Page 2

Date: Saturday, Feb 18
Start:  Gravel Springs Gap 
End:   Elkwallow
Today's miles: 6.3
Total (cumulative) AT miles: 15.9
Time: 5hrs


Saturday was "page 2" for a couple of reasons. Jen and I are now on the second page of the Shenandoah National Park pages in the AT data book. There are about 5-1/2 pages total that cover SNP. Making progress!  The second reason it was a "page 2" day, is because my good friend Tanya's dog Travis started page 2 of his journey. He left us with good memories, and we will miss him terribly, but he earned his wings and is off on another adventure. He has lots of friends and family waiting to show him around, so he's in good hands.


The day started for me at 4:30am. After a couple of snoozes, my day really started for me at 4:50am. Jen and I have decided that early starts are better, even though it means getting our butts out of bed so early. We were set to meet at Elkwallow at 7am to drop off the Escape and then shuttle to Gravel Springs Gap. We ran into each other in Front Royal, so we ended up driving into the park together. Neither one of us realized that sunrise is coming earlier and earlier...so we almost missed the 7:01am sunrise. We made it to a halfway decent overlook and got some sunrise shots on the way to Elkwallow. I noticed the sunrise was reflecting off the ice on the other side of Skyline, and I think it made for more interesting pictures. How many pictures of a sunrise do I need anyway?

We made it to Elkwallow and dropped the Escape off in the picnic area where Jeremy's Run trail intersects. Then we shuttled back to Gravel Springs Gap. We started out around 7:55am. Temps were in the upper 30's, but promised to get into the 40's later on. There were lots of cars in the GSG parking area, but (thank goodness) they were doing the Big Devils Stairs hike and we had the AT all to ourselves. Jen and I were noticing there were NO other fresh tracks on the trail. This section of the AT doesn't connect with any popular out-and-backs or circuits, so it is less traveled. So less traveled, we had at least three very large "trail strainers" to navigate. We had to bushwack around them they were so huge! 

We eventually crossed over Skyline Drive onto the western side of the road. This started the Little Hogback trifecta. Turns out there are three summits of Little Hogback mountain...and we had to climb all three. Each one was slightly steeper than the previous. This side of the mountain still had some pretty significant patches of snow. We found some coyote tracks in the snow. We knew they were coyote because there were no people prints on the trail, and most of the tracks were running across the trail instead of following the trail. We also saw what we think were old bear tracks. They had melted and re-frozen a couple of times, so not enough detail to be sure. But they came down the mountain, across the trail, and on down the mountain.

By the time we arrived at the Little Hogback parking area, the trail had seen a lot more traffic, so we could no longer distinguish dog tracks from coyote tracks. At this point, we were hiking parts of the AT we had hiked last year with Tanya. Then I got a text message saying that Travis had lost his fight to stay with us, and was moving on to a new adventure. It was so sad. Jen and I sat there and got all teary eyed. We spent the rest of our hike reminiscing about Travino and all the adventures we had together. I think it took our minds off of the fact we were climbing a mountain. We stopped at the "Pigeon prize" spot (1st summit of Little Hogback), and even made it up the "Bob" (3rd summit of Little Hogback) without too much belly-aching.

After climbing up Little Hogback, it was inevitable that we had to come down the other side. Ugh! What a beating our knees took. We crossed Skyline again, then hiked the Piney Branch section. We ran into some backpackers since Piney Branch is a real popular backpacking area. There are tons of good campsites, plus a stream provides a great water source. One couple asked us for a weather update. They had camped the previous night, and were staying that night also. They were relieved when we told them the snow forecast had changed from midnight to 10am Sunday morning. We finally arrived at Elkwallow, then the last 1/2 mile around the back to get to the picnic area and the Escape.


We seem to have a few "themes" that seem to occur on our hikes. We've noticed that time moves slowly at first, then when we check again, we seem to have jumped an hour to two all at once. Oh well, I guess it means we get into a rhythm and them time just flies. The other is that I always climb a rock. It started with a rock we passed on the Compton Peak trail, and I jokingly pretended to climb it. Then, we found a big rock on North Marshall mountain on our second hike, which I also pretended to climb. Then on this hike, we found a smaller rock that I actually DID climb. 

As usual, we did a post-hike nature photography expedition. It didn't yield much wildlife. I calculated and we've increased our pace from 1.22 to 1.27 MPH. Not bad considering all the stops we made along the way.


We finally called it a day and headed to Front Royal for lunch/dinner and a large fountain soda. On the way out of the park, we passed the "Travis spot" where he had gotten lost and then found during a hike last year. I got all misty-eyed again thinking about the little guy. Fly high Travis!

Taking the weekend off...well, not exactly.

Start:  Manassas
End:  Manassas
Today's miles: 6.0 (but not AT miles)

This turned out to be a weekend of winging it. Jen and I had planned to go visit the parents in WV this weekend and take a hiatus from our AT hike. A winter storm cancelled our plans. They called for 8" of snow in the mountains. Definitely not worth the driving risk. We literally cancelled Friday about 4hrs before we would have hit the road. We didn't even discuss an AT hike since the same winter storm was pretty much a done deal for shutting down Shenandoah Natl Park. Rosie and I slept in this morning instead (well, I slept in while Rosie tried and tried to get me up). We (well, me) finally got moving around 10am. I decided that a hike was in order, because a) Rosie deserved one, and b) I needed one. It was about mid-30's and spitting wet flurries so I wore my rain jacket and Endo trekking pants. We started hiking around 11:30am. After about an hour or so, the precip stopped and the sun came out! Wow! It must have warmed up into the 40's. We sloshed around in the mud, bushwacked through woods and fields, and generally had a great time! At one point, I was distracted by a hawk hunting in an open field. He/she would soar in tight circles, then drop down into the tall grass, only to emerge and repeat the process. I'm guessing it was hunting. I think I must have stood there for a good while watching, because when I turned around the skies had suddenly turned dark and foreboding behind us. Egads! I checked the radar on my iPhone and saw a pretty intense, but thin, line of rain/snow headed right for us. We were close to the end, so i was hoping we'd make it back to the Escape before it hit. I'm so glad we didn't.


We were less than 1/2 mile from the Escape when it hit. It started as ice pellets. I flipped up the hood on my TNF rain jacket to keep my head dry, then proceeded to catch pellets in the palm of my hand and taste them. They were kind of like Dippin' Dots, except they didn't taste like ice cream, only ice. After about another 100 or so yards, the ice pellets changed to snowflakes, then bigger snowflakes, then BIGGER snowflakes. They also went from coming down, to coming sideways. We were smack dab in the middle of the snow squall! Rosie didn't care much for it, but I thought it was awesome!

Once we got the Escape, I gave Rosie a rubdown with a towel and she seemed rather happy to snuggle down into her crate and dry off. We stopped at Chipotle for combination lunch & dinner which was tasty. I even shared some with Rosie! My best guess is that we covered around 6 miles in 3-1/2 hours. A good workout for both of us. Rosie has been sleeping the rest of the day.


I cleaned up (a looooong hot shower) decided between Bingo, or an REI run. I ended up doing the REI run. They're having their winter sale. There's nothing I need, but figured it was worth a look. I did find the Barefoot Sisters sequel book "Walking Home". I liked "Southbound" so now I can continue reading about the adventures of the Barefoot Sisters. Of course, I found a few other things I don't need, but the price was right. I got Jen a headband similar to mine so she can keep her ears warm without overheating. I also got a Turtle Fur gaiter tube and a pair of down booties for cheap.


Don't tell Jen, but I FINALLY found her a new Thunder jacket. I went to the TNF store on Thursday, but they only had smalls left. I ordered her one online from 6pm for a really good price. I hope she likes olive green. While I was at it, I found myself a Patagonia nano-puff for cheap. I've always wanted one.

Blue Dot, The Rocks & Snow!!

Start:  Jenkins Gap
End:  Gravel Springs Gap
Today's miles: 5.5
Total (cumulative) AT miles: 9.6
Time: 4.5 hrs

Wow! What an awesome day! Jen and I almost bailed on hiking today. I'm so glad we didn't!! The forecast called for a 30% chance of rain starting at 11:00am, and steadily increasing to 70% by late afternoon. The temps were forecast for mid-30's. We originally had planned to hike from Jenkins Gap all the way to Little Hogback parking lot for a total of 7.1 miles. It was a little ambitious. Since rain was in the forecast, we decided to shorten it to 5.5 miles and stop at Gravel Springs. We figured we could finish before the weather hit. The plan was to meet at Gravel Springs at 7:30am, using an early start to get an early finish. The sunrise coming into the park was beautiful. I was a few minutes late. I had to stop and take pics of the sunrise. :) From Gravel Springs, we left the Escape and hopped in Jen's car to shuttle back to Jenkins Gap to start our hike. Based on the weather forecast, I added a rain poncho and rain pants to my daypack. I know ponchos may not be "cool looking", but they are practical. Rain protection that converts to a tarp in a package slightly larger than a can of soda. Sweet!

The hike started out with a small climb, but nothing major. At the Hogwallow Gap saddle, Jen kept hearing something. We would quiet and listen, but then...nothing. About then, I realized we were being watched! There were at least three deer watching us just off the trail to our left. We tried to take pictures, but all we had were little pocket cameras and they just couldn't do the job. But it was great to just stand there and watch them. The deer were a bit spunky today. I think they liked the weather that was coming their way. Shortly after that, I had to seek fellowship with nature, then we ran across an old stone foundation. Not sure what it was, I'll have to do some research. About 50 yards from the foundation, we found what I think was an old spring house hole. I'll see what I can find out about it.

We eventually crossed over Skyline Drive and started the slow but steady ascent of North Marshall mountain. Just when we thought we were about to summit....nope....false summit...again. Finally, after about 5 or 6 false summits, we finally reached the actual summit. Truthfully, the summit itself was uneventful. I had to use my PATC map app on my iPhone to confirm we had actually topped out. The blue dot in the app told me we were on the summit. I think that is a good trail name contender, "Blue Dot". :)

On the south side descent of North Marshall, we kept finding small social trails to rocky overlooks. After about 3 or 4 of these, we came to the last one. I stood out as far as I dared (vertigo) and looked north and the light bulb went on. I had been wondering for quite some time about a row of rock formations that you can see from Skyline Drive. Now I realized I not only was standing on said rock formation, but had hiked across the top of it! Wow!! Now every time I drive by, I can look up and point and say, "I was up there!"  :))

We finished the descent of North Marshall, crossed Skyline Drive back to the western side, and then climbed up South Marshall. The south sister wasn't nearly as difficult as the north sister. But the south sister had some great views to the west. More posing, more pictures, and more awesome scenery. We finally arrived at Gravel Springs Gap and the Escape around 12:30pm. We were both surprised we didn't do better on the time. I was thinking we could make it by 11:00am. Pssssh! Way off! But...we did have a bit more elevation changes to deal with this time. I calculated this hike and the previous hike ('cause I'm a data analyst and it's what I do) and figured we have been averaging about 1.22 miles per hour. Pretty slow, but we like to explore, take pictures and blue-blaze a lot. It's not a race, it's a journey!

The forecasted rain hadn't materialized (yet), so we decided to take the Escape and drive south on Skyline for picture taking. The problem was that all the critters were snuggling down in anticipation of the bad weather. We got as far as Jewell Hollow overlook, when I noticed it was spitting snow!?! Just as we were about to continue south, the flakes got real big, real fast. We agreed we'd better play it safe and bail. It wasn't just the weather, but we were afraid they might close Skyline Drive and we wouldn't be able to get back to Jen's car. On the way back north, the snow got worse and worse. There were even places where it was just starting to stick to the road. We knew we had made the right decision. The only wildlife we saw the entire time was one red-belly woodpecker, and a deer we named "Toni" because she was kicking her heels up and playing in the snow. We finally made it out of the park by 3pm. The lower elevations were just getting rain, but snow was threatening. I'm glad we bailed, since Jen was driving to outrun the snow that was bearing down on Martinsburg. We both made it home safe.

91.4 miles of adventures still to come!!