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Hiking North Fork Moorman's River I've had this hike on my radar for awhile now... It's right outside of Charlottesville and the main swimming hole, Sugar Hollow, is a popular destination for Charlottesville locals and UVA students to cool off in the hot weather. I found a hike that suggested hiking 1.7 past the main swimming hole and up to a waterfall that has another smaller swimming hole at the base of it (first picture). For starters this hike has nothing but swimming holes, TONS of swimming holes. There are a lot of little paths down to different spots on the river where people have made chairs out of rocks, added rope swings, etc. so it's a really fun spot to enjoy the outdoors.
When you're driving up to the hike there's a little gravel pull off where you can park and get out and enjoy an awesome view of the Charlottesville Reservoir. After you pass that point, the parking lot isn't too far and you won't miss it because of all the cars that will definitely be there. To start the hike you leave the parking lot and continue up the gravel road and then straight onto the trial. The first swimming hole that we passed we barely even noticed but we stopped by it on our way back (third to last picture). It was long, deep, clear, and the banks had chairs and tables that were made out of rocks which was really neat. We kept hiking until we came up to the main swimming hole (second picture) and there were quite a few people so we kept hiking. 1.7 miles after that swimming hole you hike along the river until you get to the lower falls & upper falls. When we got to the upper falls we were so lucky that not a single person was there. We basically stripped down and put on our bathing suits and swam around for a bit. The water was cold but it felt soooooo good after hiking up to the spot. After hanging out at the upper falls we made our way down to the lower falls. The rocks are super smooth and almost smooth enough to be sliding rocks, but they're way too steep. From the waterfalls if you stand in front of them and looked out the view was just trees and the mountains which was really nice. We stayed here to enjoy a snack and wade around a little bit more before hiking back down. The hike was really easy for the most part, there were uphills but they weren't long or strenuous. If you've ever been to Sugar Hollow I highly recommend the extra 2 miles to get to the waterfall. If you've never done the hike before and you're in the area it's definitely worth stopping by. According to HikingUpward, during the spring and fall the upper waterfall has a lot more water. This hike wasn't one of my favorite waterfall hikes but it was definitely worth it! The swimming holes and easiness of the hike made for a super fun day. Afterwards we stopped by a local farmer's stand and got the juciest peaches ever and we were both getting so messy with every juicy bite. We then stopped in Charlottesville for a well deserved burger and headed back home to Richmond.
At the moment I'm taking a semi-break from social media. I'll get on to post stuff on my Facebook and Instagram but I will not look at anyone else's stuff, not even snapchats. It might not make sense but a few weeks ago I wasn't appreciating my life as much as I should have which is totally crazy. I was getting obsessive about comparing my life to other people's and even getting jealous which is very unlike me and I really made myself upset. Getting off social media and not looking at other people's lives 24/7 has made me feel so much better I'm actually astounded. It's not that I don't want to know about other people's lives, it's just I need to focus on mine. I'm probably going to stay off for another few weeks or so in the mean time I'll just be hanging out in my own little world.

hiking, adventure, fishingJessica FischerJune 20, 2017hiking, adventure, waterfalls, virginiaComment