The Start of the Beginning (or the Beginning of the Start?)

The weather is NOT cooperating! After at least one week of careful planning...checking parking, approach trails, mileage and elevation profiles our kick-off to our 101 miles is delayed due to ice.  Blah!  Ok, let me back up a bit. Back on January 4, 2012, Jen posted on Facebook about her cool new PATC iPhone app that mapped the entire Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park. So on a whim (sort of), I posted, "We should set a goal to hike the entire AT in SNP in 2012. We could do some sections as day hikes, then backpacks when the weather gets warmer. :)". To which Jen replied, "I'm in!".  

And so our adventure begins. 

I did some calculating ('cause I'm an analyst and that's how I roll) and figured out we'd have to average about 2 miles a week, or 8.5 miles a month.  We can do this!  Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!! 


Even though we've decided we don't have to hike the trail "in order", we at least would like to start at the northern boundary of SNP. Sort of makes the "kick-off" more like a true beginning! Our plan was to start and end on Skyline Dr. Hike 2 miles north to tag the park boundary and double back and continue south to a waiting vehicle for a total of 6.1 miles, 4.1 of which would count towards the 101 mile total. Unfortunately,the NPS (National Park Service) closed Skyline Drive due to ice on Fri and Sat. That puts a little kink in our plan. We're hoping Skyline will re-open on Sunday, Jan 15. If not, I have a Plan B (like I said, I'm an analyst...WHAT!?!), which is to park outside SNP near Compton Gap on State Route 601, then hike up to the AT via an approach trail, tag the SNP boundary, then hike south to Skyline and double back out. We will only get 2miles counted towards our total, but it's better than a zero.