Definitely the Most Beautiful Waterfall Hike East of the Mississippi!

Wow, what a hike! If you like waterfalls, Crabtree falls is the place to go. It's in Nelson County, Virginia not too far from Waynesboro and Charlettesville. The Falls are a 1200 foot vertical drop with five major cascades and a number of smaller ones. Larry and I went off on the outing with my sister Peggy and my brother's wife, Jessica. Neither of them had hiked much before so we suggested they get hiking poles and they were both glad they did even though the path is mostly wide and not too steep. It was still pretty strenuous on the way up with several places where you had to climb steep wooden stairs. But what a worth-it hike! I can't wait to go back again it was so incredibly beautiful. We hit the perfect time for the mountain laurel and rhododendron. What a sight!

Here's the first cascade at the bottom of the falls which is only about 500 feet from the parking lot at the end of a paved trail. This beautiful spot is accessible to anybody.

The trail from that point started sharply uphill but with gradual switchbacks -- not too bad even for non-hikers although I wouldn't want to do it in flipflops like one fella we saw. Here's another beautiful cascade farther along the trail.

The flowers were in spectacular full bloom. And we just had to stop and admire them everywhere we went.

You know what they say about stopping to smell the flowers. We got lots of opportunities!

And here's one of those staircases I was talking about although this wasn't the longest.

There were some great views of the mountains along the trail as well. What a spot -- a little bit of everything.

There were lots of places with little pools. Peggy and I stopped to cool off at one although we were careful to pick one nearer the bottom and not near a cascade. Twenty-three people have died at the falls climbing on the slippery rocks and falling. We had no intention of being one of those statistics.

Couldn't resist this spot for a photo-op, especially since we almost never get pictures of ourselves together since we generally hike by ourselves. It was great to have some extra photographers for the hike!

And here's a video of the top of the falls. We've had such a wet spring there was plenty of water pouring over. Waterfalls are always more fun to see when there's been plenty of rain and we've had (and still are having) more than our share.

Pack up your hiking boots and trecking poles and come join us on the trail. There are so many great places around here to explore. We promise you won't be disappointed.

How Observant are you? Camp Kreitzer's new look.

Did you notice that I changed the picture of Camp Kreitzer? It needed an update since the front looks different. Larry cut the trees way back and I got sick of trimming the shrubs along the front walk and cut them all out. The circle garden is different too because the tree in the middle died at the top. I cut it down but then it grew back at the base so I kept it as a bush. And notice that we put wrought iron railings up for those who need a little help getting up the stairs. Lots of little changes add up to a new look. I also snapped the new photo on a gloomy day which is all we've had lately. Rain, rain, rain with a little intermittant sun now and then. Here's the old photo for comparison taken on a sunny day. I'll probably change the photo again when more flowers are blooming. I love Camp Kreitzer whatever the weather! Ya'all come see us.

Of Easter Eggs and Little Lambs

Two Holy Saturday projects: coloring Easter Eggs and making the traditional lamb cake. First the eggs. Hmm...what color for this one? Pink? We colored the last one pink and the one before that and the one before that. Guess what color is the favorite?

Next comes the traditional lamb cake which I haven't made in a few years and almost forgot about until someone, I think Alice, mentioned it. Ah, yes...I can do that. First get out the lamb pan, the cake mix, the decorator tips and bags and then go to work.

Bake the cake and after it cools do a light frosting coat to reduce crumbs. Oops, no coconut to make the "grass" for the completed cake. No problem...sprinkles are good anywhere, anytime! And the lamb becomes the centrepiece for the Easter table.

And another little lamb dressed in her Easter finery.

Last Day of our visit on Spy Wednesday

What better day to climb a firetower and play "I spy Gramma & Paka's house" than on Spy Wednesday. It's a quarter mile from the parking area to the tower but a lovely walk along a rocky path with rock steps. Here's our destination.

And our intrepid hikers.

Sean wasn't sure he wanted to climb up the tower. He started back down, but when I asked him if he was afraid his natural manly spirit took over and turned back around. This kid is fearless!

Here's everybody but our photographer.

And here's a portion of the famous "Seven Bends" of the Shenandoah River. Worth the walk and the climb. Brendan picked out our house which was clearly visible by its blue siding. In another month it will be much less visible behind all the greenery. 

No matter how far out in the country you are or how far off in the woods, the barbarians can always find you and leave their mark. They usually leave plenty of trash behind as well. Pray for the barbarians; they know not what they do. Wonder how much bench time in Purgatory is associated with mindless vandalism.

Happy Easter and Enjoy those Rice Krispy Treat Easter Eggs

Our idea man saw a kids craft making rice krispy treat Easter eggs hallowed out and filled with goodies. So off he and Paka went to the grocery store to get the necessities and then came back to supervise the other kids in the preparation. With plenty of cooking spray to keep the rice kispie treats from sticking to hands, plastic eggs, etc. we made a large plate of treats.

I tried a few on the outside of the plastic eggs and they turned out to be "eggstra" large. Most of the other treats were small and medium using the inside of the eggs as the mold.

Checking out all the goodies! Yum.

Rte. 11 Potato Chip Factory

On the way home from Skyline Drive we stopped at the Rte. 11 Potato Chip factory to let everybody select a bag of chips to go with grilled burgers and hot dogs. Ryan was the only one who stepped out of "lightly salted" category going for dill pickle chips. Good choice, Ryan. I like those too. I bought a bag of vinegar and salt for me and Larry. We were late in the day and the cooking was pretty much done so we watched the seasoning and bagging. The cooking and bagging rooms are on the first floor. The seasoning room is upstairs.  Lauren and Sean were calling down to tell me the workers were waving at them.

 

This is the machine they were watching upstairs through the window behind them. 

We admired the colorful shirts, but didn't buy any.

And here Larry is paying for the chips while his eager helpers wait for their bags. Everyone agreed the chip place was a fun stop on our outing. The last time we went we got to see the peeled white potatoes go from the holder into the giant cutter and then fly into the oil. I think they said it takes about 90 seconds to do 4,000 pounds of potatoes. Wow! 

Holy Week Visit

Spring break and Holy Week usually coincide so we had the pleasure of a visit from four of our grandkids and enjoyed several fun outings. Our visit began with dinner at the Melting Pot, a pizza place in Front Royal which had absolutely no atmosphere (maybe grunge) but had good food. We met our daughter and her husband to make the exchange in the midst of a wild thunderstorm accompanied by hail. Fortunately, by the time we were ready to leave, the storms had moved out.

Sunday was Mass day and, since Larry and I had tickets for Groucho at Wayside Theatre, Marianna came over to play. Later on Brendan said the thing he liked best about the weekend was playing with Marianna. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of them together. But it was sweet to see the eleven-year-old wooing his shy little two-year-old cousin.

Monday was our big outing day with a trip to Skyline Drive for a picnic and hike. A nice young man offered to take our picture at one of the overlooks, our only photo of all of us together. What a view!

We stopped at the Pinnacles picnic area which is at the top of a ridge and unprotected which makes it chilly and breezy. We were chasing napkins and using ice to weight our cups.

Before moving on to hike the Limberlost Trail, Lauren played Queen on the mountain (or the big rock anyway).



The Limberlost Trail is 1.3 miles and handicap accessible which means it has a firm surface and is nice and wide, although we ran into a ranger in one spot that was rough and rutted from recent rains. He was working with a rake which looked hopeless. He said they had already done the trail earlier, but would have to bring in bigger equipment to get it back into shape for the season. The trail was a good choice because it's mostly level and easy with plenty of diversions like big fallen trees and huge rocks for scrambling over and walking on, a wooden bridge over a stream, and cut tree trunks that made stumps for sitting or climbing. There are plenty of benches along the trail for taking rest breaks too.

I was fascinated by the natural arch made by the bent tree trunk in the photo below.

Sean is usually intrepid and resists any help when we are out hiking, but we apparently wore him out. He took a break on Paka's shoulders.

Nearing the parking lot at the end of the trail which makes a big loop.

With a stop planned for custard, we had no complaints about the ride back. Only one disappointment, we didn't see a bear. As a matter of fact we saw hardly any wildlife at all, but there were lots of visitors to the park and with four noisy kids, we must have been a scary group. The animals were apparently lying low -- except for this critter. Hmm....is it a giraffe? a seahorse? a unicorn?