Signal Knob the Day After A Spring Snowstorm

 Yesterday, we had a spring storm that started out with gross, cold rain. It quickly changed over to snow. It didn't amount to much in the DC area and, even in the mountains, it wasn't expected to be more than a couple of inches. That meant snowshoeing was out. This weekend is also time change, which meant that we would have to drag ourselves out of bed earlier than usual, too. We ultimately decided to do a hike we hadn't done in several years: Signal Knob. The hike starts in a large parking lot that often fills near Elizabeth Furnace in the Massanutten area. 

When we pulled in, there was one other car in the parking lot. Not a bad start. It was 16 degrees with the promise of temperatures rising to near 40. The trail was covered with an inch or two of snow and the steady climb was a welcome way to warm cold fingers. There were a few tracks on the trail, which ended at the first campsite. Someone had clearly been up either camping or just enjoying a campfire the night before. It would have been chilly night to be out! After that, we were the first people on the trail today. We saw and heard our first Pine Warblers of the year, which was a welcome sign that spring is coming! 

At Signal Knob, we found a relatively sheltered spot to eat some lunch. There was more of a breeze that was ideal and it was still pretty cold. At this point, we were kind of marveling that we hadn't seen anyone so far. When we've done this hike, in the past, we've backtracked from Signal Knob to the Meneka Peak Trail and hiked south on that to catch the Tuscarora. This time, we decided to continue on the Massanutten Trail and connect with the Tuscarora in the valley below to the west. While this meant an extra climb, the distance was the same and it kept us out of the wind on the ridge. The hike down to the Tuscarora Trail went quickly on the road. From there it is steep climb back up to the top of the ridge. We quickly shed the layers we had put on at lunch.

From the junction with the Meneka Peak Trail back to the car is four winding miles. By this time, most of the snow had melted off of the trail and there were definitely some muddy patches. It was a pleasant walk down, though and we saw no one until we reached the parking lot. It was a really good day. All said and done, 10 miles.

The view northwest from Signal Knob

Leaves frozen into the ice on the Massanutten Trail near the junction with the Tuscarora

A relatively poor photo of a lenticular cloud west of us. I forgot the battery for my good camera, so all I had was my cell phone.

Bird tracks in the snow

The Tuscarora Trail below Meneka Peak

Perfect blue sky

A bird nest from last year. It looks like it might be a Red-Eye Vireo nest.

Tuscarora Trail from Dry Gap to US 50

Normally, we work on Old Rag on the weekend closest to July 4. This year, however, we had already been up and down that circus a number of times, so we decided to go backpacking with a couple of friends instead on the Tuscarora Trail. The Tuscarora Trail is a long trail that was once envisioned as an alternative route for the Appalachian Trail (AT). The AT's right-of-way through northern Virginia wasn't secure, so in the event that a landowner decided to block access to the trail, the Tuscarora Trail would serve as the new route. Over the years, the AT's right-of-way has been secured permanently and the Tuscarora Trail is a long trail in its own right now.

Unfortunately, there is still a lot of road-walking involved if you are going to hike the entirety of the Tuscarora Trail, but the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) is working on that. Our hike included one of the newest sections to be re-located: approximately 8 miles from Dry Gap near the Virginia-West Virginia Border to Pinnacles Shelter.

The first day was spectacular. The hike starts with a mile or so uphill climb to a stunning overlook at Eagle Rock. Right now, since access is relatively recent, the trail is obviously used, but not trashed and the overlook is not covered in graffiti or litter. Someday, that will probably change, but we really enjoyed getting there before that happens.  Most people turn around at Eagle Rock and the trail sees considerably fewer people. In fact, we didn't see another person for the next day and a half. We were definitely not the first people to hike this section, but there were times where it felt like we were. In many places, we had to squint to see the trail, which was often covered in moss or grass. We also ran across a fairly large bear who was enjoying the berry crop as much as we were. He moseyed on without too much of an eye roll. The trail took us past great views and through beautiful forests. It was just a really nice hike.

We had planned to set up tents at Pinnacles Shelter, but there didn't turn out to be any tent sites there. The shelter is built into a very rocky hillside. Since there wasn't any evidence of mouse activity, we figured we'd just sleep in the shelter. How bad could it be? The mosquitoes and biting midges showed up during dinner and tried to carry us off as we turned in for the night. We all laid there for a while and finally decided to pitch our tents on the shelter's porch. Yes, this is bad form, but it was pretty unlikely that anyone else was going to hike in at 11 pm. And it allowed us all to get some sleep.

The second day was everything the first was not: noisy (ATV course and a gun range - together!), overgrown, no views, and lots of nefarious insects. We looked at the map, which showed 8 miles, mostly downhill and we all thought it was going to be an easy day. Oh how wrong we were. The first part of the trail beyond the shelter was pretty, but it deteriorated after that. Soon, we were hiking 10 yards away from ATV trails. No judgement to those who enjoy that sort of thing, but I don't really want to listen to it when I'm hiking. There was also a gun range relatively close by. Same thing: I just don't want to listen to it when I'm hiking. The trail was in rough shape as well with lots of rocks and downed trees to climb over, under, and around. At one point, we had to fight our way through blackberry bushes. The last insult was dodging poison ivy to get to the car.

We had a good hike. I would happily do the first half again, but I feel as though my life will be complete if I never retrace my steps on the second half.

 Chimaphila maculata (Striped Wintergreen)

 A Luna moth on an Azalea bush. We saw several Luna moths on this trip.

 The view looking south from Eagle Rock.

 Looking east from Eagle Rock towards Front Royal. There were a number of small thunderstorms visible in the distance.

 A bench up on Eagle Rock.

 The trail often looked like this: barely visible and covered in moss.

 A caterpillar on hitchhiking on my boot.

 Another example of the faintness of the trail. It actually extends out in front of the camera towards the center of the picture. Really.

 The view to the northwest from an overlook near Pinnacles Shelter.

 Day 2: Pinnacles Shelter

 A garter snake along the trail

 An interesting insect that I'm not familiar with.

Hiking along a field right before finishing the trip.

Sleepy Creek WMA: Devils Nose

For our first warm day of hiking this year, we decided to go back to Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area, which is located west of Martinsburg, West Virginia. We got a bit of a later start because our friend had a class first thing in the morning yesterday. That gave the weather a little extra time to warm up, which was pretty darn nice.

We started hiking at Spruce Pine Hollow Roadside Park. We stopped for lunch at Spruce Pin Hollow Shelter after only five minutes or so of hiking. It is one of the nicer (and newer shelters) I've seen. The crew that built the privy had quite the sense of humor. After lunch, we returned to the Tuscarora Trail and continued south. The trail goes up over a small hill and then descends to a dirt road. It then follows the road for about a mile through a private development. It seemed like every blue blaze on a telephone pole was accompanied by a sign saying, "Keep Out" or "No Trespassing." Clearly, the cabin owners are thrilled to have the trail follow the road through their neighborhood.

After about a mile, the trail leaves the road and climbs up one of the steepest set of switchbacks I've seen in the Mid-Atlantic. They seem like they are pretty new and the staircases in several places also appear to be relatively new. There is still flagging tape on trees marking the route. In any case, the trail crew did a nice job. Once on top of the ridge, we followed it to an outcrop called Devil's Nose. We took a long break in the warm sun there. We could hear Meadow Branch below us and the wind roaring above us. After our break, we continued along the Tuscarora Trail to a bridge crossing Meadow Branch. I looked for a quick path down to waterfalls I had seen from above, but I didn't find one. We decided it would definitely be worth another trip to explore the creek and photograph waterfalls.

We continued south on the Tuscarora Trail, intending to make it all the way to a view of Hedge Mountain. In the end, we reached our turnaround time and had to head back. We hiked back the way we came, reaching the car at dinnertime. As is true on much of the Tuscarora Trail, we didn't see very many people at all, aside from two large groups at the crossing of Meadow Branch. The weather was wonderful after so much cold. Some years, by this date in April, the woods are in full bloom. Not this year. The trees are just starting to bud out and even the earliest of spring flowers, bloodroot, isn't anywhere to be seen yet.

 Meadow Branch at Spruce Pine Hollow Park.

Spruce Pine Hollow Shelter.

The "Last Chance" privy at the shelter. Like I said, the construction crew definitely had a sense of humor.

Bootshot at Devils Nose.

The trees in the late afternoon light.

The worst deer stand ever.

Meadow Branch.

The bridge over Meadow Branch.

Looking north from the switchbacks on our way down the mountain.

Gerhard Shelter Loop - Great North Mountain

The Great North Mountain area, which is west of Front Royal on the Virginia/West Virginia border is an area I often overlook it when planning hikes. I'm not sure why that is because there are some really nice hikes there. We've hiked a lot of the trails in the area over the years, but the Gerhard Shelter loop was an exception. It fit the bill for Sunday, meeting two criteria: we had never been there and it included a small part of the Tuscarora Trail. We are trying to hike more of the non-road portions of that route (unfortunately, there are still many miles of road walking on it).

We started under cloudy skies. The trail immediately climbs away from Waites Run Road and switchbacks up a ridge for a couple of miles. As we climbed, the patches of snow turned into an inch or so covering the trail. By the time we made the top of the ridge, ice covered all of the tree limbs and mountain laurel leaves. The mountain laurel drooped over the trail under the weight of all of the ice. When we hiked through it, it sounded like we were pushing through beaded curtains. At the very top of the ridge, we were treated to a stunning view of the mountains to the east and West Virginia to our left.

We stopped for lunch at Gerhard Shelter, a nice small shelter on top of the ridge. The only downside of camping there is the closest water source is over half a mile down a very steep trail. After lunch, we hiked down the steep trail to reach a forest road which took us to the Vance Cove Trail. Eventually, we came out onto Waites Run Road to complete the loop. It was a lovely hike even with a significant amount of forest road walking. We saw one group of backbackers high up on the ridge.

The Tuscarora Trail on the way in the switchbacks that made up the first couple of miles of the hike.

Ice on mountain laurel leaves.

A cool fungus on a log.

The view to the east from the top of the ridge.

The Tuscarora Trail on the top of the ridge.

Michael finishing his lunch in Gerhard Shelter.

The forest road near the bottom of the valley

Racoon tracks in the snow on the road.

Rabbit tracks.

Waites Run near the end of the hike.

Anther view of Waites Run.

A cool lichen on a rock.

Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area

Last weekend, we went for a short-ish hike with a friend in Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area in West Virginia. Although we haven't been hiking as much as in some years, we are trying to branch out and see different places. This turned out to be a very nice hike that is relatively close by and we didn't see another soul on the trip. We had relatively cool, if a bit humid, overcast weather.

We started the hike at a parking lot off of Pack Horse Trail Road and hiked up the white-blazed High Rock Trail. It is initially flat, but then climbs steadily up to the top of the ridge. The trails in this area clearly do not get a lot of use as the they were pretty overgrown. There were many times that we hiked through knee deep grass, which is perfect tick habitat. There were lots of great flowers and a few ripe blueberries and blackberries.

Daucus carota (Queen Anne's Lace) in a meadow along the High Rock Trail.

 Clinopodia vulgaris (Wild Basil)

Chimaphila maculata (Striped Wintergreen)

At the top of the ridge, we reached the junction with the Tuscarora Trail. We took a quick break for lunch and then headed up to a short side trail to a rock formation called the Mini Knife Edge. The Mini Knife Edge is a little spine of rock on top of the ridge. There's just enough room to scramble along it to the end of the path and then turn around. 

Michael looking east from the end of the side path.

The rocks certainly looked like great place to find snakes. We saw one briefly as it slithered away from us and then we found a shed snake skin. This was definitely from a rattlesnake.

Bootshot from the top of the Mini Knife Edge.

This is the first time I've ever seen a definitely marking the end of a path.

After exploring the rocks, we went back down to the Tuscarora Trail and followed it south. It kept to the ridgeline, so we occasionally got views to the west. 

A butterfly on Asclepias exaltata (Tall Milkweed)

An interesting caterpillar on a leaf.

Looking west from Shockey's Knob.

We took a short detour to check out Shockey's Knob Shelter. It is one of the nicer ones I've seen, complete with a bit of artwork (the branch and leaves on the front of the shelter). The shelters on the Tuscarora Trail are meant to function the same way as those on the Appalachian Trail, but as of now, there are far fewer of them.

On our descent off of the ridge on the Mill Creek Trail, we crossed a stream that was lined with Rhododenron maximum (Great Rhododendron) bushes.