On our last morning in Shenandoah, we awoke to bright sunshine and bluebird skies – finally! After a hearty breakfast at Skylands, we shoved off for home, but with one stop on the way: Mary’s Rock, redemption time.
We’d attempted Mary’s Rock before; in fall of 2016, on our first visit to the park, we’d picked it out as a reach hike to do with two babies in backpacks. The hike starts with a climb up first to the intersection with the Appalachian Trail, and then to a ridgeline, which you follow to the summit. We could have finished the hike, I think, but for a particularly cold weather day. The kids cried and fussed all the way up to the ridgeline, then went into baby shutdown mode and fell asleep. Reluctantly, we decided to turn back rather than subject them to brisk winds at the summit. It was the right call, but we had been itching to try again – and finish this time – ever since. With two experienced little hikers and a beautiful day, Labor Day 2021 was go time.
Although our ultimate goal was the summit, there was plenty to enjoy on the way up.
Like a new friend. See the little one up there?
We stood and watched while a mother and two fawns strolled across the trail, casual as you please. Magic!
Intersection with the famous Appalachian Trail! The kids were proud that they had feet on the AT.
Not long after bidding goodbye to our new white-tailed deer friends, we had another surprise treat in store: this absolutely breathtaking sunlight filtering in rays to light up the trail.
Of course photos don’t even come close to doing it justice. It really was like walking through a hall of lights.
A short ridge walk, and we finally made it – the summit of Mary’s Rock!
Triumphant family! It took us almost five years to get here, but we made it.
Set about enjoying those summit views. The payoff was well worth the climb.
I was so proud of both kids – they had so much fun and really expanded their hiking skills over our weekend in Shenandoah. They pushed themselves past their comfort zones and were rewarded, not only with spectacular views, but also with the knowledge that they could do hard things.
That concludes our whirlwind tour of Shenandoah – but never fear, travel recaps continue! I’ll have some holiday and New Year’s content for you for the next few weeks, but in 2022 we’ll head all the way across the country together.
covered in flour 
Congratulations on your redemption hike! It’s always fun to re-hike trails/peaks that the kids rode up the first time so they can claim them for themselves. We did that with Baxter and Big Crow in the Adirondacks when we wanted to try winter hiking — we’ve always been four season hikers at home, but were somehow intimidated by the idea of climbing *mountains* in the winter, so wanted to start with short and familiar trails.
We also hiked Mary’s Rock this summer, and absolutely loved it! It was my favorite of the four hikes we did in Shenandoah (I’m still catching up on vacation posts, too — I never wrote about Miller’s Head). I had seen a USGS benchmark symbol on the map ahead of time and became obsessed with finding it after discovering it was not where I’d expected it to be. We made a fun scavenger hunt looking for it. If you hike Mary’s Rock again and geek out on benchmarks, too, see how many you can find; we found three. But maybe wait a few years… it might be more scrambling/exposure than you and Steve are comfortable with for the kids just yet.
Thank you! It was a long time coming. I loved your post about Mary’s Rock and definitely need to look for the benchmarks. I suspect they would be more scrambling/exposure than we’re willing to do with the kids at this point, but I know we’ll be going back to Shenandoah many times and Mary’s Rock is in our future, so one of these days I’ll make it my mission to find them! Such a cool scavenger hunt. 🙂