We greatly enjoyed our recent 2-night stay at Sherando Lake in the George Washington National Forest. While we prefer even-numbered sites in the shadier section in River Bend (B) loop at Sherando, we couldn’t complain about the size of site B-13.
We’ve camped at Sherando several times, and in 2016 we were in B13 with our little Scamp travel trailer.
It was hot the afternoon we arrived–even at this campground in the mountains–and in addition to using our awning, we found it helpful to put up our colorful shade cloth.
After we’d gotten everything situated and set up, we drove to the lake to swim for a while. The water felt great! Later, as we were hanging our suits and other items on a makeshift clothesline, Wayne smiled. We were using his mother’s clothespins, and he wondered what she’d think of them traveling around with us in our camper!
Earlier in the day we’d walked from our site in B loop to the dam at the upper lake and around C loop. After dinner, we walked from B loop down to–and around–A loop and back. My Fitbit loved all this walking and said we’d covered a little over 4 miles.
Once it was dark, we sat outside watching the sky. It was the beginning of the Perseid meteor shower and we saw several “shooting stars,” along with a number of satellites. When we finally came inside, I guess that the combination of swimming, walking, fresh air, and simply relaxing under the stars accounted for the fact that we slept an amazing 9 hours that night!
The next day we visited with my cousin, Mary, and her husband, David, who are camp hosts at Sherando. It was the first time we’d seen each other in well over a year due to the pandemic, and it was nice to catch up. 🙂
After leaving their site in C loop, we walked up the road towards the group camping area, then turned left to walk up on top of the dam. I certainly wished I had my regular camera with me because there were dozens of Goldfinches (and butterflies) up there on the thistles! I didn’t get any pics of the birds with my cell phone camera, but the thistles were certainly pretty!
There’s a trail around the upper lake, but we’ve never been on it. Maybe we will on another trip.
Looking down towards the bottom of the dam, we were surprised to see a number of crows gathered on the bridge. They seemed very “serious” about something, and there was much discussion among them.
After walking back to our campsite, we were ready for a swim. The water was cool enough to be refreshing, but warm enough to be enjoyable.
That evening after dinner we planned to go up to the top of the dam to watch for meteors, but we were told to avoid the area. A rattlesnake had been spotted near the base of the dam, not too far from the bridge where the crows had been. Hmmm–had they spotted the snake earlier in the day? Is that why they were so serious and concerned?
So instead of going up to the dam to watch the sky, we opted to stay at our campsite again after another walk around the various campground loops. My cousin’s site looked so pretty! She said their vintage lights are over 40 years old.
Our stay at Sherando lake was so relaxing and low-key. I really hope we’ll be able to go again one weekend this fall.
Until next time,
Sharon & Wayne