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

More Brambles and Frozen Waterfalls

In my last post, I wrote about unsuccessfully going out to find the grave of my ancestor who was buried in what is now Shenandoah National Park. We went out again last weekend and, with a bit more (only a bit) information and some luck, we found it!* Now I have to say, I find it all sort of remarkable. I only live out here by chance. I grew up in rural Missouri, where most of my family still lives. I moved out here, by way of Oregon and a number of other places, for a job after graduate school. Other than my cousin, who I mentioned in my last post, I don't really have any family out here. Michael and I spend a lot of time in Shenandoah National Park, both volunteering and for fun, so it is pretty amazing to me that I have this kind of tie to the land in the park.

After my last post, a few people asked me about the history of the park and why there are cemeteries, many unmaintained there. The National Park Service has a bit of the history of the park here (link). Basically, the area was settled for well over 100 years before it became a national park. Also, the excellent podcast, Backstory, did a bit on the history of the park a few years ago (link) that I would highly recommend. It is only a few minutes.

Aaaanyway, after successfully finding the grave, we hiked up the Overall Run Trail, eventually to Overall Run Falls, but we also bushwhacked to another frozen waterfall. The weather was amazing - probably 60 degrees and sunny, which is more than you can ask for in early February. It was one of my more amazing days of hiking.

*Unfortunately, due to the threat of vandalism and theft, I am not posting any pictures of the grave nor the location. If anyone in our family wants more information, I'm happy to talk offline.

 Overall Run. By the afternoon, most of the snow was melted.

 Two cones of ice on the bank of Overall Run.

 Winter Orchid leaves. Likely a Putty Root Orchid. The leaves will die off in the spring and it will send up a stalk of flowers in the summer.

 An interesting fungus on a log.

 A frozen waterfall on a branch above Overall Run. It was hard to get in and get a good picture because the banks were so steep.

Overall Run Falls.

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

Overall Run - Heiskell Hollow Circuit

Yesterday we hiked almost 13 miles with a friend of ours who is within 50 miles of having hiked every trail in Shenandoah National Park. We helped her check off an out-of-the-way 1.2 mile section of the Heiskell Hollow Trail near the park boundary. This is a strenuous, interesting hike with few people except around Overall Run Falls.

The weather was great, if a little chilly and windy up on the ridge. We started at the Thompson Hollow trailhead on the west boundary of the park. Then we hiked up the steep Overall Run Trail and had lunch at the Overall Run Falls overlook. Overall Run Falls is the highest waterfall in Shenandoah National Park.  When we've done this hike in the past, the falls haven't been much more than a trickle, but all of the creeks are up, so the falls were running pretty well. It was pretty cold up there and by the time we ate lunch and took a few pictures, we were all ready to continue hiking to warm up. Remarkably, we saw no one at the falls, although we later saw a couple of groups of people on their way down to them.

From there, we continued up the Overall Run Trail to the Weddlewood Trail, which took us down off the ridge to the Heiskell Hollow Trail. Some areas of the trail were like hiking on baseballs - lots of small loose rocks covered in leaves. We hiked that out to the park boundary, 1.2 miles beyond the junction that would take us back to the car. It was pretty clear that very few people ever hike that small section. We did not expect to see much on that section, but we were rewarded with a pretty little waterfall and the ruins of an old farm. The waterfall poured over a 6 foot drop into a deep pool that would be great for swimming in the summer. The ruins of an old farm actually included an intact chimney and wall. There was a gate at the park boundary and a deer stand just beyond it with a view into the park (just for reference, hunting is not allowed in the national park). It is deer season in Virginia and we could hear a fair amount of gunfire in the distance.

After exploring for a bit, we returned to the junction with an unnamed trail connecting back to the Overall Run Trail. The unnamed tail was hard to follow at times because the leaves were barely packed down on the trail. We made our way back to the car by the Thompson Hollow Trail.

Pictures from top to bottom:  Overall Run Falls, Mansanutten Ridge from the Overall Run Falls Overlook, small waterfall on lower Heiskell Hollow Trail, Heiskell Hollow trail, Intact stone wall, and ruins of a chimney.