Humpback Rocks at Sunrise

Humpback Rocks is probably my favorite day hike close to Charlottesville.  It is located just 35 minutes west of C'ville on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesboro.  I do this hike fairly often and have countless pictures from the pinnacle of the rocks.  I have always thought it would be really nice to make it to the top to watch the sun rise and made it my goal to do so before I shared this hike with everyone.  The hike itself is relatively short at three-quarters of a mile each way but fairly strenuous.  There is a relentless, steep incline from the parking lot to the rocks.  Allison and I always try to keep a decent pace without any stops, and it provides a moderately intense, rewarding workout.  The first half of the trail is well maintained and graveled.  The second half requires some scrambling over jagged rocks; however, is still well defined due to heavy travel.  Having checked the night before for good weather and seeing an estimated sun rise of 6:02 am, Allison and I set our alarms for 4 and prepared for an early morning excursion.

We pulled into the parking lot at the trail head right around 5 fueled up on coffee.  The first half of the hike was fairly uneventful.  There was the occasional comments of how we never remember it being as steep and how we should be in better shape.  I think we huffed and puffed a little harder than normal due to a lack of sleep and the caffeine restricting our blood flow.  I was also carrying about a 25lb pack, which I had never had on this hike before.  About three quarters of the way up, we realized that we were on trail that we didn't recognize.  We new we were close to the rocks, and we were still on a trail clearly marked by painted trees.  Everything looks a little different in the dark with the light of flashlights than it does in the day, but we were sure we had never been on this stretch of trail.  While skeptically trudging forward and deciding what to do we came across a sign for the rocks only 800 ft away.  It turns out there are two routes to the rocks.  We had traditionally always approached the east face of the rocks heading up the mountain.  You can also hike all the way around and above the rocks, and then descend down onto them.  There are trails for both, but we did the latter in the dark on this particular morning.  Even with the navigational hiccup, we hit the rocks a full 20 minutes before the light of the sun.

Alli and I got a good 30 seconds of solitude before a few other twosomes ascended the rocks and ruined a perfectly quiet morning.  In all, 4 groups of two people made it to the top to see the sunrise with us being the first.  Unfortunately two of the groups consisted of two girls who felt the constant need to chatter and had no volume control whatsoever.  We also observed the phenomenon that, although there were plenty of great spots to sit and watch the sunrise on these massive rocks, the two groups of talkers sat within a foot or two of us.  This phenomenon can also frequently be observed on seemingly uncrowded beaches when some clueless group inexplicably sets up camp right beside you.  As the fore-mentioned groups scampered the rocks like children looking for their perfect Facebook defaults, Alli and I found watching the fog roll over the hills to be the coolest part of the pre-sun show.  The fog seemed to circle us on the rocks, starting by whipping around the western side of the mountain to our south as pictured above.  The rolling cloud then took a turn east crossing in front of us as we faced north, as pictured below, before dissipating into a small valley.  After 20 minutes of watching the fog and enjoying the thermos of coffee we packed, it was time for the big show.

The sunrise, pictured at the top of the post, was beautiful as expected.  It was nice to see the Virginia country side slowly come to life, starting with the hilltops and slowly making its way into the valleys.  I have experienced many "sunrises" from a tree stand in the middle of the woods but never from a place with such a vantage point.  This hike is perfect for anyone that lives nearby looking for a sunrise hike due to its short length.  I'm sure sunset would also be nice here, but I can only imagine what the crowds would be like.  Most times, the rocks are crawling with people which slightly deters from the natural beauty.  With only 8 people atop, Humpback was as least crowded as I had ever seen it by far, and we took full advantage exploring many of the nooks and crannies of the rocks after the sunrise.

  

Aside from having the claim of being the first couple to the top, we were also the only group to have coffee and cook up a hot meal.  We packed our little burner that runs on white gas and our cooking kit that we used on our West Coast camping adventure last summer.  We brought along a few biscuits that we made the night before and cooked up some hearty, farm-raised scrambled eggs with grilled, marinated pork sirloin from the night before, fresh green onions, and goat cheese- all from the farmer's market.  Our little one pot meal turned out to be delicious, and it was cool to get to cook something so tasty from the top of the mountain.  After breakfast, we took a few more moments to enjoy the beauty of the early morning sun on the surrounding hills.  These were some of the prettiest views of the morning, and I leave you with those pictures below.