One of the most popular weekend activities at UVA is hiking Humpback Rock. Humpback Rock is a mountain hiking trail located about thirty minutes from Grounds. As one of the items on the list of “Things to Do before You Graduate”, I decided it was time that I checked hiking Humpback Rock off of my list. So, here is my recounting of my experience hiking Humpback.
I was a little apprehensive at first because I am pretty out-of-shape with an aversion to physical activity, but I was excited to try something new with friends. I did a little research to prepare and I found a blog that rated it on a strenuous level of 3.5. I definitely thought that was doable, but there is a reason you should not trust everything you read on the internet.
For our hike, we decided to do the sunrise hike at 5 am so we could see the sun rise above the mountains. When we first arrived it was still dark and fairly chilly, but the scene quickly started to change. The sun comes up a lot quicker than you would realize and after the hike begins you really start to break a sweat.
At the start of the hike, there were benches every 40 feet or so. I thought this was maybe just for people to enjoy a meal or read a book. I quickly understood the necessity of the benches. The hike is a lot steeper than it looks and within the first 30 seconds I needed to catch my breath on one of those benches.
It may have been my lack of athleticism or overall bad shape because a group of us seemed to breeze through the trail, but the other group of us was collapsing and complaining left and right. I would say that for those who are not used to strenuous physical activity should really anticipate giving their body a hefty workout. It is a one mile hike up and back down at steep elevation; it’s no cakewalk.
Even though the trail is steep, it (luckily for me) requires no climbing, jumping, or traversing any rivers. The most “climbing” I did was up some stones that formed a natural staircase. There is a fork within the hiking trail that can either send the hikers left on an even steeper, shorter route that does require a little climbing, but me and the slow group went to right on the easier, longer route.
After about 45 minutes (including many breaks to avoid heart attacks) we arrived at the top of Humpback Rock with the sun still rising. What I saw was probably one of the most glorious views I have ever witnessed. The view over the Shenandoah Valley is breath-taking. With the sunrise it was all the more beautiful. I could not even feel my exhaustion once seeing the views and the hike up became totally worth it.
Going back down the trail was effortless, only taking about 15 minutes. The next day, I was pretty sore all over and definitely felt as though I had fulfilled my exercise quota for the year. All-in-all, the views at the top are so incredible that I would hike Humpback Rock everyday if I could. It was a reminder just how beautiful Charlottesville is and how lucky I am to call this place home. However, that being said, the strenuous level was definitely beyond a 3.5, so next time I will be more prepared.