Park. We wanted to do a short hike and then have lunch up there in the dining room that overlooks the valley. The Skyland facilities close after Thanksgiving until March, it has already snowed a couple of times up on the mountain. On the way, we explored a short cut I had heard about, Jewel Hollow, that intersects route 211 in the Thornton Gap entrance to the park.
Skyland (
http://www.visitshenandoah.com/lodging-food/skyland-resort.cfm) – I have also copied a photo of the terrace by the restaurant – is where Mary and I stayed last Spring when we were first thinking of buying a place in the valley. In this photo, you can see the valley in the distance.
The Google Earth image I’ve uploaded here traces the route (click the image to view details). It is pretty direct even though it winds through hills and dales, past cattle farms (IBR is a big agricultural producer here, as are Tysons and Cargill), chicken coops, sillage fields, etc. Rather than going through Luray, this route is probably 3 miles shorter, except that the last mile is over one mile on a one-lane gravel road…so until we get the new four wheel drive vehicle Mary is talking about, or the farm vehicle I am talking about (likely a used Ford 150) – we won’t be taking this one much.
Another item of interest as we were leaving the cabin: our neighbor’s stock were out in the small pasture at the foot of the hill. I was able to snap some Moto-cams of the cows and donkey. Also, if you look up the hillside in the photo of the cows, there are three goats on the hillside. Due to the resolution of phone cam shots you may not be able to see them well, but they are all laying on the hill under the trees at the top in this view. I reckon the small heard in this pasture is about 10 cows, there are two calves among them. There is a small seasonal stream that runs through here, whenever there is water the cows congregate in it, very near the road into our place.
Also of note, this weekend at the Food Lion, I saw a posting for goats for sale: $50 for black Nubian goat kids….hmmm, too bad we don’t have the acreage (yet).
Skyland (http://www.visitshenandoah.com/lodging-food/skyland-resort.cfm) – I have also copied a photo of the terrace by the restaurant – is where Mary and I stayed last Spring when we were first thinking of buying a place in the valley. In this photo, you can see the valley in the distance.
The Google Earth image I’ve uploaded here traces the route (click the image to view details). It is pretty direct even though it winds through hills and dales, past cattle farms (IBR is a big agricultural producer here, as are Tysons and Cargill), chicken coops, sillage fields, etc. Rather than going through Luray, this route is probably 3 miles shorter, except that the last mile is over one mile on a one-lane gravel road…so until we get the new four wheel drive vehicle Mary is talking about, or the farm vehicle I am talking about (likely a used Ford 150) – we won’t be taking this one much.
Another item of interest as we were leaving the cabin: our neighbor’s stock were out in the small pasture at the foot of the hill. I was able to snap some Moto-cams of the cows and donkey. Also, if you look up the hillside in the photo of the cows, there are three goats on the hillside. Due to the resolution of phone cam shots you may not be able to see them well, but they are all laying on the hill under the trees at the top in this view. I reckon the small heard in this pasture is about 10 cows, there are two calves among them. There is a small seasonal stream that runs through here, whenever there is water the cows congregate in it, very near the road into our place.
Also of note, this weekend at the Food Lion, I saw a posting for goats for sale: $50 for black Nubian goat kids….hmmm, too bad we don’t have the acreage (yet).
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