We almost made it. If we had started just a little bit sooner or spent a little less time at the waterfalls we would have made it to the car before the thunderstorm hit. But at least we made it past the steep part of the hike. We only had to hike through the rain for a little over a mile on relatively flat ground. There were a few streams to cross and the trail was pretty flooded. But my fear that we'd be stepping on wet, slippery rocks in the pouring rain never came to pass. Still by the time we got to the car we were soaked.

On Saturday, June 24th, I did the White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run hike in the Shenandoah National Forest with Marie and Dennis. Marie and Dennis are old friends that I met through Inner City Outings (ICO) several years ago where we were all volunteers. Marie and Dennis are still volunteering with ICO. I have since moved on to other activities, mainly kayaking. Ironically, the last time I hiked with them was about three years ago when the three of us (and Farimah) did this very same hike. It was a hike that none of us will ever forget. And throughout the day each of us kept remembering different things about that hike three years ago and where the hike went wrong. Needless to say when I was packing my backpack for today's hike I threw in a flashlight, extra clothes, and my first aid kit.
We met at a little after 8 am at the Vienna North Metro station to carpool. Marie surprised me by showing up on her bike with her backpack strapped to the back. Dennis showed up shortly after that in his Subaru rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Dennis always seems to give you the impression that he just woke up or he was out too late the night before. Since he looked like he was half-asleep I offered to drive. We loaded Marie's bike into Dennis's car and all the gear into my Honda CRV.

I hadn't seen them for almost three years. I think our last outing was the ski trip with Suzanne. So we had a lot of catching up to do. Marie filled me in on all the ICO gossip. Then we caught up on people. Michelle is in Florida. Eirik is in Atlanta. Ron is living down in Key West as a cabana boy. Peter and Joe both got married. No one has heard from Farimah or Suzanne. So much had happened in three years but when I saw them I felt like it had been just yesterday.

We got to the lower parking lot of the White Oak Canyon trail around 10 am. We got our passes from the guard and he asked us if we were familiar with the trail. We looked at each other. Yeah, we know this trail pretty well. I looked over to the start of the trail and saw my rock. Three years ago I sat on that rock for what seemed like an eternity, waiting alone in pitch black darkness for Dennis to come off the mountain.

The White Oak/Cedar Run Hike is actually two hikes combined into one to make a loop hike. There is a White Oak Trail and a Cedar Run Trail. The most spectacular waterfall views are on the White Oak Trail but it's more interesting to do the loop. The loop hike has five major falls and numerous smaller cascades and pools. There is a good description of the hike at http://www.hikingupward.com/SNP/WhiteOakCedarRun. According to the website the hike should take about 5 hours including a half hour for lunch. The total elevation gain is 2450 feet.

Three years ago Marie, Dennis, Farimah and I had done this same hike. We had started the hike a little later, maybe around 11 am but since the hike should only take 5 hours we weren't particularly worried about the time. I often think about that hike as a good example of why you should always bring along safety equipment even for a day hike, like a first aid kit, extra food or water, and especially flash lights. There are no lights on the trail. If for some reason you get injured or take too long on the hike on a cloudy or moonless night you could easily find yourself feeling your way down the mountain in pitch black darkness. Which is exactly what happened to us three years ago.

We had hiked up to White Oak Canyon to the visitor center and back down through the Cedar Run Trail. We had stopped too long at the waterfalls and some of us even went swimming. Farimah wouldn't pee in the woods so we had gone a mile out of our way to get her to a flush toilet at the Visitor Center. We had come back by way of the Cedar Run trail and had taken our time because we thought the hike down would be fast. But we had grossly miscalculated how long it would take to hike back down. By the time we had realized darkness was falling we were at least a mile from the car and the trail was steep and rocky. It was a moonless night and no one had a flashlight. But there was one back at the car. While there was still some light out Marie and Dennis had run ahead to get the flashlight while Farimah and I felt our way back in the darkness using the glow from Farimah's cell phone to light the footpath of the trail. Once they reached the car Marie had decided to stay at the car while Dennis went back up the trail searching for us. But there was a split in the trail. Dennis went to the left. Farimah and I were on the trail to the right. We had passed each other in the dark.



So ... back to Saturday. Marie, Dennis and I packed up our gear and headed out on our hike. But first we did a check. Flashlights everyone? Yep. We were going to hike up the Cedar Run Trail, take the short cut through the White Oak Road and come down through the White Oak Trail. The forecast had been for "widely scattered" thundershowers. But the sky was clear and it was a beautiful day. We stopped at several waterfalls to cool off. Marie and Dennis went swimming while I dangled my feet in the cool water.



We got to the road around noon. Dennis' cell phone had been beeping at us throughout the hike so he went up to the road to check for his messages. Dennis is addicted to his cell phone. As we headed down the White Oak Road the dang cell phone kept beeping. Marie and I issued an ultimatum. Turn it off or we'll throw it away.

We got to the top of the White Oak trail and stopped for lunch. Marie kept asking me, "Do you remember this part of the trail?" How could I forget. That's where I stopped to pee for the umpteenth time. Farimah and I had been hiking together most of that day and I had noticed that she never had to pee. But she was insistent that we "get to the top soon." It was only later that I realized that Farimah had never peed in the woods. She was holding it in waiting for the flush toilets.



Around that time we heard the first crack of thunder. Dennis was sure it was several miles away, but I just felt a sense of dread. Rocks are slippery when they're wet and we were on the steep part of the descent. Dennis and Marie stopped at a few more waterfalls but I hung back near the trail. I just wanted to get off the rocky part of the trail before the rain came.

And my knees were hurting. I've never had a problem with my knees but with each step I felt my right knee groan with pain. Dennis searched the woods and came back with a walking stick. It made the hike a lot easier.

We had just exited the rocky part of the trail when the rain started. We stopped for a while near a tree to see if it would pass by quickly. Marie covered her head with my jacket while Dennis and I huddled near the tree. We were soaked and the trail was filling with water. When we were pretty sure the rain was not going to stop we continued on the hike. It was maybe a mile to the car. But it went by quickly. At least it was still light out.

We were back at the car by 6:00. It would be a long drive back to Vienna. It was raining. There were flash flood warnings throughout Northern Virginia. Rt-66 was closed in both directions. A car was on fire somewhere. We eventually made it back to the metro parking lot after 9:00. We said our good-byes and promised each other that we wouldn't let three years pass between hikes.

-Susanita