The 3 Easiest Waterfall Hikes in Shenandoah National Park (Part 2)

3. DOYLES RIVER FALLS

Doyles River Falls - Upper
(Upper Falls)

For our last day in Shenandoah National Park we picked this trail because there were not one, but two waterfalls! The round trip hike of 3.2 miles is moderate on the way down, but the return climb is STEEP! So steep it seems that you are pretty much at a half-jog the whole way down. Almost too quickly we reached the Upper Falls, from there we decided to bypass it because of the crowd and kept going until we got to the Lower Falls.

After taking our time on the sharp switchbacks, the 63 feet of water furiously spilling down the rockface came into our view. I charged toward the small landing beneath the falls, but was stopped dead in my tracks by what I though to be a live snake! I screamed!! Cody, my knight in shining armor, quickly came to my aid. Upon closer examination we realized it was not moving and was a little bloody--someone killed it. Strategically, we removed it from the path so no one would have a heart attack from having the daylights scared out of them, like I almost did.

Doyle River Falls - Small Cascade
(Small Cascade)

A little more cautiously this time I made my way down and set up my tripod to get a picture. I didn't have too much luck here because the sun was shining directly on the top of the falls (overexposure), so I thought best to move on. On the way back out we stopped to see the Upper Falls, it was still crowded. The grotto-like setting was nearly impossible to capture without a moving subjects hopping into the scene. Somehow, I got lucky and was able to fire off a few shots.

Doyles River Falls - Lower
(Lower Falls)

Midway, I remember thinking to myself, "This isn't too bad!?" I even protested saying so out loud just in case I would be jinxing myself by doing so. Of course, I did! That's where things started going "downhill".....It was BAD, real BAD! I almost wanted to warn everyone we passed to turn back, especially when we came to a lady resting on a bench on the way down! She had no idea. Without saying a word, we trudged along. There were moments that I wanted to die or either pass out (just a tad dramatic), but without incident, we made it back to the trailhead.


In case you missed it:
The 3 Easiest Waterfall Hikes in Shenandoah National Park
(Part 1)


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17 comments:

  1. gorgeous rewards for your hard work though - beautiful shots!!!

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  2. you should have made out it was a real difficult walk. Maybe you would have had less people to contend with when taking photos.

    As usual you are a master in these lighting conditions. I love your pictures they always make me want to go hiking.

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  3. Awesome. :)

    I wonder if there was a secret elevator they didn't tell you about. :D

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  4. I suppose the hike was well worth the pictures you took!!!
    It's a good thing you are young and in shape!
    Those waterfalls look so refreshing.xoxo

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  5. Goodness Jess, that's AMAZING!!! I want to be there!!! p.s : are you living nearby the area? probably we can meet up physically next year when I tour around US. I really plan to be there :-) thanks for the info!

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  6. Lower falls photo is the best!

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  7. Great photo story with awesome photos!

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  8. Those are SO pretty. Sometimes its worth the effort. . .

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  9. OK seriously, those are kickass pics! Saves my legs from the hikes, it's almost like being there!

    OK minus the nice smells and mist.

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  10. you are definitely our wilderness sister. even a dead snake and i would have had to drag kath's body into the bushes so it wouldn't scare anyone. lol.

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  11. that top photograph is perfect in every way! the blue tone from the shade an the slowed water. just perfect!i can't quite imagine the climb up or down but i can say without reservation that at least I thought it was worth your while to do such a difficult climb...the pictures! :)

    xo

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  12. these are just gorgeous! i haven't been able to get on your blog all this week until now--it would shut down when i tried to open the page. so glad it works now. :)

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  13. This is an excellent amazing informative blog post, Great really what a nice photos of water fall....Thank you

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  14. beautiful beautiful shots. it looks like a wonderful place to be. totally worth the effort. i love a good hike.

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  15. Enchanting waterfalls...have yet to see one of these especially the cascading ones. Beautiful shots!

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  16. thanks to you
    and your
    stellar talent ♥

    i can visit the mountains
    and the sea
    in one morning.

    :-)


    thank goodess

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