I don't usually do much hiking in August, as I don't like to mix intense exercise with the heat and high humidity that are endemic to our region. But a cool day last week allowed me to get into the woods again. With my husband and a stalwart friend, I headed out to Sky Meadows State Park on a misty morning. Only an hour away from DC, this is a Virginia park that preserves a portion of the piedmont, an area of rolling hills east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On a five-mile meander, we started in fields and climbed along a ridge through diverse woods to overlooks with breathtaking views. The trails, steep at times, were beautifully maintained. The last part of the circuit brought us to a high meadow filled to brimming with Queen Anne’s lace punctuated with tall stalks of magenta ironweed and thistles. The butterflies were so plentiful we had to duck as they darted across our path. The last part of the hike was downhill, so we could enjoy the big sky as well as the big meadow. In all my years here I've always driven through this countryside, bypassing it for the better-known trails of the Shenandoah National Park. I’m glad I finally stopped!