17-mile hike in SNP with two water holes

I hiked 17 miles (27km) with 3850 feet (1170 meters) elevation gain in the Shenandoah National Park (uphill White Oak Canyon, the highest point in SNP: Hawksbill at 4,049 feet, and downhill Cedar Run Trail) on Saturday. The weather was mostly cloudy, and with two downpour rains.  4 hikers (not me) dived in one water hole close to the beginning of the hike, and then they slide into a 55f (13c) water hole close to the end of the hike. There were still a lot of water accumulated from several days of rain, and created two stream-crossings that required me to use booties. We had lunch at Skyland Lodge and enjoyed the views, comfortable tables/chairs, and facilities. One female hiker intended to take 7:30 am 10-mile hike yet joined our 7:00 am hike at the same carpool location by mistake, so she bailed out at an earlier point.

Surgical Robot Night

I attended a Surgical Robot Night hosted by Reston Hospital Center, met skilled surgeons trained on and demo various surgical robots, and I even operated the amazing da Vinci Surgical System for 10 minutes! This system is most commonly used for hysterectomies and prostate removals, and cost US$2 million, in addition to several hundred thousand dollars of annual maintenance fees.

D.C. wharf

I checked out the newly opened D.C. Wharf on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The red lobster roll was tasty, and the fish market was as busy as before.

12.5 m Big Schloss hike

Seven people actually showed up on a 60f (15c) rainy day to do this 12.5 mile (20km) 2600 feet (800m) elevation gain hike. There were a lot of water from the past few days of rain over-running the streams and the trails, so we danced around rocks and cushy leaves patches on the water/trail for the first 3.8 miles which was more tiring than steep uphills for me. My boots eventually got wet and stayed wet until the end of the hike. The good news were only 1.5 hours of rain and a lot of spring flowers blooming, so it was still better to get out of the city for the green and nature. I also saw some tiny but very pink mushrooms which you can try to spot form the last photo.

15-m hike of Pocosin Hollow and Bear Fence Mountain

 I took the 15 mile (24 km) 3000 feet (900 meter) elevation gain hike in the southern Shenandoah National Park via Pocosin Hollow and Bear Fence Mountain near Wolftown, Virginia. Wolftown is a tiny community located in Madison County, Virginia, with Graves Mill and the Hoffman Round Barn listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a Wolftown general store/gas station which, according to our hike leader, hasn't changed a bit since he first visited there over 20 years ago.

There were many wild flowers blooming under the spring trees. We were worry about the rain but it turned out to be sunny, cool (70 F; 21 C), and dry there. I changed to sport sandals for five stream crossings, and took home and cooked at least 2 lb of Laetiporus edible mushrooms “Chicken of the Woods”. What a wonderful hike right after coming back from my long trip to NZ/AU/TW!