In my review, I will be talking about a hike that I did with my high school hiking club. Within the hiking club, we participated in one hike each month with about 20 students to different places all over Virginia.
One of the hikes that I went on is called Humpback Rock which is located in the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Humpback Rock trail is approximately 6 miles long, to go up and to come back down. The hike is considered to be a moderately challenging route, with a gain of about 1,000 feet, as you hike up the mountain.
We left our high school at 6 a.m. and we rode a school bus to the trail. The bus ride was only about an hour, which was one of the shorter bus rides that we took throughout the year. Once we arrived, we made sure we knew which routes to take during the hike, in case we were to get no cell phone service while on the trail. Then we immediately began our hike.
It about 2 hours to hike to the top of the mountain. The mountain would not have normally taken this long to get up to the top, but it rained the entire time during our hike, causing many of the rocks to be slick. Once we got to the top of the mountain, we enjoyed our view for about 30 minutes, and we just took a break while we soaked in nature. We then began our journey back down the mountain, which took about an hour.
Overall, this hike was one to remember. I had never hiked Humpback Rock before, so it was good to do something different. It was also a new experience for me because I had never climbed up a mountain in the rain before.
Another one of the hikes that I went on is called Stony Man Trail located in Shenandoah National Park. The Stony Man trail is approximately a 1.5-mile long loop. The hike is considered to be a moderately challenging route, with about 400 feet of elevation gain.
This hike took the entire group about an hour and a half to complete. Once we got to the viewpoint of the mountain, we stopped and spent about 30 minutes, taking a break and exploring. We then headed back down the mountain to return to the bus, and then return to our high school.
Comparing Humpback Rock to Stony Man Trail, I think that the Humpback Rock trail was much harder, even though both of the hikes are considered to have a moderate difficulty level. Humpback Rock was much harder to climb and took much longer since we hiked in the middle of a storm. The bus ride to Stony Man Trail was about 2 hours long whereas the bus ride to Stony Man Trail was only an hour.
Overall both of these hikes were highly enjoyable. I would recommend the Stony Man hike for anyone who is just getting started because it is a short loop with a great view. I would recommend the Humpback Rock trail for anyone who enjoys hiking because it is a moderately difficult hike and the view at the top is truly amazing.