Camping at Staunton River

 This weekend we went camping at Staunton River State Park, just across the Virginia border. We'd been here once before, last summer, to see the comet (it's a dark sky site, so great for astronomy) but that time we just drove back instead of staying overnight. We've been wanting to get back for a while, and I'm so glad we finally did!

We had a bit of a later start and didn't arrive until about 1:00. We actually got super lucky, because they were all booked up, but we thought "what the hell" and went anyway, figuring that if worst came to worst, we'd have a nice day hiking. Sure enough, when we got there they confirmed that they were full, but then a shining angel in a ranger's outfit came out of the back room and explained she'd just gotten off the phone with another group who'd had to cancel, and offered us their spot. Whew!

After a quick lunch and survey of the campground, we started on our hike. It was about 6 miles around, weaving in and out of the river bank-- absolutely lovely!

The weather was perfect too, about 70 degrees for the hike. We shared the trail with riders (there's a horse camping option too, but it's BYO horses), and although we only saw a couple we could tell that the path was ~ahem~ well-travelled.

Back at the campsite, it was time to set up camp and cook some dinner-- southwestern chicken packets and apple crisp for dessert! We didn't have a fire starter so it took a little work to get the fire going, but we've agreed that it was way more fun that way. There's something so gratifying about nourishing a little flame with just the right combination of leaves, twigs, and air to grow it into a powerful campfire for cooking.

The best part? There wasn't a bug to be seen (or heard. or felt.)

Once it got dark and the fire died down, we pulled out the telescope and carried it to the nearby observing field. It's been designated a dark sky site by the International Dark-Sky Association, meaning it meets certain requirements around light pollution levels. It's been ages since I've seen that many stars, probably since last time we were there! We even saw a dim Milky Way, at least until the moon started rising. The telescope was a little finicky (after all, we got it for $30 at a thrift store) but we did get a good view of Jupiter, Saturn, and the Andromeda Galaxy. After a few hours I was cold and the moon was up-- and I never realized how bright the moon was until it was the only light around. It was just a quarter (or a bit over), but even so it lit our faces up!

The nice thing about this time of year is you can get good stargazing in without staying up late. We were in our sleeping bags by nine, and asleep shortly after. Matthew slept better than I did, as there was a pack of coyotes nearby that were howling pretty constantly through the night. At about 5am there were a couple owls exchanging calls too. Very cool though! And we did stay nice and warm all night.

We got up just in time to make it down to the river as the sun was rising. We may have startled a dawn fisherman, who was snoring in his folding chair, but he quickly went back to sleep. Although photos can never do justice, it was absolutely lovely standing there (almost) alone and watching the sun rise.

Back to the camp for breakfast and packing up!

Before heading out we had one last mission-- to try out the disc golf course at the park. This was a good call; nine holes brought us in and out of the woods, even onto the river bank at one point. Even though I'm absolute garbage at it, I still got a couple good shots in. We did have a couple of throws that involved clambering through the underbrush and emerging covered in burrs (no ticks, fortunately). We also came across a few deer.

Then a two-hour drive back and we were home by lunchtime!