Hiking in the Snow and Brewing Beer

We got a lot of snow on Thursday, at least for this area. I got to telework for two days. At our house, we had about seven inches and the reports from the mountains were of a foot. We decided to attempt snowshoeing in Shenandoah yesterday with two friends. There isn't usually enough snow there to break out the snowshoes, but this seemed like the storm where it might be possible. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the trailhead, there wasn't quite enough snow, just about six inches. Other than that, though, we had a great day hiking up the Pass Mountain Trail and on the Appalachian Trail.

Pass Mountain Trail goes from the park boundary up to the Appalachian Trail. The trailhead is right on a curve on Highway 211 - on the opposite side of the road from the parking area. The most dangerous part of the hike is crossing the highway to the trailhead. The trail follows an old road bed for half a mile to the saddle below Oventop Mountain. At one of the switchbacks, we were lucky enough to see bear tracks crossing the trail. Beyond the saddle, the trail steadily climbs towards Pass Mountain Hut, one of the shelters just off of the Applachian Trail. We paused for lunch there, enjoying the sun and the 40 degree temperatures, which was a full 25 degrees warmer than the morning.

After lunch, we continued up the hill to the Appalachian Trail and then over Pass Mountain and down to Beahms Gap on Skyline Drive. The drive was closed, so the road was completely quiet except for one ranger who stopped to chat with us for a few minutes. Then we retraced our steps south on the Appalachian Trail and down Pass Mountain. We hiked ten miles in absolutely perfect weather. The snow was beautiful and the sun made it feel like spring might actually be coming soon.

A double-trunk tree at Pass Mountain Hut. The tree grew together above the initial split in the trunk, forming a hole between the two trunks.

Fungus on a cut log in the snow.

Our canine escort checking out an overlook.

Neighbor Mountain from the Appalachian Trail.

The slopes of Neighbor Mountain.

Hogback Mountain, Mount Marshall, and the Peak from Beahms Gap

A stump in the snow.

An empty Skyline Drive at Beahm's Gap

A dead tree in front of the Peak

Michael, one of our friends and her dog on Skyline Drive.

This isn't a great picture, but note how the grain of the wood beds around the curve in the stump. The tree must have lived for some time after falling over.

Pass Mountain trail in the late afternoon.

Michael's Birthday present last year  was to be a beer brewing class at Flying Barrel* in Frederick, Maryland. They do a class where you choose the type of beer that you want to brew, they provide the ingredients, and they walk you through the process. We took several months to try to get it scheduled, then it snowed twice on the days we had scheduled it and finally, today, he got to do his beer brewing class. He loved it. He made a porter. The instructor was really good and he was partnered with a guy who was making an IPA, so he got to see how a completely different kind of beer was made. In two weeks, he gets to go back and bottle it. Two weeks after that, it will be ready to drink.

Measuring out the grains.

Pulling the cheesecloth sack of grains out of the kettle.

Stirring the malt to keep it from burning to the bottom of the kettle.

*We paid for the class.

North Fork Mountain

My husband and I have driven past North Fork Mountain  and its distinctive cliffband countless times on our way to Dolly Sods and Roaring Plains. We always talk about how we should actually hike there, especially after friends of ours made a movie there. We finally made it out there yesterday with our friend and her dog. We took snowshoes with us, but it turned out we didn't need them. There was plenty of snow, but enough hikers had gone before us that the snow was already stomped down.

The climb from the valley floor begins immediately at the parking lot. The trail steadily, but not unpleasantly ascends for 1.6 miles to the first overlooking of the valley to the west. Once we reached the ridgeline, we found a sunny spot with a nice view for lunch. It was a perfect bluebird day with temperatures in the low 20s and bright blue skies for most of the day. After lunch, we continued on and climbed up to the top of Chimney Top. I had seen pictures of the area, but Chimney Top is really spectacular in person.  We spent a long time exploring the area around the overlook, being careful of the snow and the edges of the cliffs.

At that point, our friend's dog was having a little bit of trouble with the snow, so we decided to head back. We'll definitely be back to explore the area.

The valley west of North Fork Mountain from where we had lunch

Chimney Top and the valley to the west.

The outcrops of Chimney Top.

The weathered cliffs of Chimney Top.

A tiny mountain laurel clinging to a rock.

Looking south along the ridge of North Fork Mountain. The prominent cliff band is Tuscarora Quartzite, a hard metamorphic rock that is resistant to erosion.

Another view of the valley to the west.

Bootshot overlooking the ridge of North Fork Mountain.

Snow on the slopes of the mountain.

A tree growing on the side of Chimney Top.

A pine cone on a tree on top of the ridge.

The power plant and wind turbines to the north on Mount Storm.

Late afternoon sun on the snow on the way down.

A line of (likely) bobcat tracks in the snow.

Annapolis Rocks and Blackrock

Saturday, the weather forecast called for a nasty winter storm in the evening. Sunday's forecast was for brutal cold and wind. Given the choice, we opted for a shorter, more local hike on Saturday. Annapolis Rocks and Blackrock on the Maryland Appalachian Trail are only about an hour away and we could be back in plenty of time to beat the storm coming in on Saturday night. It also gave me the chance to try out yet another pair of new boots in the unending hopefully-ended search for the right pair.

We originally intended to hike south from the trailhead on Wolfsville Road to the trailhead on US 40, which is about 8.5 miles. When we got to the parking lot on Wolfsville Road, however, it was a solid sheet of ice. We did actually pull in, but then Michael had to push the car back out of the lot (another use for microspikes!). So, we drove back to the parking lot on US 40, where we had dropped our friend's car and hiked an out-and-back from there.

The trail started out with a little bit of ice on it and by the time we crossed under the US 40 bridge, it was pretty much a solid sheet of ice. Aside from another couple, we had the trail to ourselves, which is a nice treat on a section of trail that usually very busy. It was cold and windy on Annapolis Rocks, where we had lunch. Then we walked another mile to Blackrock. On our way back, tiny snowflakes began to fall, a precursor to the storm that came that night.

Michael walking with our friend's dog.

 Bootshot from Annapolis Rocks.

The view to the south from Annapolis Rocks.

Michael and our canine guide on Blackrock.

The view from Blackrock.

Moss along the trail.

Tiny Mountain Laurel growing in the moss beside the trail.

Old Forge to Pen Mar: A Short Hike on the Appalachian Trail

We went out for a short hike on Saturday with a friend of ours. We hadn't hiked the seven mile section of the Appalachian Trail from Old Forge Road in Pennsylvania to Pen Mar Park on the Pennsylvania/Maryland border and, given our friend's evening commitment, it was a good day for a short hike. We probably hiked in the "wrong" direction, since hiking north to south on that section has much more uphill than downhill. Not a bad thing from a character-building standpoint, I guess.

The hike is a pleasant walk through the snowy woods. We had lunch at Deer Lick Shelter where we met the only other people we saw on the hike. The only clear view on the hike was right at the end at Pen Mar Park.

Antietam Creek right near the Old Forge Picnic Area parking lot. This area was covered with a lot of ice.

A clearing, I think for a gas line.

Ice sliding off of the roof of Deer Lick Shelter.

The Appalachian Trail through mountain laurel.

Our canine escort for this hike.

The trail near Pennsylvania State Highway 16.

The smallest white blaze I've ever seen. This tree is about as big around as my thumb.

Crossing into Maryland.

Railroad tracks below Pen Mar Park.

The view west from Pen Mar Park.

Signal Knob and Three Top Mountain

We hiked Signal Knob and Three Top Mountain in the Massanutten area this past Saturday with two friends and their two border collies. We've hiked Signal Knob a number of times before, but this time, we approached it from the back (southwest). We met our friends in Front Royal and piled into their car because it has all wheel drive. I had a feeling the road to the trailhead wouldn't be in great shape, which turned out to be the case. Most of the last couple of miles of the road were covered in snow and ice.

The first half of the hike follows a fire road except for a brief stretch of trail that goes around Strasburg Reservoir. It is a pleasant walk, generally uphills, but nothing too steep until the approach to Signal Knob. Like I said, we've hiked up to Signal Knob before from the Fort Valley Side. At the top of the mountain, there is a communications tower and a power line cut with a nice view towards Front Royal to the northeast. We had always stopped at the power line cut and usually would have lunch there. Then we would return the way we came for the hike back. I had no idea there was another viewpoint a few hundred yards north of the power line cut with a view to the west towards Strasburg and Great North Mountain. I had just never walked beyond the communications tower. Since we came up the mountain the other way, we found it this time (and our friends knew about it).

We went back down Signal Knob the way we came to the junction with the Tuscarora Trail, where we turned right and headed up to the top of Three Top Mountain. After climbing gradually towards the ridge, the trail follows the top of the ridgeline for a couple of miles. The ridge walk was really pretty. It is a narrow ridgeline with upturned rocks and views through the trees both east and west (the views are probably best in the winter). When we reached the junction with the Massanutten Trail, we turned downhill and made a quick descent down to the road and the car.

It was a nice hike, but there is a fair amount of road walking, which would be less pleasant on a blazing summer day. Three Top Mountain is really pretty. We had perfect winter weather: 30s and sunny.

Our friend and Michael walking up the road near the beginning of the hike.

Strasburg Reservoir from the dam.

Our friend's very dignified border collie on top of Signal Knob.

The view from the power line cut towards Front Royal.

The overlook I had missed several times before: northwest from Signal Knob

Cool ice patterns.

Moss in the snow.

The sun shining on snow on Three Top Mountain.

This tree broke in nearly a perfect square when it fell over.