Return to Fall: Hannah Run and Hot Short Mountain Trails

After last weekend's hike through the blowing snow, this weekend was like turning the clock back one season.  The leaves were still on the trees in the valley and the air was chilly, but a few patches of snow high on the ridges were the only evidence of winter's presence just a week ago.

When we arrived at the Old Rag parking lot at 9:15 a.m., we had to park on the back fence because it was already 95% full.  We got ready to go as quickly as possible and wished the fee station rangers well on what was going to be a very, very busy day on Old Rag.  Where we were going, however, was as quiet as it gets in Shenandoah National Park in the fall.  We walked up the road towards Old Rag amidst the crowds for about half a mile before turning off onto the Nicholson Hollow Trail where we left the madness behind.  It was shaping up to be a perfect day.  The morning started out quite chilly, but was warming up as the sun rose.  The trail was lined with red and gold leaves shining in the morning sun. 

The Hughes River was quite a bit higher than when we hiked the Nicholson Hollow Trail in July and all of the side runs and streams were full.  We hiked past the junction with the Hot Short Mountain Trail and the Hannah Run Trail to a nice waterfall on the Hughes River.  While I was taking pictures a relatively large group passed us and crossed the river.  One of the party messed up the rock hop and wound up in the river, but fortunately, he appeared to be ok.

We returned down the Nicholson Hollow Trail to the Hannah Run Trail.  The Hannah Run Trail has a reputation as one of the steeper trails in Shenandoah.  Since this was our first time on it, we were interested in comparing it to some of the other steeper ones like Sam's Ridge or Robertson Mountain.  The first mile or so climbs fairly gently - a pleasant walk through the woods along Hannah Run.  Then the trail turns away from the run and gets a little steeper, but still nothing outlandish.  We passed some interesting old farm terraces and chimneys along the way.  Then we turned a corner and the trail descended quickly back to the stream.  As we got closer to the bottom, we could see the trail on the other side of the stream.  It basically went straight up the side of the ridge.  It didn't take too long to get to the top of it, but it was definitely a thigh-burner.  I would say it is definitely steeper than Sam's Ridge, but the steep part isn't quite as long. 

Near the top of the ridge, we made a Boy Scout Leader very happy.  At the bottom of the Hannah Run Trail, something caught my eye and I found a compass, knife, whistle, a light, and some safety pins.  It looked like someone had everything fall out of their pocket.  We knew a Boy Scout Troop had gone up the Hannah Run Trail before us while we were at the waterfall, so we picked everything up, hoping that we would catch them.  When we had nearly reached the top of the ridge, we found them and asked if they had lost anything.  Their leader was very happy to get the contents of his lanyard back.

At the top of the ridge, we turned right on the Catlett Mountain Trail for a pleasant mile's walk to the Hazel Mountain Trail.  There were patches of snow on the ground from last week's storm and no leaves on the trees at that elevation.  We turned right again on the Hazel Mountain Trail and then again on the Hot Short Mountain Trail.  At a couple of spots on the way down, we had a nice view of the valley and Old Rag to the south.  Further down, we walked between two well-built stone walls from before the area was a park.  By the time we reached the Nicholson Hollow Trail again, the sun had gone behind the ridge, even though it was only 3:45.  We stopped a few more times to take pictures of the river and then finished the easy walk back to the car.  It was an incredibly nice, quiet fall day on trail.

Pictures (click to enlarge):

 Red and gold leaves on the Hannah Run Trail

Aster sp.  (Aster).  This one was not, apparently, bothered by last weekend's snow very much.

This shot does not even do justice to the steepest part of the Hannah Run Trail. 

 An old saw blade in front of a chimney.

One of the signposts along the way.

Maple leaves.

A maple leaf on the snow on the Catlett Mountain Trail.

Old Rag from the Hot Short Mountain Trail.

The lower part of the Hot Short Mountain Trail.

A small waterfall on the Hughes River

Our canine escort (a neighbor's dog that we took care of for the weekend).  She was very, very disappointed to not be allowed to chase a deer on the other side of the river.

Another view of the Hughes River.

The Old Rag parking lot at 4:30 p.m.  It was still 3/4 full and the neighbor's lot was nearly full.

Winter's Arrival - Hazel River Area

When we got up this morning, the thermometer said 33 degrees.  Two weeks ago, when we were last out hiking, the leaves had still been on many of the trees and it was warm enough to hike in short sleeve shirts.  What a difference two weeks can make.  No leaves remain on the trees in Shenandoah and all of the underbrush has died away for the winter.  In spite of the cold, winter is a very pleasant time to visit the park if one is prepared for the weather.  There are few tourists and more views since the leaves are off the trees. 

We hiked up the Hazel River Trail from county road 600 with a vague plan for the day.  Soon after we started, we met a large church group, one of just two groups we saw the entire day.  We crossed the Hazel River several times before turning sharply uphill on the steep White Rocks Trail.  As we climbed, we could hear the wind howling above us.  Once in a while a gust would catch us, blasting us with cold air.  At the top of the ridge, we were pretty much constantly in gusts of wind of varying strength.  In a shady part of the trail, we saw our first frost flowers of the season.  We hiked the quarter of a mile down to White Rocks Falls and found a sunny lunch spot that was sheltered from the wind.  There was far more water in the falls than there was when we hiked there in the summer.  The first icicles of the season hung on a small branch over the creek below the falls. 

From there, we returned to the White Rocks Trail, which climbs slowly to the Catlett Spur Trail.  We turned onto the Catlett Spur Trail and hiked the mile to the Hannah Run Trail.  The Hannah Run Trail climbs steeply to the Pinnacles Overlook on Skyline Drive.  Normally, Pinnacles is a fairly busy overlook, but today it was empty.  With nothing to block the wind, it was also freezing cold, so we snapped a couple of pictures and returned the way we came.  At the junction of the Catlett Spur and Catlett Mountain Trails, we went east on Catlett Mountain Trail.  We made our way back to the car via Hazel Mountain Trail and a steep descent down Sam's Ridge Trail.  Sam's Ridge Trail was covered in leaves, making what is already a challenging descent even more exciting.

Winter has definitely arrived in the mountains.

Pictures (click to enlarge):

A small waterfall on the lower Hazel River

White Rocks Falls

Another view of White Rocks Falls.

Icicles over the stream.

Long shadows at 1:30 p.m. on the moss.

Frost flowers.

Old Rag from Pinnacles Overlook.

Pinnacles Overlook empty.  Quite a difference from the way the drive looked a month ago at another overlook.

Looking northeast towards Sperryville.

An interesting spider on Sam's Ridge Trail.  I don't know anything about spiders, so if anyone knows what kind it is, let me know.  She was about 1.5 inches across (including legs).

You Hike in the Footwear You Have...

Yesterday, our day started with this conversation at the trailhead:

"Did you grab the boot bag when we left?"

"No. Why?....Oh."

"Well, we drove all this way, we might as well hike at least some of the trail today."

Thus began our 11 mile hike in Chaco sandals.  We will occasionally see people hiking in sandals and wonder if it is comfortable or, on Old Rag, how they avoid stubbing their toes.  In general, I've never felt like it was something I needed to try. 

We started up the Broad Hollow trail, which follows an unnamed creek for a little over a mile before climbing towards Sam's Ridge.  Based on the flowers growing directly in the middle of the trail, I think fewer people hike Broad Hollow than even Sam's Ridge.  Trail maintainers had been through in the past few weeks to cut the underbrush back.  Otherwise, it would probably have been fairly overgrown.  This was good as our biggest concerns were poison ivy, snakes in the grassy areas, and stabbing our feet with sticks lying on the trail.  We took a quick break for lunch near one of the largest Tulip Poplar trees I have ever seen.  Tulip Poplars grow fast, but I think this one must have escaped the clear-cutting that occurred over much of the area in the 19th century.  A little while later, we ran across the ruins of an old farm. 

At the junction with Sam's Ridge Trail, we were feeling pretty good, so we turned west on the Hazel Mountain Trail.  After a short mile, we turned south on the Catlett Spur Trail to hike up towards Hannah Run Trail.  Catlett Spur was really pretty.  At one point, we walked through a large area covered in Clintonia borealis (Yellow Clintonia).  Their flowers have long since faded, but each plant had a stalk with blue berries on it.

We turned toward Skyline Drive on the Hannah Run trail.  All of a sudden, there were more flowers than we had seen in the previous four miles.  The trail up to Pinnacles Overlook was steep, but well-switchbacked.  We saw a family of four headed down the trail with no water and had to remind ourselves that we were not working.  At the overlook, we found a tree to sit under while taking a break and watching the car tourists pull up and drive off.  Goldenrod and asters were blooming, signs that, although it is still hot outside, summer is on the wane.

Back at the junction, we headed east on the Catlett Mountain trail.  We passed through an old farm with a couple of apple trees and blackberries.  From there, we turned south on the Hazel Mountain Trail and connected with the Pine Hill Gap Trail.  This trail was a challenge because it was steep and covered in gravel.  There were a few flowers blooming, though and we caught a couple of views of Old Rag.  Soon, we arrived at the park boundary and a short road walk back to the car.

It was a good hike.  We had the option to shorten the hike several times and we always felt like we could keep going.  We never saw any snakes and we managed to avoid most sticks, but we did see plenty of poison ivy.  We'll see how that turns out over the next day or so.  The sandals were all right, but by the end, without the cushion of socks and insoles, my feet were pretty tired. I don't think I will adopt them as regular hiking footwear.

Pictures (click to enlarge):

Massive Tulip Poplar

Quiet Broad Hollow Trail

Prunella vulgaris (Self Heal) growing in the middle of the trail.

 Silene stellata (Starry Campion) on the Hannah Run Trail.

Campanula divaricata (Southern Harebell).  The flowers on this are tiny - about 1/4" wide.  It is a member of the Bluebell family.

Campanula americana (Tall Bellflower).  This is also a member of the Bluebell family.

Helianthus divaricatus (Woodland Sunflower)

Butterfly on Red Clover at Pinnacles Overlook.

Goldenrod in front of Old Rag at Pinnacles Overlook.

Asters on the Hannah Run Trail.

Sassafras trees make a tunnel on the Catlett Mountain Trail.

An interesting fungus on the Catlett Mountain Trail.

 Coreopsis verticillata (Whorled Coreopsis) on the Pine Hill Gap Trail.  If you look closely beneath the two folded petals, you can see the legs of a tiny spider that has closed the petals with its web.

Green acorns on the Pine Hill Gap Trail.

Old Rag from the Pine Hill Gap Trail.