I'm back!

I'm back home from a most excellent adventure! Mike and I got in two spectacular, and strenuous, hikes. The views in the southern section of the Shenandoah National park are phenomenal! Trail conditions were great, and we were gifted with fabulous weather the whole time.
I'm going to post the trip in separated posts, otherwise I'll lose my hair trying to write up the whole trip as one post. Can't wait to hike down there again!

Long anticipated trip

A few months ago, Mike, from Mid Atlantic Hikes, asked me to go on a hiking trip with him to the Southern area of the Shenandoah National Park. I jumped at the opportunity even though I was second guessing my ability to keep up with a guy who is logging 400 to 500 miles of trail per year.
Over the course of time since the plans were discussed; I have logged some decent mileage and feel pretty much ready to tackle some trail with him. What I now look forward to even more , is to learn from the trip. I have yet to upgrade my gear other than the trekking poles and filter. What I want to take away is how to pack better or at least become more comfortable with what I am packing. It seems silly to me sometimes, but I am always out by myself, so never have the opportunity to see what others are carrying or how they go about handling a longer hike.
The trip will be taking us to the Loft Mountain Campground a short distance from the southern entrance to the SNP. The pics I have seen of the campground look great! I believe we will be putting in about 20 or so miles over the trip. The best thing is to be able to return to our sites after a hike and kick back and not worry about a long ride home. Ahhhhh....I smell steaks on the grill!

Tough Trek

Last thursday, the 13th, promised to be another one of those "Top ten days of the year", and it held up to it's billing. Sunny skies and no humidity with temps in the 70's and a nice breeze. I wanted one more good hike in before my trip to the SNP with Mike next week. I decided on finally tackling the Falls Ridge- North Mountain Loop west near Colombia Furnace, Virginia. The hike as described called for nearly 12 miles with a 1600 ft. elevation gain over the first 2.5 miles. The descent was also mentioned as something to reckon with.
After dropping the kids off at the bus, I finished packing up and took off to the starting point. The familiar rolling hills greeted me as I headed west out of Leesburg and eventually I was heading up the Shenandoah Valley with Mountains rising up on both sides of me. As I approached my starting point, I passed Liberty Furnace. This gorgeous building is nestled on private property. I would love to have gotten closer. I made the trail head just at 10:00, a little later than I wanted, but I was psyched to be there none the less. I quickly geared up and was on the trail just after 10.
The trail was a little thick to start as I headed through a meadow, but the trail opened shortly and the orange blazes were easy to follow. The ascent of Falls Ridge started in earnest, and became increasingly steep. I was soon well above the valley floor. As I climbed I began to notice spots of Autumn colors. Beautiful oranges, reds, and yellows shown brilliantly in the bright sun. Surely the cooler weather I have been anxiously awaiting is in the not so distant future.The trail became pretty steep in spots, making the Maryland Heights climbs pale in comparison. There were a few glimpses of views and I could see how fast I was climbing up. At just over a mile up, I came to a trail heading off to the left below the top of Falls Ridge. There is supposed to be a waterfall to be seen, though it has required bushwhacking in the past. I thought maybe this was now a trail. This trail was also blazed yellow, and though overgrown a bit, was quite easy to follow. The blazes were fairly worn but also easy to follow and quite numerous. About 15 minutes into the trail, and no waterfall, I decided to head back so as not to get too far off my planned route.
Shortly after the side trail, the ascent began to ease up, but it became quite overgrown. It was becoming thick enough to get a bit annoying at times. I passed a tree with a tent painted on it. I followed this little trail a bit to see a nice little campsite and then moved on. Just before I reached the junction with the North Mountain Trail, the trail became sandy in spots. I thought it interesting at the time.
The junction with the North Mountain Trail is among some rather large boulders, and marked at the corner with a small cairn. It was noon at that point, having gained the ridge now in a bit under 2 hours. Fairly strenuous climb! I sat on one of the boulders and ate an energy bar and looked over my maps. I decided to wait for lunch until I reached a nice spot with a view.
Nearly a mile later, I came upon a nice rock outcropping. I had views to both the east and west. I was surprised at how much haze there was down in the valley despite the brisk wind and lack of humidity. Still, nice views. The cool thing with this spot was the rock outcropping itself. The rock had been worn by countless winds and rain which left beautifully smooth grooves and "bowl" like appearances. I stayed for a while to check it out. the wind was strong and cool enough to make me decide to move along and find a sheltered area to stop for lunch. About 10 minutes later, a nice little grove with flat boulders appeared, and I stopped for a well deserved lunch break. It was about 1:00 at this point.
Lunch lasted about twenty minutes or so. I ate a chicken salad sandwich and mixed up some Gatorade. Another check of my maps and I was moving on. In another mile, I came upon another open area with views to the east. The sun was high and I was starting to feel some of the heat on my face. I really need to start wearing a hat. I use a bandanna, but it is not enough when i am exposed to the sun's rays for lengthy periods of time. I polished of the last of the Gatorade, and started to think about my water supply. I was doing fairly well, but knew the streams along the way were likely dry. I pressed on, the trail now had become well worn and maintained. I passed by some amazingly large, if if not disturbingly large, ant hills. These things were about 3-4 feet in diameter and 2 feet high. The mound seemed to move on it's own with all the ants crawling over it. I can't imagine the time it took to build such a huge mound! My pace was back to above 2 miles an hour. I passed a nicely established campsite. Someone had spent some time here and apparently on a regular basis. It would have made a nice place to stay for the night on a backpack. Within 20 minutes from the campsite, I arrived at the communication towers atop Great North Mountain. I had brought clues for a letterbox, and they led me further south on the North mountain Trail. I felt pretty good on time, so continued south. A mile later, I was coming up empty on the clues and I was starting to feel the fatigue from my journey. I was drinking more water and now I was concerned with my supply. I knew I still faced a tough descent at the pipeline swath. I turned around and headed back to the towers and to continue my trek back to the car.
The journey down off of Great North Mountain began with a switchback descent down a dirt road from the communication towers. My legs were feeling it soon enough, but I soon faced an even more painful drop when I hit the pipeline swath about a mile later. The pipeline .... it is hard to describe. Upon reaching the turn to head down, I had to stop. The "trail" was simply to head down the swath. It reminded me of a ski slope that was over grown during summer months. The angle of descent dropped so rapidly as to make one lose sight of it until it leveled out almost a mile below. A line of trees split the swath up the middle. I opted for the right side as it seemed clearer. This was true, but loose scree made for poor footing at times. Loosened stones would roll, and then keep rolling in small avalanches due to the steepness. My knees were screaming at me almost immediately! The fatigue of the journey seemed to suddenly reach a high point. I crossed over to the left side of the swath through a break in the trees, looking for better footing. I found it due to thicker ground cover near the tree line to the left. This also hid ruts and other obstacles which challenged my balance with almost very step. I finally made towards the bottom and more even terrain. The ground cover, however, became knee to waist high grass and brush. Satisfaction and awe was felt as I looked behind me to see what I had just climbed down. I finally came upon the blue blazes on the left side tree line showing me the way onto the Laurel Run Connector Trail.
I was pretty happy to be getting off the pipeline. Unfortunately, I was running low on water. As soon as I entered the woods again, I crossed a bone dry Laurel Run. It wasn't a surprise. I was now fairly tired and getting sore. My right shoulder was feeling my pack. I was hoping for water at one of the other stream crossings , but not holding my breath. I was only a few miles out now, so I wasn't doing too badly. The Laurel Run Connector Trail started as a very uneven and washed out fire road. It would have required a fairly large construction vehicle to pass through. The trail curved back towards Great North Mountain, and thus, back up. It was very evident how fatigued my legs were. The ascent was short and I was soon on improved dirt bed and moving along pretty well. I was supposed to turn onto the Fat Mountain Trail at one point, having crossed two more streams (also lacking water for me to filter). There had been recent construction of the road bed and placement of a huge drain pipe under the road. Between this and my fatigue, I must have missed it. I eventually came to a newly placed trail marker which was blazed blue on three sides. A trail veered off into the woods to the right with another new marker, this one blazed white. None of this was showing on my topos. A small National Forest sign was hidden by overgrowth and read "Foot Traffic Invited" along with something about the need for logging roads. The trail disappeared into the woods in the direction that I wanted to be going. Without reference on the map, decided to take this trail. My GPS showed I was less than two miles from the car, so I figured I was good enough to get back if problems started. The trail was well packed, but I did not see any more blazes. I kept an eye on my GPS which had my car marked as a waypoint. I was still heading in the right direction. I suddenly came upon a small stream running along the trail. There was good water flow! I stopped and filtered a liter and a half! I drank the first half right there! I had drank the last of my water just a few minutes earlier.
Relieved to have ample water for the rest of the journey, I moved on. I no sooner got going, when I came upon a purple blaze on a tree. I was on the Fat Mountain Trail after all, something I was suspecting anyway. Within a few more minutes I reached the Falls Ridge Trail where I had started earlier. I was elated! I was also drained. I ached, and I was ready for the hike to be over. I was getting clumsy with some of my steps as I passed over some rocky terrain. I had my GPS in hand, and as I reached the car, the mileage clicked to 14 miles. I had completed my second longest hike this year. I felt it.

Non posted hikes

Well, since my last posting I have logged another 15 miles over the course of two hikes. The first hike served the purpose of giving me a decent workout, though the scenery was somewhat boring other than the lake. The hike was at the G Richard Thompson Wildlife Refuge in Paris, Va. The day was pleasant, but the trails, other than the AT sections were very poorly maintained. I also came upon a n area that is being heavily logged. A huge swath of a hillside was cleared. In doing so, the loggers obliterated the path. I had to sit in the middle of the cleared area an figure out my location on the topo to see where I was and the general area of the trail going back into the woods. I succeeded at this only to find the trail so poorly maintained and overgrown, that it was barely an animal trail. I had to stop frequently and look carefully for what seemed the more likely trail. All in all, I came out where I was supposed to and I got to see an area that I had not before. The area is heavily hunted during season, so I don't really feel I'll be back to this one.
The second hike was on familiar ground as I hiked the Maryland Heights trail once again at Harpers Ferry National Park. This was my fourth time to the Heights, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. I plan on going again later in the Fall. The hike was a bit of a milestone for me as I hiked with not only another person, but with a group. My neighbors and good friends, Jay and Michelle, joined me along with our new friends from Wisconsin, Debbie and Jon. It was a most enjoyable day, with full sun and no humidity. The views were wonderful with crystal clear skies. The five and 1/2 miles were done in just over four hours with numerous breaks. The return to Harpers Ferry was capped off by a great luncheon on the deck at the Secret Six Tavern. The deck looks up at the Heights. Gorgeous! They serve a wonderful local brew, Shenandoah Lager, which was just the ticket for my traditional post hike brew! The hike was wonderful with my friends. I was pleased to see we all seemed to hike at pretty much the same pace. I felt comfortable that I was not slowing anyone down, nor that I wanted to speed things up. The best thing was having a wonderful conversation with good friends along a beautiful trail. I will be less likely to shy away from hiking with others now. In fact, I am looking to hike with my wife and another friend next month.
For the immediate future, I am planning a hike later this week. Again, I want a longer hike to keep my endurance up. I was pleased to find the Maryland Heights hike left me wanting another five or six miles. I want to keep my pace going as I close in a long awaited hiking trip with Mike from Mid-Atlantic Hikes. The trip will take us to the Southern section of Shenandoah National Park, an area that I have yet the pleasure to visit. The topos of the proposed hikes have been at my bedside for over a month now. I am very much looking forward to getting out to the woods for more than a day or two.
So not my usual critique of hikes completed, but this post will serve to get me up to date. Cooler weather is just around the corner, and I am hoping this will usher in a new burst of hikes for me, time permitting. I would like to see 250 miles logged for the year, but who knows.