Bear Church Rock – Shenandoah National Park, VA

I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to make it out to the mountains before spring ended. We got our chance on May 16, 2015 when our cousin from Toronto came to visit. It was his first time to Virginia and this would be his his first hike through the Shenandoah mountains. It was a perfect day for the Bear Church Rock loop (8.5 miles) which initially starts on the Graves Mill trail before steeply climbing the mountain along the Staunton river trail. We included a detour to check out the Jones Mountain Cabin owned by the PATC (Potomac Appalachian trail Club). It was a hot day with some overcast mixed with bursts of sunshine and spring rain. The showers peaked as we reached the top of the mountain to cool us off. Heaven.