Overall Run -Heiskell Hollow: Spring is Coming

 We returned to Overall Run to do a long hike today. This hike was the first place we had hiked, other than Old Rag, with our friend that we lost last year. Lots of memories today. We started at Thompson Hollow trailhead on the boundary of the park and hiked the quick mile to the Overall Run Trail. It was nice and warm (in the 50s), but we could hear the wind roaring above us. We were surprised, when we got Overall Run, to see how low the creek is for April. We haven't gotten much rain this spring and the creeks show it. 

From there, we turned left and began the hike up to Overall Run Falls. In the first mile, we passed through lots of new spring flowers: Bloodroot, Cut-leaf Toothwort, Dutchman's Breeches, and Hepatica. We also heard our first Louisiana Waterthrushes of the year. After about a mile, the trail turns away from the creek and begins one of the steeper climbs in Shenandoah National Park. The mile up to the falls is definitely character building. It has switchbacks now and it is still steep, but the switchbacks criss-cross the old trail, which was basically straight up the mountain. There was more water in the falls than I expected, but not as much as should be for this time of year. The wind at the falls was a force to be reckoned with. Strong gusts of freezing cold blasts kept us from lingering there for more than a couple of minutes. It was definitely still winter up there. No signs of spring vegetation or buds on trees to be seen.

From the falls, we continued up another mile to the junction with the Weedlewood Trail. Almost immediately, we found a nice log that was out of the wind for lunch. The Weedlewood Trail is a very pleasant horse trail that winds down the mountain, eventually connecting with the Heiskell Hollow Trail. The Heiskell Hollow took us back down to the valley and into early spring, with wildflowers reappearing along the trail. We took the Overall Run Connector and then the Overall Run Trail back to where we started. It was a really nice day on trail. We saw one group of four people and one group of two then entire day, which was pretty nice for a trail that can be fairly busy.

Pictures:

Bloodroot

Rue Anemone

Dutchman's Breeches

The view from the top of Overall Run Falls looking west. 

The Weedlewood Trail

Waterfalls: Little Devils Staircase

It has been a while. I'm going to try to post a bit more. We'll see how it goes. Injuries and various other life events reduced the amount of time I was able to spend on trail, sucked up mental energy, and generally kept me more indoors than I would have liked. I was able to train for a bike tour last year, but my fitness still wasn't where I wanted it to be. Last fall, I hired a personal trainer and last weekend, I got out on the trail where I first started hiking in the mid-Atlantic: Little Devils Staircase. This is going to be a rebuilding year.

Sunday was relatively warm for January and the stream was running high from heavy rain Friday night. 

 Cascades on Little Devils Staircase

 Looking down canyon in the sunshine

 One of the larger falls we passed

 The trail leading up and away from the stream.

 Rattlesnake Plantain (an orchid)

 Looking east from a spot along the Keyser Run Fire Road.

 Maidenhair Ferns

Hiking down the fire road.

Birds and Brambles

I've been furloughed for more than a month, along with 800,000 other federal employees. On Friday, I believe a friend and I were responsible for reopening the government. We went out to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to take photographs of birds and started idly talking about plans for photography excursions next week. When we got back in the car and to where I had cell service, I had a text from another friend saying, "It's Over!" Apparently, we should have started photography trips earlier in the shutdown!

Anyway, Friday was a lovely day. Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It has more nesting Bald Eagles that almost anywhere else in the country. I believe it. I saw more of them, adult and juvenile, than I've ever seen in one place. We also saw swans, geese, ducks, hawks, and many other birds.

Tundra swans and Canada Geese

 A Bald Eagle perched on a dead tree.

 Another view of the bald eagle.

 Dry grasses.

 Looking out over the bay

 Ducks

We watched this heron hunting for several minutes.

 Mallards

 We took a short walk on one of the little trails in the refuge. This pine tree had interesting lichens on the bark.

 The remains of what was once a steam powered sawmill

 Fungus on a tree.

 Juvenile Bald Eagle

A Bald Eagle with a fish in its talons (click to enlarge).

Yesterday, we explored the Overall Run area of Shenandoah National Park with my cousin, her husband, their oldest, and a friend of ours. A few weeks ago, my cousin contacted me and said that we have an ancestor buried inside Shenandoah NP. The grave is listed in Lambert's, "The Undying Past of Shenandoah National Park." With a very rough, three-sentence description from the book, we set out yesterday hoping to find the grave. We fought our way through lots of greenbriar and blackberry bushes. We weren't successful, but we had a really nice walk in the woods (no day outside is wasted) and we found some interesting ruins. We also have some ideas for further searching.

 Ice in a puddle on the trail.

 An old gear

 An old pot on the ground.

Overall Run

Catching Up Part 2: June Rain and Heat

The weather in early June was pretty terrible. It rained several weekends in a row and then it rained some more. Michael's brother and his family visited us for a week, which was wonderful. And we got a few hikes in.

Pass Mountain: We hiked from Thornton Gap in Shenandoah National Park on the Appalachian Trail to the junction with the Thornton River Trail. It was a 13 mile out and back that covered some short sections of trail that we hadn't done before. On the way back, we picked up a few short side loops just to make it interesting. The hike was nice, the weather wasn't spectacular. It was overcast most of the day and about halfway back to the car, a thunderstorm caught us and we got drenched. It was still better than staying home, but it did mean I didn't take as many pictures as usual.

 Amianthium muscaetoxicum (Fly Poison) - a member of the lily family.

 A butterfly on some thistle flowers.

 Rosa virginiana (Virginia Rose)

Byrd's Nest Shelter No. 4. This is a day use shelter. There are four Byrd's Nests in Shenandoah National Park and this one is, by far, the least used. Even the trails to it are somewhat overgrown. We spend a lot of time in and around Byrd's Nest No. 2, which is on Old Rag.

We spent the last weekend in June working on Old Rag. It was hot - well above 90 degrees. We spent a lot of time explaining to people that, no, two 20 ounce bottles of water was not sufficient. I realized something while we were listening to the park respond to a number of reports of heat-related illness among hikers in other parts of the park that weekend: We are very fortunate that people have to hike up first on Old Rag. In most of the rest of the park, people hike down the mountain first and can quickly hike beyond their ability to walk back up. Especially when it is 98 degrees out. On Old Rag, people who start feeling bad because of the heat can sit in the shade for a bit and then just walk back down to their car.

In spite of the heat, it was a really nice weekend spent outside. Lots of flowers were blooming. We camped out. The temperature even dropped to something fairly comfortable overnight.

 The hazy, steamy view from the summit.

 Lysimachia quadrifolia (Whorled Loosestrife)

 Minuartia groenlandica (Mountain Sandwort)

Looking north from the summit on Sunday, which was slightly clearer and cooler.

Catching Up Part 1: May Swimming and Hiking

It has been a while, so I'm going to do a couple of posts to catch up. This one will cover May. The first weekend in May, I went to the Bahamas for the wedding of friends. It was a great time and a lovely wedding and I got some snorkeling in. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it because it had been so long. I borrowed Michael's waterproof point and shoot for the trip.

 The Atlantic side of Long Island near the resort where we stayed.

 Snorkeling! Yep, I'm wearing long sleeves. I really didn't want a terrible snorkeling sunburn.

 A ray partially buried in the sand.

 Coral and fish on the Caribbean side of the island.

The Caribbean side of the island.

The following week, we managed to get a dry hike in on Buck Hollow, Buck Ridge and Marys Rock in Shenandoah National Park. May was rainy, seriously, record-setting levels of wet. The day we hiked this, we just accepted that we were going to be in the clouds and wet the whole time. It actually didn't turn out that way. We could see the clouds just north of us, but it was sunny and a bit above 80 where we hiked. Ten miles north of us it was 60 degrees.

 We climbed Buck Ridge first. This is the bottom of the staircase on that notorious climb. Although it has been several years, I hadn't actually hiked it since they put the steps in. It used to be a steep, gravel mess.

 Rhododendron canescens (Hoary Azalea)

 Cypripedium acaule (Pink Lady Slipper)

 A little Box Turtle on the trail.

 Michael at an overlook near Marys Rock.

Looking back towards Thornton Gap.

For Memorial Day, we decided to pick up a gap in the Appalachian Trail that we hadn't hiked: Rockfish Gap to Reeds Gap. A friend came with us. We started at Reeds Gap and hiked north. The forecast wasn't great, but we decided to go anyway. We got some sun, but it was pretty wet at times, too. There were lots of northbound AT thru-hikers on this section at the end of May.

 The view from the Blue Ridge Parkway where the Appalachian Trail crosses it just north of Reeds Gap.

 Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon's Seal)

 Kalmia latifolia (Mountain Laurel)

 It poured on us before we got to this overlook, but we got a break in time for a view.

 Our first campsite. We got in and managed to pitch our tents just before a thunderstorm hit us. We spent the evening in a damp cloud. It cleared by morning, though.

 Michael on some cliffs north of where we camped.

 Rhododendron catawbiense (Catawba Rhododendron)

 The view from Humpback Rocks. This place was pretty crowded.

 The AT symbol on a log near where we ate lunch.

 The creek near the Paul Wolfe Shelter. We camped near the shelter our second night.

Our last day was spent in the fog. This is the W.J. Mayo Homeplace right along the AT.

We hiked north to Rockfish Gap and then into the park to McCormick Gap, where we had left the car. It was nice to get out for a few days.