By John Mahoney

View from the summit. Photo credit: John Mahoney.

Do you love hiking? Do you like day trips? Do you love the Blue Ridge Mountains? Well, if you do, I’ve got some fantastic news for you. Located along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Humpback Rock is one of the most well-known hikes in the Charlottesville area. At around 3,100 feet in elevation, and just an hour and thirty minutes from Richmond, it’s an easy and enjoyable family outing.

Distinguished by a large outcrop of jagged rocks at the top of the mountain, the summit is visible from the parking lot, which is right next to the trailhead. The total distance of the whole hike is around five miles, but it can feel longer because of the steep ascent at the beginning.

After around half a mile, the ascent to the top begins to get more challenging because of a steep incline, where you almost have to pull yourself up the trail by grabbing onto rocks and roots.

My family decided to go on this hike recently because we thought our dad Peter would have fun. As a UVA graduate, my dad told us how he thought it was his favorite hike in Charlottesville and that he had hiked it many times. My three sisters thought that he would like nothing better than to hike one of his favorite hikes with his family. So on December 26, the group consisting of me, my parents, my brother Ryan (’26), my three sisters, and two brothers-in-law started the drive to our destination.

Although the ascent was a bit difficult, the views from the top made it worthwhile. The peak was covered by sharp outward-facing rocks that you climb up on. Climbing up on these rocks and looking out into the barren landscape made the experience way more enjoyable.

While at the top, I asked my siblings their thoughts on the hike. My oldest sister, Caroline, said that the hike was “challenging, but fun because I got to spend time with my family.” My other sister Ann (‘19) exclaimed that she also enjoyed the hike and stated that “I loved spending time with all of the different members of our family!”

My siblings enjoying the view from the top. Photo credit: Ann Mahoney.

My third sister, Rosie, described that hike as “a blast, even though it was freezing,” which I thought was a strange response, because I imagined that Rosie’s years in New Hampshire for college, and her current home in Pittsburgh, would have made the cold in Virginia less brutal for her. She also stated, “After a while, I didn’t particularly mind the cold, because I had warmed up, but more importantly, I was hanging out with my fam.”

The descent of the hike is fairly long but easy. From the summit to the parking lot, it is a straightforward four-mile walk and took us around 50 minutes to complete. During this time, I talked with different family members about topics such as sports, college, and current events.

When we all returned to the parking lot, the group divided and climbed into their cars to drive to lunch. Located 30 minutes from Humpback Rock in Crozet, Crozet Pizza is one of the best pizza places I’ve ever been to. 

Crozet Pizza. Photo credit: Jim Duncan via Flickr.

Crozet Pizza is a small restaurant located off of I-64 if you are heading west past Charlottesville. The building is a dark brown, surrounded by a plethora of shops on either side. The inside gives off a warm, cozy vibe with pictures of UVA and the Blue Ridge Mountains scattered on the walls throughout the restaurant.

My favorite part of the restaurant is the menu, sporting 19 different pre-made pizzas. There is also an option to make your own pizza, but the ones on the menu looked too delicious not to order. Our group of nine people ended up devouring four large pizzas in only a span of around ten minutes. 

Out of the four pizzas that we ordered, my favorite was called the No Sprout About It. This pizza consisted of a mozzarella and garlic base, with bacon, brussels sprouts, onions, and hot honey. This pizza was arguably one of the best I have ever had, mainly because of the hot honey, which, strangely, complemented all the other ingredients and made them taste even better. 

After lunch, the group split up, and some people went back home, while others stayed and looked around some of the shops. I, along with two of my sisters and my brother-in-law Ryan, walked around some shops for around 15 minutes before climbing into my mom’s car and starting the two-hour drive back home. Caroline said that after doing an activity like this, she “wonders why, as adults, we all don’t live next door to each other and do this every weekend. But perhaps that’s why we cherished this day so much.”