Old Rag is one of the most popular climbs on the east coast of America. It is part of the Shenandoah National Park. The park fee is $15 a person and lasts for a week. The Old Rag car park (2577 Nethers Rd, Sperryville) is about a kilometre away from the start of the trail.
My mum and I were really nervous for this climb; it is described as dangerous and is rated on the Shenandoah difficulty scale as being ‘very strenuous’, the highest level on the scale. It was in total about 10 miles (16km) of walking, including about 1 mile (1.6km) of scrambling to reach the summit. The walk up to the scramble was a very pleasant gradient and we ambled up most of it without too much puffing at all.
The rock scramble begins with the most difficult bit of scrambling; having to lower yourself into a crevice in the rock approx. 8-foot deep and walk through the crevice and climb back out again further down. I enjoy scrambling and bouldering but my mum found this bit slightly more difficult. The hike is known for the scrambling and there was a lot of climbing, squeezing through gaps and having to jump from rock to rock. The summit was open and rocky and the views over the Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge mountains were beautiful.
The trail is a circuit and the road down in a trail similar to the one you come up and a few kilometres down it becomes a fire road. The whole circuit took us approx. 6 hrs and that was with plenty of stops to admire the views and eat lunch at the summit. It was an absolutely beautiful hike and I would not let any worries about not being able to complete it put you off.
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