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).

Eight Miles of Bears, Butterflies, and Wildflowers

In spite of the forecast 100 degree heat, the 40 mile bike ride on Saturday, and the annual neighborhood barbecue on Saturday night, we managed to get out of bed to get a hike in yesterday.  The temperature was 87 degrees when we finally got around to leaving at 8:30 a.m. and the dog, enjoying her retirement, looked at us as though thinking, "Didn't you guys learn your lesson on the bike ride yesterday?"  Apparently, we did not.

We decided to return to the Hazel River area of Shenandoah National Park.  We hiked there once this past winter, but otherwise had not been back there in four years.  Since the area does not have expansive views and the trails are on the steep side, it is quiet and there are good chances to see wildlife. 

We parked in one of the three parking spots by the Hazel River near the eastern boundary of the park and walked up the road to the trailhead (note: the road between Virginia Route 600 and the trailhead is closed to non-local traffic).  We headed up the Hazel River Trail, passing the junction with Sam's Ridge trail.  The trail starts out pleasantly flat, meandering back and forth across the river.  This time of year, the river is not much more than a small stream.  Prunella vulgaris (Selfheal) and Desmodium cuspidatum (Large-Bracted Tick Trefoil) lined the trail.

After 1.7 miles, we crossed the river for the last time and began the short, but very steep climb on the White Rocks trail to the top of the ridge.  From there, it continues west over three knobs.  It was brutally hot and, because there had been a fire a number of years ago, the knobs are not densely forested, so we were out in the sun more than we would have liked.  We were rewarded with a few blueberries and a couple of good views of Mary's Rock and Hazel Mountain.

We soon arrived at the junction with the side trail to a waterfall and shallow cave.  The trail down to the creek is steep and covered in loose gravel, but the waterfall was pretty and the pool in front of it was nice and cool.  I couldn't resist dunking my head to help fight off the 98 degree heat.  Near the pool, 20 or 30 swallowtail butterflies congregated in the mud.  When we walked by them, they all lifted off at once and we were surrounded by butterflies.  Soon, it was time to continue.  Back on the White Rocks Trail, we continued to walk west and then south towards the Hazel Mountain trail.  Along the way, we found a few wineberries.  We turned east on the Hazel Mountain trail and passed two backpackers, the only other people we encountered all day.

Once on Sam's Ridge Trail, we saw increasing signs of bear activity:  overturned and moved rocks, logs with scratches, and bear scat.  The forest is young through here, so there are a lot of fruit-bearing shrubs and small trees.  It is very good bear habitat.  All of a sudden, ahead of us, we heard a heavy animal crashing through the brush moving away from us.  One of us actually caught a glimpse of it as it ran.  Now we were on alert for bears. 

A little while later, I stopped to glance at a flower, looked up at the sound of footsteps, and there was a medium-sized bear sniffing around about 15 yards into the forest.  It slowly moved away from us as we watched, apparently not noticing us since it didn't really change what it was doing.  Then, we heard footsteps on the other side of the trail, right behind us.  We both started, whipping around, only to find two deer almost on top of us.  We must have made some noise, because then we heard the bear run off downhill, away from us.  Unfortunately, I never had a clear enough view to get a picture of it.

After that excitement, a storm blew in, bringing a bit of rain and cooler air for the very steep descent down Sam's Ridge and the return to the car.  Apparently, the storm that hit the DC area was much stronger than what we experienced because we returned to Silver Spring to no working stoplights and no power at home.  It was a great excuse to end the day with another neighborhood cookout.

Edited for grammar.

Pictures (click to enlarge):

Desmodium cuspidatum (Large-Bracted Trefoil) along the Hazel River Trail.

Limentis arthemis asyntax (Red-Spotted Purple butterflies) on a rock in the middle of the Hazel River.

Looking east along the Hazel River.

Buck Ridge (foreground) and Mary's Rock from the White Rocks Trail.

A large (2-3 inches) moth on the roof of the shallow cave.

The waterfall on the upper Hazel River.

Swallowtails near the waterfall.

Eupatorium sp. I haven't figured out which species this is yet.  The leaves are coarsely toothed and whorled.  The stem is not spotted.

Goodyera pubescens (Downy Rattlesnake Plantain).

Hazel River and Sam's Ridge Trails - Still Lots of Snow

It really didn't look like we needed snowshoes from the road.  Even on the quarter-mile walk up the road to the park boundary, it still didn't look like we needed them.  About 50 feet after we entered the park, the trail was covered in snow and all five of us were too stubborn to go back to the cars for the snowshoes.  All of us had some type of traction device, however, so we were still in pretty good shape.

We started out on the Hazel River Trail and quickly passed Sam's Ridge Trail.  I had hiked Sam's Ridge as part of a loop in 2006 and was interested to see if it was as horribly steep as I remembered when we climbed up it.  This time, we were going to come down it in the snow at the end of our hike.  When we drove to the trailhead, we were not sure if we would even be able to cross the Hazel River due to the warmer temperatures and rain last week.  It turned out that the river wasn't that high at the road.  Still, crossings are serious in winter, so we were not completely sure we'd be able to hike until we arrived at the first of six crossings.  We were able to rockhop across with little difficulty.  The Hazel River is one of the prettier streams in Shenandoah, with lots of waterfalls and interesting rock formations.

We took a short break for lunch at the intersection of Hazel Mountain Trail and Hazel River Trail.  The 1.5 miles from the cars took us about an hour.  Given the snow was about a foot deep by this point, that was not terribly surprising.  Most of the time, we didn't sink too far into it.  Given that the snow was only going to get deeper as we climbed higher, we opted for the shorter loop:  continuing up Hazel River Trail directly to Sam's Ridge.  The Hazel River Trail turns south and climbs away from the river, following an old road bed 1.6 miles to the top of the ridge.  The trail is pretty steep and the snow added to the challenge.  We were the first group to hike that trail since the last snowfall.  At the top of the ridge, we turned east and walked the 0.3 cold and windy miles to Sam's Ridge Trail. For the rest of the afternoon, it was cloudy and snow flurries fell on us, even though we could see sun on the valley to the east.  It was a cool demonstration that even the low mountains of Shenandoah can have very different weather than nearby areas. 

Sam's Ridge is one of the steepest sections of trail I've hiked in Shenandoah.  I remember it as two miles of brushy, steep pain.  This time, even though we were going downhill, it lived up to my memories of it from a few years ago.   In several places, it was steep enough to glissade - with my microspikes still on.  It is much more fun to descend Sam's Ridge than it is to climb it.

In spite of the chill and lack of snowshoes, it was a great day.  Typical of hiking in the snow, we were really slow.  We covered 5.3 miles in about four hours, but at that pace, you get to enjoy the scenery.  

Tomorrow is March 1 and spring seems very far away. 

Pictures (click to enlarge):

A waterfall on the Hazel River near the park boundary.

Looking east down the Hazel River

Small falls just above the first crossing of the Hazel River

Snow covered rocks on the Hazel River.

The Hazel River Trail climbing towards Sam'sRidge.

Ice on a pool on a small stream.

A large blowdown, likely from the windstorm a couple of days ago, blocking Sam's Ridge Trail.