Hiking Whiteoak Canyon

I did a quick hike the other morning at White Oak Canyon. I did this hike two years ago, but I've been meaning to come back again because the waterfalls were seriously so beautiful. I started the hike around 9:45am and there were already 5-6 cars in the lot and it was a Tuesday... this hike is really popular and sometimes crowded. On my way up White Oak Trail I saw a black bear on the other side of the "river" milling about. For my safety, and honestly because she scared me to death, I scared her away and didn't even think once about getting a picture of her which is such a bummerrrrr because I had a beautiful shot of her out of the woods and by the river. Oh well. Not getting eaten by a bear > getting picture of bear (for those of you who think I'm serious I'm seriously kidding, I know bears don't eat people). Anywho... I continued up to the lower falls where I stopped a few time to take some pictures and I was lucky enough that another couple came by and took my picture for me. Then my camera died because I thought the whole way there I was charging it but I forgot to hit the "charge" button in my Jeep to activate my electrical outlet. I hiked back down and up Cedar Run for a little then back down to the parking lot again. It was a gorgeous day for a hike and I'm happy I kicked myself out of bed to do it.
This hike is typically done as a big 8 mile loop. You hike up White Oak Falls Trail then you connect to Cedar Run Trail and hike back down. Or you can do each trail on its own. There are also two parking options for this hike; you can either park at the base (what I do), or you can park off of Skyline Drive and start from there. For more information on this hike go here.