Humpback Rocks is an outcropping of greenstone on the top of Humpback Mountain, which lies at milepost 5.8 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just a few miles south of the I-64 overpass at Afton Mountain. At an elevation of 3,080 feet, the greenstone outcropping provides a panoramic view of the George Washington National Forest to the west, the southern end of the Shenandoah Valley to the northwest, and the valley floor on the east side of the mountain. In the late 1700s, the Scots-Irish built a hardscrabble lifestyle in these mountains. Today, along the west side of the peak, there is a visitor center and an outdoor museum of replica log cabins and farm facilities. The farm trail winds through a quarter mile of woods and finally opens into a meadow on the west side of the peak. From the meadow, you can see Humpback Rocks along the ridge at the top of the mountain. This is the view in the lede photo, where Humpback Rocks is at the center of the photo. The photos below take you along the farm trail, and illustrate the state of life in the 1700s. The photos were shot in May, August, and November of 2015 and 2016. Next time, we'll cross the meadow and begin a hike to the top of Humpback Rocks.
Gear Photos were shot with a Nikon D750 paired with a Zeiss Milvus 35 mm f/2.0, or were shot with a Nikon Coolpix A.
