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The kids really wanted to rock scramble.  REALLY.  The trails here have a lot of rocks all over them, but for actual rock scrambling, Bearfence Mtn trail cannot be beat.  We had a great time on this trail, but the kids grumbled at the beginning because it takes a bit of hiking to get to the real scrambling part.                  

What in the world is this?  It's probably a weed, looking at its leaves, but I don't know it.  I think it's really pretty, though, especially close up.  I love to stop and pay attention to little things along the trail.  God has put so much detail into this world, it's stunning.                  

When Cici & Ruwan came up with their kiddos, their oldest was spooked by the heights and such.  This is not the trail for him.  Or maybe it is, in a forced therapy sorta way.  There are a lot of ledges and fall-off-the-edge-of-the-world areas.  But it's so much fun hiking this trail.  There are places that you can get a 360 view of the forest and park.  A seriously awesome trail.                

We tried to pack as many trails in as possible on the sunny days, since we had several rainy days.  We found this gargoyle tree on the Story of the Forest trail.  It's an easy trail, so we did this one right before heading to Harrisonburg to get our tires replaced.  NB wants gargoyles in his room when we are in a house again, and I think this tree growth makes a super gargoyle, so it's my model for what to get him.  

 We spent several hours in Harrisonburg getting the tires replaced.  Since the Sprinter is so huge, they need several people to work on it.  They had some difficulties with it, but we now have new tires.  We've been hard on our car, but it's doing a great job!        

After returning from Costco, we wanted to hit one more falls trail.  In the morning, some of the kiddos and I went to the amphitheater to look out for bears.  No luck, but we found the trail marker for the falls, and it was only 1.2 miles from the amphitheater.  That sounded like a short enough trail for an afternoon hike, so that's what I wanted to do.  Holy stink.  Check out how rocky that trail is.  This was a rough trail.  When we returned, the ranger in the campground said he usually tells people it's an 8.  Ugh.  It kicked my butt.  But, oh my, the falls are gorgeous.