Assateauge Island and Old Rag

We spent this weekend camping out on Assateague Island with several friends. We rarely go to the beach. Michael and I grew up about as far from any ocean beaches as you can get in this country and neither one of us saw the ocean for the first time until we were adults. We just don't feel the draw that a lot of other folks do (the mountains, on the other hand...). We just don't get out there much. We've been out to Assateague a few times, but always in late fall or early winter and we hadn't ever spent more than a couple of hours out there. This weekend, some friends organized a camping weekend out there and we had a great time in spite of some marginal weather.

We arrived on Friday and, although the water is still pretty chilly, it was warm enough to play in the surf for a little while. We had great weather that night and even lucked out that a large thunderstorm passed just south of us.

 Our campsite in the state park.

 Improvised clotheslines between the Subarus.

Oenothera humifusa (Seaside Evening Primrose). These were all over the beach and they just looked like a non-descript groundcover. Shortly before sunset, they all bloomed.

Saturday, we awoke to high winds, which only strengthened as the day progressed. In the middle of the afternoon the gusts were around 40 mph. It was also 20 degrees colder than the previous day. We originally planned to kayak on Saturday, but that wasn't in the cards. We wound up doing a bit of walking on the beach and on some of the bayside paths. Then we spent the afternoon in a coffee shop.

 Early morning beach walk

 A sandpiper feeding in the surf

 Michael flying a small kite

 A crab burrow

 A horseshoe crab shell.

Sisyrinchium atlanticum (Coastal Blue-Eyed Grass)

This morning, the wind settled down some and we were able to go kayaking on Ayers Creek, which is slightly inland and a little more protected than the bay behind the island.

 Heading upstream

 Our group where the creek narrowed a little.

 One of our friends

Michael near the end of our kayaking trip.

We had a blast and many thanks to our friends who organized the trip.

I also wanted to post a few pictures from our last trip up Old Rag with ORMS. It was kind of a crazy day: over 90 degrees when earlier in the week it had been in the 40s and raining. People were so not prepared. We rarely give out water because we don't want people to think they don't have to carry it. We wound up filtering water out of a water source on the mountain because there were people in visible heat distress.

In any case, there were lots of great flowers blooming and we had a good day:

Houstonia cerulea (Bluets)

Geranium maculatum (Wild Geranium). As an aside, if you have a sunny spot with marginal soil in your garden, these do really well and they are widely available at local nurseries.

 Conopholis americana (Squawroot)

 Obolaria virginica (Pennywort)

 Orchis spectabilis (Showy Orchis)

 Trillium grandiflorum (Giant Trillium)

 Uvularia perfoliata (Perfoliate Bellwort)

 Pedicularis canadensis (Lousewort)

 Barefoot hiker headed down from the summit towards the rock scramble.

 The curve where I always take a picture

 Rhododendron nudiflorum (Pink Azalea)

 Cypripedium parviflorum (Yellow Lady Slipper)

Asarum canadense (Wild Ginger) hiding in the leaf litter

Catching Up: Old Rag, Massachusetts, and Ride the Drive

I've gotten behind with my blog posts, so I'm going to do one big one to catch up.

At the beginning of April, Old Rag Mountain Stewards held training in Shenandoah National Park. We spent Saturday at Big Meadows reviewing various skills. On Sunday, we hiked up Old Rag and did some first aid training. The weather was beautiful (well, except for camping out Friday night, which was in the low 20s with 40 mph winds).

 Looking towards the summit.

 The wildflowers were just barely beginning to bloom. Sanguinaria canadensis (Bloodroot) just coming up.

Wrapping up after training.

The next weekend I went to Massachusetts to see friends. We got out for a hike on the Seven Sisters trail. The hike ostensibly goes over seven mountain peaks: the Seven Sisters. We decided there were a few half and step-sisters that weren't counted in the seven.

 A trailhead register box.

 Taking a break for lunch.

 Anemone americana (Hepatica). These were the only flowers we saw. Mid-April is still late winter in Massachusetts.

 Another view of A. americana.

 Looking towards the west from the trail.

 Bootshot from Bare Mountain, the last peak on our hike.

Last Sunday, Shenandoah National Park closed the northern 31 miles of Skyline Drive to motorized traffic. We were asked if we could volunteer as bike patrol for the event. More than 4,000 people registered for the event. Right up until the evening before, we were expecting really terrible weather - 45 degrees and raining terrible. Then, late on Saturday, the forecast changed and called for dry, if cool, weather.

Our day started with a briefing at 6 a.m. at Skyline High School in Front Royal. Once we signed in and got what we needed for the day, we headed to our spot at milepost 14 (which is where we usually eat lunch when we ride the drive on our own). It was 37 degrees when we arrived a bit after 7 a.m., but the sun was out and there was promise of a warm-up. The first cyclists passed our overlook a little after 8 a.m.We cooked breakfast and drank some coffee and let the sun get higher in the sky before we finally took the bikes off of the car. We wound up riding 40 miles with plenty of climbing. We talked to a ton of cyclists, all of whom were universally positive about being able to ride without worrying about traffic. And we met a lot of people who had never been to the park before or would never have felt comfortable riding with cars on the road. I am so glad the National Park Service decided to give this event a try and I really hope they will make it an annual event.

 We stayed in Front Royal the night before the event. After dinner, we drove up to the first overlook in the park for the final minutes of sunset. This is looking west towards Signal Knob.

Early morning haze from Hogwallow Flats overlook, where our base was for the day.

 Another view from the overlook.

 Michael getting ready to start coffee.

 The view west later in the morning, after we started riding.

 Silene caroliniana (Wild Pink) along the road.

 Cyclists at Hogback Overlook.

 Clematis occidentalis (Purple Virgins Bower).

 Cyclists near milepost 12.

Little Devils Stairs overlook.

Maryland Heights and the C&O Towpath

A friend of ours was in town for a couple of weeks of training, so we had the opportunity to spend a day hiking with him last weekend. The Harpers Ferry area was centrally located and the Maryland Heights hike is such a great introduction to the area. It can be really crowded, but we were hoping that the sudden cold snap would keep a few of the crowds away. One way to beat some of the crowds is to park at the Weverton Cliffs lot, three miles down the C&O towpath from the Maryland Heights trailhead. The walk along the towpath is pleasant and quiet and you don't have to club people for a spot in the tiny Maryland Heights lot.

It was just above 20 degrees when we started, which was a bit of a shock after the 80 degree day we had three days before. This is one of my favorite sections of the towpath to walk. The river is pretty and there are good views of Harpers Ferry and Loudon Heights. We didn't see anyone on the towpath until we were almost to Harpers Ferry. We did see a bald eagle, thanks to the sharp eyes of our friend. The hike up to the overlook at Maryland Heights was just as steep as I remembered. We had a nice clear day with a view of the north end of Massanutten in the distance, 40 miles to the southwest. As we took pictures, more and more people kept arriving at the overlook, so we decided to continue with our hike.

Once back at the trail junction, we took a right and headed up the hill towards the Stone Fort, the ruin of a civil war fort overlooking the valley to the east. We ate lunch in the sun at one of the other civil war structures on the mountain, the Powder Magazine. From the top of the ridge, we were actually able to see Sugarloaf Mountain off in the distance as well as the high-rises of Tysons Corner in Virginia. It was definitely a good air quality day. We had a nice walk back down and we took a break across the bridge in Harpers Ferry on the way back. We had a wonderful hike.

 Harpers Ferry from the C&O Towpath.

 Harpers Ferry from the Maryland Heights Overlook. The Shenandoah River flows into the Potomac on the left side of the photo. If you click to enlarge, you can see the line where the waters of the two rivers are different colors.

 Looking up the Potomac River from Maryland Heights.

 The wall of the Stone Fort.

 Looking east down the Potomac. If you click on the picture, the tall buildings of Tysons Corner are visible in the center of the horizon.

 Rodent teeth marks on a sign at the Stone Fort.

 A Downy Woodpecker along the towpath.

Another view of the Downy Woodpecker.

Waterfalls and Wildflowers? Cedar Run and White Oak Canyon

A friend was in town from Oregon last weekend and had a free day, so we took her out Shenandoah National Park and hiked the Cedar Run, Hawskbill, White Oak Canyon loop. It is a nice ten-mile loop that shows off some of the best of the park: big waterfalls, the highest peak in the park, and it has enough climbing to be a good workout. I feel like we've been to White Oak Canyon countless times, but looking back through the blog and my photos, I hadn't been since 2011 and Michael hadn't been since 2009. It was nice to see all of the waterfalls again.

The weather was perfect: sunny and in the high 40s. For much of the climb up Cedar Run, we were protected from the wind, so it felt pretty warm. It had rained earlier in the week, which meant the waterfalls were running well. We ate lunch just before we got to Skyline Drive. That was our first taste of the wind. We all got cold pretty quickly. The walk up to the top of Hawksbill warmed us back up, but it was pretty windy and cold up there. We took a few pictures and headed back down the mountain. We crossed back over Skyline Drive and picked up the fire road that connects to the White Oak Canyon Trail. We had a nice walk down past all of the big waterfalls. Since it was too cold to swim, it wasn't terribly crowded.

 The waterfall at the first crossing of Cedar Run. It was a little bright to try to shoot smooth waterfalls, but this one didn't turn out too badly.

 The pool below the waterslide on Cedar Run. The water was so clear on Saturday that you could see the bottom of the pool

 Old Rag from the top of Hawksbill. It was a little hazy.

 Our party on the summit of Hawksbill.

 A small cascade on White Oak Creek

 One of the larger falls on White Oak Creek.

 Lower White Oak Falls

Anemone americana (Round-Lobed Hepatica) blooming. On February 11th. In the mountains. This is easily a month, possibly more like six or seven weeks, early. This is the clearest indication that we haven't actually had winter this year. According to Capital Weather Gang, in the DC area, we had a 19 day stretch in January where the temperature didn't drop below freezing. I'm sure it was colder in the mountains, but it has clearly still been unusually warm.

Lost River State Park, West Virginia

We have driven by Lost River State Park in West Virginia countless times. We've even biked through it, but, other than stopping for water on that ride, we had never explored the trails there. Since the rest of the country was watching a football game on Sunday and the weather was supposed to be warm for February, we figured it was a good day to check it out.

 The hike began with a pleasant walk along Howard's Lick Run. Sunday morning, the edges of the creek were coated in ice.

 Ice on the edges of the creek.

 After less than half a mile, we turned uphill and began the long, steady climb up to Cranny Crow overlook. After a mile or so, we came to the remnants of a day use shelter. The roof looked like it was in good shape, but the bench was completely rotted out.

 The view from Cranny Crow overlook. As we climbed, we were more an more exposed to the wind. Although the temperatures were in the high 40s, the windchill was probably in the low 30s. At this overlook, we could stand out on the rocks for very long because the wind was blowing so hard.

 A little shelter at Cranny Crow Overlook.

 Further along Big Ridge, there is an old fire tower. The bottom sections of the stairs has been removed, so we couldn't climb it, but it was still a neat tower.

Michael hiking ahead while I took pictures. He was lucky enough to see two bald eagles: an adult and a juvenile. He didn't get any pictures and I wasn't lucky enough to see them.

We finally reached Millers Rocks at the north end of Big Ridge. This is the view of the cloud bank to the west.

Looking north from Millers Rocks

Looking south towards where we started.

On the way back, near a picnic area, a historic cabin sits in the middle of a meadow. This cabin was built in 1840.

Lost River State Park is spectacular. We hiked just under 12 miles and only saw four other people. We will definitely be back.