IT DIDN'T REGISTER at first.

After a summer where every breath of air, every tiny breeze arrived with steam heat, the puff of wind that came through the car window was a surprise.

Now I remember. That's what a cool breeze feels like. Welcome back, long-overdue friend.

Looking out the window at the bushes and hardwood trees dotting Hightop Mountain like the nap of an old wool shirt, I basked in this cool that showed no sign of stopping, and smiled.

Ahhh, this was just the medicine I was looking for.

After a summer that seemed way too hot, dry and oppressive, the arrival of the first cool of fall was sweet indeed.

Tired of sweat and swelter, what could be more welcome than a morning chill?

To that end, I had decided that the first cool in the forecast would be my breakout, a time to dash up to the tall peaks and high hills in search of whatever respite the change of weather could offer.

It arrived two weeks ago, and I was ready. Shenandoah National Park has issued a new booklet, "Hikes to Peaks & Vistas," which outlines nine different hikes to some of the highest and most beautiful vantage points in the entire park.

My plan: Try one of them and find that first cool breeze.

Thumbing through the guidebook on my way out of Fredericksburg, I decide to be ambitious and take the longest hike in the booklet, a 3.4-mile circuit to Chimney Rock in the Loft Mountain area.

It's at Milepost 90 in the park, about 25 miles south of the Swift Run Gap entrance, via U.S. 33 through Stanardsville.

OK, so I'm not an accomplished hiker. But if you're going to go that far to hike, why not pick one that amounts to something?

Tired of traveling the same old roads, I pulled off onto State Route 230 after the town of Orange, and soon enough was glad I had.