Latest / Virginia Outdoor Adventures: Hiking, Camping, Kayaking, Local Travel and more! / Winter Adventures in Virginia: Whale Watching, Stargazing, Ice Climbing, Caving, Wildlife Watching, and more (Ep 68 Part 2)

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Winter Adventures in Virginia: Whale Watching, Stargazing, Ice Climbing, Caving, Wildlife Watching, and more (Ep 68 Part 2) · Virginia Outdoor Adventures: Hiking, Camping, Kayaking, Local Travel and more!

• 0:00
  Jessica Bowser: John, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is a mecca for outdoor travel and adventure. Virginia outdoor adventures Podcast is your local guide for hiking, camping, kayaking, travel and so much more. Get the information and the inspiration to plan your own adventure right here in Virginia. I'm your host, Jessica Bowser, start planning your next Epic Winter adventure, like whale watching in Virginia Beach, star gazing in one of Virginia's dark sky parks, wild caving in Virginia's karst region, ice climbing in the Blue Ridge, or winter wildlife watching in person or on a wildlife webcam. Also in part two of this solo episode I share where you could find me live and in person this month, and how to get my new listener resource guide with the top podcast episodes, a Virginia outdoors bucket list and exclusive outdoor discounts for my listeners. In case you missed part one, be sure to tune in to hear a recap of parks advocacy day when I was touched to meet so many of you who came out to support our state parks. I also answered your fan mail and shared my recent adventures.
• 1:13
  Jessica Bowser: Let's go Virginia Outdoor Adventures is sponsored by the Virginia association for parks.
• 1:18
  Jessica Bowser: VA FP champions parks across the Commonwealth. What's your favorite memory from a Virginia Park? Help ensure that everyone can experience our parks for generations to come. Join VA FP today by clicking on Virginia association for parks in the show notes of your listening app.
• 1:42
  Jessica Bowser: Welcome. To part two of this solo episode. It's been less than a week since I recorded part one, and if you listen to that, you know that I was right at the beginning of catching a cold, and it is still with me, but I'm past the congestion point mostly, and now I'm in this nagging cough stage that, and I have a constant headache, so every time I cough, I feel like my head is going to explode, but I'm pushing forward. Yesterday, I got outside for the first time in a long time. I participated in the annual winter water fowl counts over at pohic Bay Regional Park, and that was with Matt felperin.
• 2:16
  Jessica Bowser: And if you have been listening to this podcast for a long time, because I think this goes back to Season One. Matt was a guest in episode nine about birding.
• 2:22
  Jessica Bowser: And I have a tendency to befriend most of the people who are guests on this podcast, and I keep in touch with most of them. Matt is in Northern Virginia, so I see him quite often. We do a lot of bird counts, so the winter waterfowl count, the Christmas bird count, and then also, Matt's job is to put on a lot of outdoor programming, and he does some really cool stuff. So I've done a couple of Sunset paddles with him. I think I did an owl prowl once, like he's he's always got something cool happening. I should probably link it in the show notes, in case you want to check it out. So that was a lot of fun. It was interesting because the shad are washing up on the beach right now. I guess it's a part of their natural life cycle, I'm told. But I guess they spawn, and then they die, and then all of these fish wash up on the beach. And so the birds were having an absolute field day. It was really cool to see how many hundreds of galls and vultures and eagles were coming out to take advantage and feast on all of these washed up fish that were like everywhere.
• 3:29
  Jessica Bowser: I've never seen it like that before, so I guess we were just there at the right time. It was definitely cool. And if you don't know about bird counts, all of this is for science. It's all part of a community science project in which birders go out and they count the birds, and then they submit it to eBird, where it's all tracked, and then, over years, they can track changes in bird migration or in their range, and it's it's all for science. So it's a really cool thing to do, but it's also just a lot of fun. I was recently tagged in one of my listeners Instagram posts, and it gave me an idea for something I want to share in this episode.
• 4:03
  Jessica Bowser: But traveling for four posted some really great photos and videos of a whale watching trip that her family took, and she wrote in the caption, long weekend trip to virginia beach during MLK weekend. Main goal was to do whale watching after listening to a podcast about it from Virginia outdoor adventures. It was a foggy day, but we actually saw a fin whale.
• 4:25
  Jessica Bowser: And I love getting tagged in posts like this, because first of all, I love it when people listen to this podcast and then actually go out and have amazing adventures. As a result, I started this podcast because I wanted people to get outside and to explore more and to discover all of the cool things there are to do right here in Virginia.
• 4:49
  Jessica Bowser: When people actually share those adventures with me, it just brings me such joy. But also from a business perspective, when I'm talking to potential advertisers. Visitors and sponsors, they want to know if they're going to invest their money in the podcast, what their return on investment is going to be. And sometimes it's hard for me to prove that I can't really track if somebody listened to an ad or an episode and then acted on it, either by going out and visiting a place or buying a product like those things can be very difficult to track but when somebody shares their experience with me, being able to show an advertiser that anecdotal evidence is sometimes even better. For example, a couple of months ago, I was invited to speak at an Appalachian Trail club meeting down in Richmond, and quite a few people in the room are listeners to this podcast. And one person came up to me and she told me that she was really enjoying the Virginia adventure town series, and that she had actually visited every town that I did an episode on.
• 5:48
  Jessica Bowser: So she's been to St Paul and to Farmville and to Urbana. And I told her there was an episode coming out about Oh nancock, and so she was excited to do that, too. And those are things that I don't know about unless somebody tells me, in the case of the Virginia adventure towns episodes, oftentimes it's the local tourism board that's sponsoring those episodes. So they want to know, like, who's going to listen to this episode, and then who's actually going to show up. So it's really helpful when I hear from listeners.
• 6:16
  Jessica Bowser: Sometimes I even hear from the local businesses, for example, the store manager at the bike shop on Main Street in Farmville emailed me a week after that episode came out and told me that people were coming into the shop and running bikes to ride on the High Bridge trail because they had heard about it on the podcast. And so he was really grateful for being featured in that episode. It's great for small local businesses. It's also great for those towns economies, and it brings me a lot of joy to know that I'm a part of that. But also then I get to tell the town or the sponsor, like, hey, look, this is the result of investing in these episodes and helping me continue making these episodes, so please do share your adventures with me, but getting back to whale watching, so I was thinking it might be a good idea, since we're in winter, to share some past episodes that feature winter adventures, and whale watching is one of them, because you can really only see the whales off of Virginia Beach in the winter, because that's when they're migrating. And so I've got some really great episodes about other winter adventures. And if you're new to this podcast, maybe you haven't listened to them. So I'm going to mention them briefly so that you can if you want skip back and prioritize listening to those first so you can start planning some winter adventures.
• 7:39
  Jessica Bowser: Whale watching in Virginia Beach was episode 40 and then wildlife watching is really great in the winter, and I have an episode on it's called a glimpse into the wonderful world of Virginia's wildlife. And it's episode 42 and it actually focuses on the live cams, the webcams that are here in Virginia that you can watch in case you actually don't want to get outside or you feel a little more limited in the winter. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has four webcams. There's elk cam, Marsh cam, Shad cam, and then the super popular Richmond Falcon cam. The Falcon cam is going to be coming on pretty soon. I don't think it's on right now, but it usually comes on like February, March, if I remember correctly. And that camera is focused on a pair of peregrine falcons that returns to the same site every year. It's at the top of one of the high rises in downtown Richmond, and they come back to the same place, so that they can build a nest and lay eggs and incubate the eggs, and then, of course, the eggs hatch, and then the babies get bigger, and then they fledge. It's a really adorable and fascinating process to watch, and you can watch it all live on Falcon cam.
• 8:55
  Jessica Bowser: So check out episode 42 then episode 41 is about stargazing in Virginia's dark sky parks.
• 9:01
  Jessica Bowser: Now, stargazing is something you can do any time of the year in Virginia, but it's especially good in winter, because you don't have that humidity and the haze in the air. So the sky is especially clear. Just last night, I was bringing in my bird feeder after dark, and I glanced up and the sky was so beautiful, it stopped me dead in my tracks.
• 9:23
  Jessica Bowser: If you can tolerate being outside in the cold at night in winter, I would definitely say this is a great time of year. I was just on the Virginia State Parks website the other day and noticed that there are several astronomy programs happening right now, so go on there and see what might be near you, or someplace that you can plan a visit to, because we have several designated dark sky parks in Virginia, and several more coming too. Then episode 39 is about ice climbing in Virginia's Blue Ridge. And I remember when I released this episode, wondering. If anybody was going to be interested in this, because I could see some people thinking ice climbing like, I'm not going to do that.
• 10:05
  Jessica Bowser: But it ended up being really popular, and I think that's because people were intrigued and also surprised to learn that there is ice climbing in the south. And one thing that I really enjoy doing with this podcast is letting people know about things that they would otherwise not know anything about. Whale Watching was one of them. In fact, I got lots of messages after that whale watching episode from people who even live in Virginia Beach telling me that they've lived in Virginia Beach for a long time, and they had no idea you could see whales right off the coast.
• 10:39
  Jessica Bowser: So that was one, and then this ice climbing one was definitely one too. That surprised a lot of people. And in Virginia, it's kind of hit or miss, like it really depends on the weather.
• 10:49
  Jessica Bowser: Every winter, this winter has been especially good. So far, I'm on the listserv for Blue Ridge mountain guides, and I've gotten quite a few emails already this year saying that the conditions are right to go ice climbing. So check out episode 39 it's very beginner friendly, because I assume that most people have never ice climbed before. So it talks about how to find a guide and what kind of gear you'll need, and how to dress and where to go, and all the things. So all the information you need is an episode 39 then episode 36 is about caverns and caving in Virginia's karst region, and why wild caving in winter? Because our caves are warmer than the outside air in winter. Caves in Virginia typically are a standard 52 ish degrees all year round, which makes it great for both winter and summer, because it'll be warmer in the winter and then in the summer, when it's hot out, it's very refreshing to be in a cave, but this comes with a warning, please, please, please, do not go into a cave by yourself. If you want to experience wild caving, the best way to do it is to join one of your local grottos, or to go on a field trip that is being organized by experienced guides, or to find a guide who has the permits and the correct gear and knows how to do it safely. Going into a cave on your own could be a life or death situation if you get lost or injured or somebody or nobody knows where you are or other things that could go wrong, but if it's done safely, it's a truly amazing experience.
• 12:32
  Jessica Bowser: So that's episode 36 and then I threw in Episode 25 which is about prescribed fire, also known as good fire. And the reason I threw this one in here, it's not necessarily something to do, but I also received a message from a listener this week who is at Stanton River State Park, I believe, also happens to be one of our dark sky certified parks, but she was there visiting, and there was a prescribed fire that was happening while she was in the park. And if you happen to see a prescribed fire, it's most likely going to be this time of year. This is the best time to burn, because plants are dormant, and so they burn better. And this episode covers all the reasons why we do prescribed fires in Virginia.
• 13:15
  Jessica Bowser: And spoiler alert, it's mostly for habitat restoration, but it goes into details about why, and it's really interesting. So the next time you come across prescribed fire in progress, you'll know all about why. So that's episode 25 and then the last one I'm going to mention goes all the way back to season one, episode nine. Bird is the word, and that's an episode about birding with Matt felperin, who I mentioned earlier, winter birding is really fantastic in Virginia, just for the same reasons that wildlife watching is great. But winter birding means you get to see species that you wouldn't see other times of the year due to migration. And one of those species that comes to mind that is super popular is the tundra swans that come here from the Arctic. And if you visit any marshy areas in Virginia this time of year, you might see tundra swans. But one location where they show up reliably year after year is the Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, which, if you've ever been to Mesa neck State Park, you actually have to drive through the refuge to get to the state park, and so the Rangers at the state park have some great programming this time of year. You can meet them at the observation platform at the end of the trail, and they will be there to talk to you about the tundra swans. So I would suggest going on Mason next state parks website and seeing if there are any ranger programs in the near future. But even if there's not, you can still go see the Tundra Swans on your own. You can hike the trail by yourself, and there is a scope on the platform out there so that you can get good looks of them. And if you do any of these adventures, please let me know about them. I would love to hear about your. Enter adventures.
• 15:03
  Jessica Bowser: Adventure seekers will find endless opportunities in Grayson County, where many of Virginia's iconic trails and landmarks excite hikers, cyclists, paddlers and happy campers alike. Imagine this. You're hiking on one of the most scenic sections of the entire Appalachian Trail through the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, summiting mount Rogers or white top mountain, the two highest peaks in Virginia, or strolling through the valley of elk garden, where the now extinct Eastern elk once roamed. Or maybe your perfect day is on the water. Grayson County is home to the New River, one of the oldest and most scenic rivers in the world. Enjoy a leisurely class one float with the family or adrenaline packed class three rapids. Navigate the waters using the New River float calculator to plan your trip.
• 15:53
  Jessica Bowser: The App factors flow rate, water levels, weather conditions, vessel type and more to calculate float times from point A to point B. Prefer two wheels.
• 16:00
  Jessica Bowser: You won't want to miss the grace and gravel traverse a 72 mile mixed surface gravel bike route that connects the Virginia Creeper trail and new river trail over well maintained and remote roads featuring a variety of challenging climbs in the foothills of Virginia's highest peaks. This overlooked gem of Virginia presents some of the best gravel cycling in the state, mostly unwritten and undiscovered after a day of adventure, there's nothing like gathering around a campfire under a sky filled with stars.
• 16:35
  Jessica Bowser: Grayson County offers plenty of spots to pitch a tent like the New River campground or cozy up in a rusted cabin at the buck wild reserve. Discover why Virginia is for outdoor lovers.
• 16:47
  Jessica Bowser: Start your Grayson County adventure at the historic 1908 courthouse and visitor center, or access the visitors guide online by clicking on visit Grayson County in the show notes of your podcast listening app.
• 16:59
  Jessica Bowser: Yesterday, when I was at pohic for the winter waterfowl count, one of the other birders in the group brought a box of donuts from Dunkin Donuts to share with the rest of us, and half the donuts in the box were heart shaped, and somebody else in the group said, it must be February.
• 17:18
  Jessica Bowser: Well, indeed it is, and Valentine's Day is coming up, so it seems like a good time for me to mention that the Virginia outdoor adventures merch store has this really cool love design that you might want to check out. It's the word love in big block letters. Inside the letters is the Blue Ridge Mountains. And it's the same Blue Ridge mountain design from the podcast cover artwork. That design was made by my friend precious, who I met when we were both teachers in Fairfax, and she is a retired elementary school art teacher and very talented. If you want to check her out, her Instagram handle is Tree House Studio VA. She created this design for me, and it's been really popular because it's like a play off of Virginia is for lovers, but with an outdoorsy fame, every time I wear my hoodie out, somebody stops me and asks me where I got that. And I'm like, Well, let me tell you, you can find it in the merch store, and the link to that is in your show notes. Just click on shop the Virginia outdoor adventures merch store.
• 18:20
  Jessica Bowser: It's available on eco friendly soft tees and on hoodies. And you'll find other things in the merch store as well, such as beanies, which is great for this time of year, water bottles, insulated mugs and other things.
• 18:30
  Jessica Bowser: And every purchase that you make from the merch store does go back into helping me pay for the expenses that this podcast requires in order to produce, you're showing off your love for the Virginia outdoors at the same time that you're supporting the podcast. So go to your show notes and click on shop the Virginia outdoor adventures merch store. I've heard from a lot of folks recently who reached out to let me know that they will no longer be following me on social media, not because they're ditching me, but because they're ditching social media.
• 19:03
  Jessica Bowser: The world feels like a crazy place right now, and some people are choosing to delete their social media accounts or to just take a social media break. So if you're one of those people, but you still want to keep in touch, just a reminder that the best way to do that is by signing up for my email newsletter. It only comes out two times a month, so you're not going to get bombarded with emails, and I will never, ever share your email address with anyone else, but the email newsletter is packed full of information, and you'll get notified when new episodes come out. So if that's something that you'd like to receive, you can either click on the link in your show notes, it says email newsletter sign up, or you can go to Virginia outdoor adventures.com and there's a sign up box at the bottom of the home page, or the pop up box. I also got messages from people wanting to know if they could get the new listener resource guide. And I just wanted to let. Know that if you are already signed up for the email newsletter, you will get an email with that new listener resource guide linked. I recognize that a lot of people who are seeing the posts right now about the resource Listener Guide are excited about it and they want to get it, but then they realize they're already signed up for the email newsletter. So never fear that is going to come to you. But if you are not signed up for the email newsletter yet, the only way to get the new listener Resource Guide is to sign up for the email newsletter. So check your show notes for the link. If you are still following me on social media, you may have noticed that at the beginning of every month, I've started sharing where I'm going to be in the upcoming month, so that if there's an opportunity for folks to come out and meet me, live and in person, you have that information and can do so. So February is kind of a slow month. You know, it's winter.
• 20:55
  Jessica Bowser: There's not a lot of outdoor festivals or fairs going on.
• 20:58
  Jessica Bowser: However, there are quite a few conferences between now and spring that I have been invited to keynote, and one of those is the Virginia adventure education conference, which will be in Harrisonburg on February the 21st and the Virginia adventure education conference brings together Virginia's outdoor adventurers, educators, guides, collegiate programs, businesses and leaders to network and discuss industry trends, while also giving students from Virginia's colleges and universities an affordable day of professional development and an opportunity to lead workshops. So if you know of somebody who this might be right up their alley, then definitely let them know. I'll drop a link to the conference in the show notes. I believe that this conference is in a different location every year, and this year is going to be at James Madison University. And I also just wanted to mention that if you would like me to come out and speak to your group or at a conference, definitely drop me a message and let me know, because I do try to do that, usually when I'm invited, if I can make it work with my schedule, and if I don't have to drive seven hours for one hour of speaking, then I do try to fulfill those requests as much as I can. So let me know if you know of an upcoming event that you'd like me to attend or speak at, and I'd be happy to discuss it with you. I want to give a very heartfelt thank you to some listeners who have supported the podcast recently in the form of a membership. And those friends are Matt from Roanoke, Kevin from Richmond, Barb from Chesterfield, Lori from Norfolk and Allison from clear Brook, they have all recently become members of Virginia outdoor adventures, and so they have access to special features that are available just to members.
• 22:48
  Jessica Bowser: And then I also wanted to give a special shout out to Jim from Powhatan, who's not yet a member, but who is a regular contributor on buy me a coffee.
• 22:59
  Jessica Bowser: Thank you to all of you who have supported the podcast, because without you, I wouldn't be able to do this. Now, a friend of mine earlier this week, who knows that I've been sick, told me that I should change buy me a coffee to buy me a cup of soup.
• 23:14
  Jessica Bowser: So if you would like to buy me a cup of soup, please go to your show notes and click on Buy me a coffee, and that will take you to my buy me a coffee page, where you can be a one time contributor and buy me a cup of coffee slash soup. Or you can become a member. And there are different membership levels with different benefits for each membership level, so check those out. That is a wrap for this solo episode. Don't forget that you can send me a text message by clicking on Send Jessica a text message in your show notes, and I will see you next week with a brand new episode adventure on escape to the heart of Virginia wine country for a four day, three night experience that will reset, restore and renew. Veritas, wineries, farmhouse retreat is your perfect blend of adventure, relaxation and indulgence. Hike the breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountains, practice yoga in the serene garden house and tour the renowned Veritas vineyard and wine cellars each day. Delight your senses with chef prepared meals paired with award winning wines, from wine hour to yoga, flow every moment is designed to inspire joy and connection. The farmhouse retreat at Veritas winery is the perfect getaway for outdoor lovers. After a hike on the Appalachian Trail, choose to indulge in a massage or take a cooking class with the farmhouse chef, whether you're craving rejuvenation or simply some well deserved fun. This retreat is your invitation to savor epicurean delights and embrace the great outdoors, view upcoming dates and book your farmhouse retreat today by clicking on Veritas winery farmhouse retreat in the show notes of your listening app.
• 25:01
  Jessica Bowser: Virginia Outdoor Adventures is inspired by and supported by listeners like you, which is why your messages and feedback mean so much to me. You can text me directly by clicking on Send me a text message in your show notes, I answer questions, respond to comments and share your feedback on the show. Never miss an update. Get even more information and inspiration by signing up for my newsletter.
• 25:25
  Jessica Bowser: Click on newsletter, sign up in your show notes or visit Virginia outdoor adventures.com thanks for listening until next time. Adventure on you.