In September and October 2005 we volunteered at Sherando Lake Recreation Area which is in the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The Blue Ridge Mountains are breathtaking, but Sherando Lake has to be the jewel of the national forest. Its beauty is incomparable, which is why you really need to look at EB's pictures!We thoroughly enjoyed our work-camping experience there. We worked the gatehouse on the weekends. During the week we registered campers. It was fun meeting so many different people and hearing their camping stories. We made good friends with the other work campers, especially Ron and Barb and Terry and Cyndi. Terri and Cyndi, married probably as long as us (that's a really, really long time!), met at Sherando Lake when she camped with her family and he was working there as a teenager.
Sherando Lake, a 25-acre spring-fed lake, is the center of the park which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930's. The buildings are constructed of stone and timber and blend into the rugged natural surroundings. There are lots of hiking trails in and around the park, and the lakes are popular fishing spots. The campground is beautiful, but it is first-come (no reservations) and usually fills up early on Fridays. The hardest part of our duties was turning people away once the campground was full.
We took a day trip to Crabtree Falls, which are huge, wild and wonderful waterfalls. If you have the stamina, you can hike from the bottom to the top of the falls and stand on a footbridge that crosses over the top of the falls. We hiked about half way up before we had to turn back to be in time for work at Sherando Lake, but EB decided that the BEST pictures were from down below anyway. Be sure and take a look.
