# Crazy day in the Shenandoah



## wallace1 (Dec 8, 2010)

Drove 2 hours up to the Shenandoah National forest for what was supposed to be an 8 mile hike. Left lynchburg at 5 in the morning and was super relieved to pull up and only see one other car in the parking lot. Not five minutes into the hike i hear something crashing through the woods and turn around to see my first wild bear. He wasn't interested in me and all i could get a picture of was his big butt.

IMG_3099 by wallace west, on Flickr

First up was 2.5 miles up the mountain following a creek. Immediately got into the brook trout and stayed on them. They are consistently bigger than the wild ones in NC. Managed to put a good bend in the 4wt.
IMG_3177 by wallace west, on Flickr
IMG_3142 by wallace west, on Flickr
IMG_3136 by wallace west, on Flickr
Next up was 1.5 miles up a horse trail to get to the other creek. It was pretty awful honestly. Not as steep as the first section but nothing to see and no water so it seemed to drag on. Got to the half way point in my planned loop where I had the option to add in an extra 3 miles and see the tallest point in the shenandoah national forest. Wasn't feeling too bad at the point and who knows if or when I'll have the opportunity to get back here so decided to go for it. Pretty decent views. Didn't realize there were 2 parking lots and totally guessed wrong for the one I needed to head to so ended up adding an extra mile or 2 to the hike.

IMG_3161 by wallace west, on Flickr

Headed back down on a new creek and wasn't nearly as impressed with it as the beginning. Not much water flowing and the pools were all very shallow. It eventually started to look better but with it getting later on in the afternoon it appeared I had stumbled on the local swimming hole. Every decent hole had a couple swimmers in it. Finally saw one that looked perfect with a big boulder to cover my approach. Made one of those casts you just know is perfect and then I waited and waited. Finally thought there must be nothing in the hole. Peeked over the boulder and saw this snake attacking a nice brookie. There were 5 more good size brookies in there but I guess seeing their buddy getting eaten took away their appetite. 

IMG_3171 by wallace west, on Flickr

Didn't land any brookies in this section but the potential was there. 

IMG_3175 by wallace west, on Flickr

IMG_3103 by wallace west, on Flickr


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## stc1993 (Nov 23, 2014)

At least you got some good exercise & fish. Beautiful scenery to boot. :thumbsup:


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## daniel9829 (Jan 31, 2009)

Looks like a great day.


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## wallace1 (Dec 8, 2010)

stc1993 said:


> At least you got some good exercise & fish. Beautiful scenery to boot. :thumbsup:


Yep it was absolutely gorgeous up there and no kidding about the exercise. Couldn't move my legs for about two days after that. I like to joke that if the fishing was like that down here I wouldn't still be carrying this belly around.


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