A Snowy Walk on the Appalachian Trail in Michaux State Forest

On Sunday, Michael and I got out with two friends for a relatively easy 11 miles on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. We started at Shippensburg Road and hiked south to Caledonia State Park. Sunday was the beautiful: clear, mild (in the 30s), and a couple of inches of snow on the ground. We hiked north to south, which is probably the easier direction for that particular section. This little  section of the Appalachian Trail doesn't have clear vistas or amazing rock formations. What it does have is pleasantly rolling hills, tunnels of mountain laurel and rhododendrons, pretty streams, and few other hikers (at least in the winter). This is a hike for looking at the detail around you versus wide expanses on the horizon.

 Ice crystals on a rock.

A pretty stream near the northern end of the section that we hiked.

The Appalachian Trail at Birch Run Shelter.

Frost flowers along the trail.

Michael on the Appalachian Trail.

The afternoon light filtering through the trees.

Milesburn Cabin, which is owned by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (for those not from the area, they own a system of cabins that can be rented).

A rhododendron tunnel near Quarry Gap Shelter. If you click to enlarge you can see the white blaze on a tree in the middle of the tunnel.

Bull Run Mountains Conservancy: Visiting High Point Before it is Closed

When one drives from Front Royal to the Washington, DC area on I-66, just before the outskirts of the suburbs, there is a cliff band visible off to the left (north). I have always sort of wondered about that cliff band, but I didn't realize it was an area that was open to the public. Recently, a notice went up on a hiking board that a place called High Point in the Bull Run Mountains Conservancy (BRMC) is going to close to the public on January 15, 2015. It turns out that those cliffs are High Point. I had overlooked BMRC because the length of the trail system is not what I would generally consider worth the drive. The closure changed the equation a bit, so a friend and I decided to visit on Friday for the last day of our holiday vacation.

When we arrived, there were a number of people and cars in the parking lot. They must have taken a different route to the cliffs, though, because we saw very few of them on the trails. We hiked past the mill that is visible on I-66 and then turned north towards the cliffs. After a pleasant, moderate climb, we made it to the overlook, which had a really nice nice view. I happen to have spent a lot more time west of the Blue Ridge, so seeing it from the east was somewhat of a novelty.

After lunch on the cliffs, we returned down the trail and turned down the Ridge Loop Trail. At the bottom of a steep descent, we crossed Catlett Branch and followed an old path to an abandoned stone quarry. This was one of the nicest parts of the walk. The stream was pretty and we had this little valley to ourselves. After returning to the trail, we passed old house foundations, an old cemetery, and an abandoned farmhouse before we reached the road and the car.

It was a really pleasant hike. We hiked a total of seven miles, which normally wouldn't make it worth the drive, especially given the reported crowding levels at this park. We actually didn't see very many people, but there were a lot of cars in the parking lot. My guess is that many people took the most direct route to High Point and returned the same way.

As I noted, the trails to High Point will close permanently on January 15, 2015.

The hike starts by crossing the railroad tracks that parallel I-66. Chapman Mill can be seen in the middle of the photo.

Another view of Chapman Mill from the Fern Hollow Trail. The mill burned in 1998.

View to the west from High Point cliffs.

Bootshot from High Point.

 An old bike frame that was hung on a tree branch.

 Catlett Branch near the old quarry.

A tiny fern.

Moss capsules.

My friend noticed this on a beech tree. After some googling, I am pretty sure it is Scorias spongiosa (Spongy Sooty Mold). It grows on honeydew excreted by beech blight aphids. This tree had quite a bit of it. It is not, apparently, harmful to the trees unless there is so much of it that it interferes with photosynthesis. More information here.

Near the end of the hike is an abandoned farmhouse. The interesting thing about this place is that the barn is built on to the house. This is the house side.

This is the barn side.

New Years in Rural Virginia

We spent New Years with friends their family's cabin in western Virginia. Originally, we planned to go for a hike today, but a late night of cards and revelry and a breakfast that turned into brunch caused us to re-evaluate that plan. We wound up going for a walk around the cabin property. There was plenty to see and it was time well spent with good friends.

 The creek that borders the property.

 Icicles on the bluff.

 Ice in a pool on rocks on the bank of the creek.

The ice on the rocks formed all kinds of cool patterns.

 Another pattern in the ice.

A dried flower head in a pasture.

Another dried flower head.

 The view to the southeast.

Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (coralberry)

Happy New Year!

Fourth Annual Hike Off the Pie: Lewis Mountain

For the fourth year in a row, I went for an epic hike with a friend on Black Friday. For this year's Hike Off the Pie, we decided to bushwhack up Lewis Mountain in Shenandoah National Park. Normally, we have a group, but due to various circumstances, there were just two of us this year. We picked this bushwhack because the topographic map of the area that we had shows an old trail leading up the mountain, connecting to Lewis Mountain campground. I was curious to see if we could find it. 

We started at the Pocosin Hollow Trailhead on the east boundary of the park. The old Lewis Mountain trail, theoretically connects with the Pocosin Hollow Trail just west of the trailhead. We didn't try to find it, however, because the Pocosin Hollow Trail crosses private land for about half a mile. Hiking through that land on the Pocosin Hollow Trail is ok, but venturing off of it to find an old trail is definitely not. Once at the park boundary, the trail almost immediately re-enters private land for about another half mile. Eventually, we crossed the creek and were firmly on national park land. 

From that point, we started working our way up the side of Lewis Mountain, looking for the old trail. The plan was to climb until we reached the top of the ridge and follow the ridgeline generally west, eventually reaching the Appalachian Trail at Lewis Mountain Campground. As we climbed, we started encountering snowy patches. By the time we reached the crest of the ridge, we were hiking in three or four inches of snow.  We paused for lunch in a relatively flat spot near the top of one of the knobs of Lewis Mountain. The snow was two days old, so there were tracks everywhere in it, including bear and bobcat tracks. 

From the top of the knob, we could see the higher peak on Lewis Mountain a short distance ahead of us. It should have been a quick walk across the saddle to get to the base of it and then we needed to climb up and over it. Up to that point, we had successfully avoided the dreaded mountain laurel thickets by going around them. At the bottom of the saddle, we reached one that we couldn't go around. We had to go through it, fighting our way through the tangle of dense branches, crawling under them in the snow where we couldn't get through on our feet. We followed bear tracks (they were at least a day old) because we knew that we could get through whatever they had. The thicket never seemed to end, although in reality, we were only in there for twenty or thirty minutes. It couldn't have been more than a few hundred yards long. We were able to look up and see the peak we were aiming for ahead of us, so navigating wasn't a problem, it was just figuring out how to get through the tangled morass of branches.

Once through it, we pushed up a very steep climb to the summit of Lewis Mountain. I popped out on top and found a blue blaze! There is a very short section of trail that is still maintained from that little summit I was standing on to the campground. I looked at the map, we turned right and headed for the Appalachian Trail half a mile away. The approximately four mile climb had taken us 3.5 hours - pretty standard for bushwhacking and not bad at all for route-finding in the snow. Now that we were back on established trails, we needed to move quite a bit faster if we wanted to make it back to the car by sunset. We hiked north on the Appalachian Trail to the Slaughter Trail, where we turned east back towards the boundary of the park. Eventually, the snow thinned out and we were able to take off our microspikes. A mile before the car, the trail meets the road at the Conway River, which was knee deep and running fairly fast. It does not have a bridge, so, given the distance to the car, we rolled up our pant legs and walked right through it (air and water temperature right at freezing). We made it to the car just as the last light drained from the sky.

It was a great hike and definitely met the criteria for the annual Hike Off the Pie. It was truly epic. The snow and the views through the trees were beautiful. We didn't see anyone else out hiking. We never did find the abandoned Lewis Mountain Trail. It would probably be easier to find it from the top (west) and when there isn't snow on the ground. That being said, I don't think I ever need to fight my way through that mountain laurel thicket again, so I doubt I will ever find out. 

Pictures:

 A waterfall on Pocosin Creek.

Moss on a rock in Pocosin Hollow

Aplectrum hyemale (Putty-Root Orchid) leaf. The plant puts out leaves in the fall and they stay out all winter. They don't have to compete with all of the other underbrush in the winter. In late spring, the leaves fade away and the plant will send up a stalk of flowers.

 The view through the trees on the way up Lewis Mountain.

 Snow near where we had lunch

A bear track in the snow. Lewis mountain is a popular spot for bears, based on the number of tracks we saw.

 Looking south from the very top of Lewis Mountain.

The Appalachian Trail between Lewis Mountain Campground and Bearfence Hut.

New Orleans: All You Can Eat

I had to go to New Orleans for work last week. Since Michael had never been there, we figured it was a chance to get away for a few days and introduce him to a new city. And a chance to eat. Did I mention the food?  I don't think I've eaten so much in a single week in a long, long time.

We started the weekend with a culinary bike tour run by Confederacy of Cruisers. The tour took us to one restaurant on the east side of the French Quarter and then into the Treme and Mid-City neighborhoods. Not only was the tour great, thanks to Victor (our guide), but we got to see parts of the city that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. The tour was absolutely worth it and I definitely do it again (and we paid for the tour).

Michael and I wandered around on Sunday before his flight left, just exploring and visiting a few museums. Most of the rest of the week, I had to work at a conference, but I did get out to wander a little bit.

Saint Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square.

 A gaslamp in the French Quarter

 Ferns growing on a building in the Warehouse District

 Michael on his tour bike. The bikes they supplied were cruisers with coaster brakes (the kind where you pedal backwards to stop). I'm used to hand brakes and clipless pedals. When you stop with clipless pedals, you unclip your foot from the pedal and put it on the ground as you stop moving. It is a pretty deeply ingrained habit at this point for me. Coaster brakes are much, much less effective if one of your feet is off of the pedals! Frantically grasping for the hand brake levers is also an ineffective stopping strategy! I got used to it pretty quickly, though and we had a lot of fun.

One of the stops along the bike tour.

A building in the Warehouse District.

A sign on an old building in the Warehouse District.

 Jesus takes an interest in broken cell phones in New Orleans.

A classic French Quarter balcony.

 Houses along the east side of the French Quarter.

A restaurant boiling boudin outside overnight.

Crusher Ridge: A Quick Hike Up To Skyline Drive

Sunday, I actually got a second hike in for the weekend. A number of members of Old Rag Mountain Stewards stayed in Lambert Cabin, which is owned by the PATC, for an end of the year celebration. After working Old Rag on Saturday, we basically had a free day on Sunday, since check-out time was 3 p.m. Four of us climbed the Crusher Ridge Trail from the cabin in Shaver Hollow up to Skyline Drive. Along the way, we only met one other person: The PATC trail maintainer for Crusher Ridge. He had walked almost all the way down from the drive to clear a blowdown blocking the trail (we had to crawl under it on our way up).

The trail zigzags up the ridge. At first, there were a few trees with leaves on the, but by the time we were halfway up, all of the leaves had dropped. Winter has come to the mountains.

Lambert Cabin.

 A few remaining yellow leaves on the lower section of the Crusher Ridge Trail.

 Yellow leaves glowing in the morning sun.

 A milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) seedpod on Skyline Drive.

Looking north from the Stony Man overlook on Skyline Drive.

Another view from the Stony Man overlook on Skyline Drive.

A fern along the trail.