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Home » Fitness » Hiking

January 24, 2017 (Updated April 4, 2023)

Shenandoah Weekend Recap Part 2

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

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Hey friends – I’m back to share part 2 of our weekend adventures in the mountains of Virginia. 🙂 If you missed yesterday’s post, read that first: Shenandoah Weekend Recap Part 1.

When I last left off it was Saturday morning and Matt and I were enjoying a late breakfast at our cabin. After we ate, we got suited up for a hike, said farewell to our new friend Boots, and headed out the door!

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We swung by a café in the town of Luray for lattes to go and then headed on to Shenandoah National Park, which was a short 20-ish minute drive. It was nice being so close – usually we stay a bit farther away!

shenandoah national park

While driving, I leafed through our Hiking Shenandoah National Park book and picked out a hike for us to do. It was a gorgeous day – randomly in the low 60’s! We decided on the Byrd’s Nest #4 Loop, which was a new-to-us 2.4 mile loop that had some random offshoots we could add on for extra distance. Perfect!

byrds nest #4 loop

We had the trail more or less to ourselves – we only saw two other people the whole time we were out there. It was so nice to spend the afternoon in nature – there’s nothing I love more than being out on the trails on a nice day with Matt. The soft dirt underfoot, the whisper of the wind in the trees, the comforting repetition of putting one foot in front of the other over and over and over again – there’s no app for any of that, my friends. A few times we stopped and stood still and just listened to the complete silence, breathing the fresh air in deeply. The trails are so calming and peaceful to me in a way that I rarely find in everyday life, outside of maybe my morning runs. It’s why I love them so much.

byrds nest #4 hike

After an hour or so of hiking, we stopped for lunch – leftover homemade pizza from the night before. Cold pizza = the best.

pizza hiking fuel

Plus some carrots for crunch. 🙂

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Most of this hike was on the Appalachian Trail, which is always cool – I love thinking of all the weary feet that have hit the trails before us, making their way all the way north or south.

byrds nest no 4

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When we made it back to the car a few hours later we drive to a nearby overlook because the clouds had settled in low, cozying up to the mountains in a beautiful way. It looked almost like snow in person.

cloudy shenandoah view

We were originally planning on going out to dinner on Saturday night, but we had had so much fun cooking and relaxing at our cabin the night before we decided it would be more fun to do that again! We hit a nearby grocery store on the way back to get provisions for a taco night, then headed back to the cabin and hit the hot tub for awhile before getting down to work! We brought a couple mini single-serve bottles of Prosecco for me to enjoy – yum! Matt was in the mood for red wine but I wanted something more refreshing and light to go with the Mexican feast.

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Ready to eat, plus the last of the kale salad from the night before! We stuffed the taco shells with ground chicken cooked with taco seasoning, avocado, fresh tomato, cilantro, sharp cheddar, and a little hot sauce. 🙂

homemade taco night healthy

Matt used forks to hold his tacos upright – genius!

how to keep tacos upright

Sunday morning was another low key, relaxing morning. I was up a little before Matt so I snacked on a banana muffin and read for awhile with my tea while waiting for him to wake up.

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Boots kept me company too – lol!

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We made a similar breakfast to the one we had the day before – another veggie/egg scramble with sliced strawberries and bananas. The only difference was we added the rest of the previous night’s avocado to the eggs, plus some basil leftover from our pizza making!

easy healthy breakfast

After a little more hot tub relaxing we packed up and headed out for another hiking adventure on the way home to DC! It was really foggy/gray out but we wanted to get in a short jaunt before making our way home.

By the time we made it in the park, the fog had gotten crazy! It was actually really cool – so spooky looking. Crazy, right?

lands run falls trail

Since we knew we wouldn’t have any nice overlook views, we decided on a short hike, Lands Run Falls trail, that took us down to a pretty waterfall. We figured short was good in case it started raining! It was only about 2 miles round trip (we went a little past the falls).

shenandoah hike fog

We had pretty much the entire park, as well as this trail, to ourselves – not exactly the type of weather that inspires people to get out and hike! But we thought it was really cool – so mysterious and quiet. Here’s our “it’s kind of spooky but also awesome out here” face:

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lands run falls winter

When we made it to the falls we stopped for lunch – the last of our leftover pizza! This was such great hiking fuel – we’ll have to remember this for next time. We threw the rest of the leftover pepperoni on top – couldn’t let it go to waste!

leftover pizza for hiking

We were sad to say goodbye to the Shenandoahs – but we’ll be back soon, I’m sure. We never stay away for too long!

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Until next time, Virginia mountains – we miss you already!

What’s the weirdest weather you’ve gone hiking in?

- anne
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15 comments
  • Kelli @ Hungry Hobby
    January 24, 2017 · 10:40AM:
    the pizza is hysterical! Super traditional hiking food, omg I seriously can't stop laughing! SCREW THE TRAILMIX GIVE ME A PIZZA! Glad you had a good time! I need some hot tub time ASAP
    Reply
    • Anne
      January 24, 2017 · 10:49AM:
      Pizza = way more awesome on the trails than trail mix. :)
      Reply
  • Kori
    January 24, 2017 · 11:57AM:
    Boots is ADORABLE, and the last photo made me laugh! Such a perfect getaway!
    Reply
  • Amy @ Thoroughly Nourished Life
    January 24, 2017 · 4:28PM:
    How beautiful! I love the spooky foggy weather too - how perfectly atmospheric :) There are lots of great places around our area for hiking, and you are definitely inspiring me to grab my sister and hit some trails once the weather starts cooling down! At the moment I find myself 'urban hiking' - trekking around the hilly streets of the area I live in looking at pretty houses! A change of scenery to something more rural would be nice though!
    Reply
    • Anne
      January 24, 2017 · 4:41PM:
      I love urban hiking, too! Especially in northwest DC - the row houses are so fun to look at. :)
      Reply
  • Sarah @ O-HI-30
    January 24, 2017 · 7:14PM:
    what taco seasoning do you buy? I haven't been able to find one that doesn't have a lot of funky ingredients. thanks!
    Reply
    • Anne
      January 25, 2017 · 1:55PM:
      Normally we just make our own for that reason -- but this time we just grabbed whatever the store had since we were in the middle of nowhere and didn't have options :)
      Reply
  • Heather @ Polyglot Jot
    January 24, 2017 · 7:55PM:
    Those fog pictures are really neat! Sounds like a great weekend getaway! Also, I'm absolutely making those banana muffins next week! The fork idea for tacos is totally genius!
    Reply
  • Pamela January 24, 2017 · 9:44PM:
    What an amazing time you had in nature...the pictures and your words read like a walking mediation. I love the fog and can't believe our Alexandria winter has been so mild to create dense fog for many mornings this week. Thank you for sharing your adventures, along with words and recipes.
    Reply
    • Anne
      January 25, 2017 · 1:55PM:
      Thank you Pamela :)
      Reply
  • Roadrunner January 25, 2017 · 1:26AM:
    What a wonderful weekend! Very nice!
    Reply
  • Holly
    January 25, 2017 · 6:31PM:
    Looks like an amazing weekend! Boots should have his own Facebook account haha.
    Reply
    • Anne
      January 26, 2017 · 9:44AM:
      Right?! The cutest!! Well, second cutest. ;) Zara gets first!
      Reply
  • Kristin January 25, 2017 · 8:02PM:
    Have you ever hiked Old Rag down there? The BEST! (Of course I'm biased b/c it's where my hubby proposed). Check it out. It's strenuous but so good
    Reply
    • Anne
      January 26, 2017 · 9:45AM:
      Yes! We LOVE that hike - have done it 4 or 5 times. It's actually where we got engaged, too! Too funny!
      Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

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