backpacking – Page 3 – Virginia Trail Guide

Backpacking Gear Review – 2015 Edition

May 29, 2015May 31, 20152 Comments

The last time we did a gear review it was 2010 and we were brand new to backpacking! We bought a lot of our gear based on reviews, recommendations, and cheap prices. In the five years since then, we’ve made a lot of changes to what we carry on overnight trips. We’ve both managed to make our loads significantly lighter!

Gear List – The Basics

2015	2010
Pack: Gregory Z65 (Adam) This pack has served well, but due to wear-and-tear (including mouse-eaten hipbelt pockets), 2015 will probably be this pack’s last year on the trail. Overall has fit well and does allow for air to get between your back and the pack, which is a great feature to keep you cool.	Same
Pack: Osprey Aura AG 50 (Christine) The Z55 I was using is designed for a man and never really fit me properly. I tried an Osprey Viva 65 in 2014. It was a decent pack, but had more capacity than I needed. I also found that the pack’s simple suspension made it ride heavier than what was comfortable. The new Osprey anti-gravity suspension technology is nice and I’ve really been enjoying carrying this pack. Sometimes 50 liters is a tight squeeze, but it forces me to make wise packing choices. The only things I don’t care for are the center-back placement of the water port and the split compartment in the pack lid. The water port is too tight and it’s proximity to the frame makes it hard to shove the drinking hose through the opening. The split compartment lid means the compartments are both smaller. One large compartment would have been better for me personally because I like to stow my snack bag in the pack lid. Sometimes I have a hard time fitting my treats in either of the smaller zippered areas.	Gregory Z55 (Christine)
Tent: Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 In 2014, we upgraded our tent and saved over 3.5 pounds of pack weight. The Copper Spur is certainly a tight fit for two tall(ish) people, but the saved weight is worth it for more comfortable trail miles. The tent fits compactly inside Adam’s pack and he no longer has to strap our shelter to the outside of his pack. Honestly, we only notice the tightness of the space for a few minutes while we’re falling asleep, but once we’ve drifted off the small quarters are fine.	Mountain Hardware Drifter 3
Sleeping Bag: L.L. Bean Semi-Rectagular Down (Adam) This used to be Christine’s bag, but we traded so she would stay warmer. I sleep hot, so the trade worked out well for both of us! Easy to get in and out and compresses down nicely in the pack.	Traded
Sleeping Bag: Sierra Designs Tomichi (Christine) Adam and I traded bags because this one is just a little warmer due to the tighter mummy fit. When I first started out, I didn’t like the snugness of a mummy, but now I do. It’s cozier and I stay warmer. Both of our bags are considered ‘summer bags’, but they’ve always been warm enough for spring/summer/fall in Virginia. We also have silk Cocoon liner for added warmth if needed. When it’s really warm in summer, we both leave sleeping bags home in favor of a Thermarest sheet and tech blanket. We don’t camp when it’s cold, so we don’t own winter bags.	Traded
Sleeping Pad: Big Agnes Insulated Air Core We both have and really like this pad. It has served well and we plan on continuing to use them.	Same
Water Purification: Sawyer Mini In 2015, we switched to a Sawyer Mini after seeing most thru-hikers favoring them over older style pump filters. We really like it. We bought both 32 and 64 oz pouches. The carry weight is almost nothing. The unit requires no assembly and very little field maintenance. We store the Sawyer in an easily accessible spot in our pack and can quickly filter water at any source we cross. The ease-of-use factor means we’re carrying less water in our packs. The weight savings between 3 liters of water and a liter and a half of water is mind blowing! The only challenge is when there are just standing water sources. Non-flowing water would be a challenge to expand the bag. We also carry Aquamira as a backup. And yes… Christine is still paranoid about giardia and feels a little creeped out drinking water from random streams and springs in the woods.	Katadyn Hiker Pro
Hydration: Camelbak 3L We both carry a 3L Camelbak in our pack. Christine usually carries about 1.5 liters of water. Adam carries a bit more. We like having the extra capacity so we can stock up on water if we’re going to be hiking across a dry area. We both also carry an empty, light plastic bottle (like SmartWater). Disposable-type plastic bottles weigh nothing and are handy to have for mixing drink powder into water at camp. We both get tired of plain water and like having a bottle to mix lemonade or Gatorade powder for a flavored drink with dinner.	Nalgene bottles and Camelbaks
Stove: JetBoil We like our JetBoil. It’s compact, boils water quickly, and is easy to use. We don’t ‘cook’ at camp. Everything we eat simply requires the addition of boiling water, so we like the simplicity of this all-in-one system over a separate cookpot and stove.	Same

Other Bits & Pieces

Trail Comfort: Trekking Poles. We are both still using the same trekking poles we had in 2010. Neither of us can imagine ever hiking without them. They take so much strain off your knees and make it easier to balance with a pack on uneven terrain.
Camp Comfort: Crocs. Yes, they are still dorky, but you can’t beat their weight or comfort around camp (as long as you wear them with socks).
Camp Comfort: Headlamps. We both have good quality (Petzl/Black Diamond) headlamps.
Safety: Downsized First Aid Kit. We used to carry a large, fully-stocked first aid kit — just in case. It was quite heavy and essentially had larger quantities of the items in a smaller kit. Now we carry a small kit with bandages, gauze, blister care, painkillers, antihistamines, anti-bacterial wipes/ointment, cortisone cream, anti-diarrheal, tweezers, and duct tape. It fits in a small case about the size of a hand and covers all the basics and necessities. It’s a calculated risk to not have splints, large ace bandages, scissors, safety pins, and a manual – but it saves a pound of pack weight.
Safety: Dealing with Ticks. We treat our clothes and gear with Sawyer Permethrin throughout spring, summer, and fall. Lyme disease is becoming more prevalent, and permethrin reduces the risk of having ticks attach. We spray our shoes, socks, hiking clothes, and camp/sleep clothes. If we’re going somewhere that’s very dense and brushy, we also use DEET on bare skin.
GPS Unit: Unnecessary. Adam used to carry a Garmin handheld GPS unit. Now we just carry a compass, printed map of the area/AWOL Guide page, and a smartphone. We used to bring those items in addition to the GPS unit and found it redundant. We use the MapMyHike app on our phone to help with calculating routes and either carry maps or pre-print routes using AllTrails.com.
Space Saver: Compression Sack. Instead of just a regular stuff sack, we now use Sea to Summit compression sacks for our sleeping bags. It makes them really compact and small. Why did we wait so long to get these?
Comes in Handy Often: Collapsible Bucket. When water is running low or slow, the Sea to Summit bucket makes it easy to gather a large amount of water at once. We can then take water back to camp for filtering and cooking at our leisure. The bucket is free standing, weighs 2.8 ounces, and holds 10 liters of water.
Luxury Item We Carry: Alite Monarch chairs. I know that chairs seem like a waste of pack weight and space to some. Yes… the chairs add a little over a pound (1 pound, 5 ounces to be specific) to our load. Many would point out that you can sit on the ground, lean against a tree, or use your pack as a backrest. While all these things may be true, nothing beats being able to be off the ground and semi-reclined with back support after a long day on the trail. Christine went chairless on an overnight earlier this year. She regretted it.
Luxury Item We Carry: Cocoon Ultralight pillows. A lot of people will use their clothes bag, a jacket, or empty pack for a pillow. We found all of those options to be too slick and lumpy. Cocoon’s pillows pack down smaller than the size of a fist and weigh less than 6 ounces. It’s another luxury item that we find well worth carrying.
Luxury Item We Carry: Thermarest sheet. It’s just 4 ounces and it makes laying on the sleeping pad a lot more comfortable. You never feel sticky or clammy with the sheet.

Furnace Mountain – Austin Mountain Loop

April 26, 2015May 7, 20159 Comments

This 12-mile loop combines numerous park trails into one great route! You’ll pass by several gorgeous viewpoints, walk along pretty Madison Run, and cross massive talus slopes. It’s a challenging hike with about 3,000 feet of climbing.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

On the Shoulder of Austin Mountain — Adam crosses one of the large talus slopes on the side of Austin Mountain.

Christine Says…

The Austin Mountain – Furnace Mountain Loop has the reputation of being one of the park’s toughest and longest day hikes. Not only is the terrain rocky and rugged, there is also a serious amount of climbing involved. Essentially, you climb up from the valley floor, traversing several mountains along the way – Furnace, Trayfoot, Blackrock, and Austin. While you don’t technically reach the summits of Austin or Trayfoot, you come within a couple hundred feet of these viewless/inaccessible summits.

Most sources begin this hike from the Browns Gap parking area on Skyline Drive. For us, it’s a much shorter drive to start down in the valley, at the park perimeter near Grottoes. We parked along the roadside where Browns Gap Rd meets the Madison Run fire road. This is a popular park entry point for hikers and equestrians alike. It can get crowded if you don’t get an early start on the day.

Crossing Madison Run — Adam crosses Madison Run. Below: Pretty sun rays on the fire road; Walking up Furnace Mountain; Small talus slopes and views on the Furnace Mountain trail.

After walking up the Madison Run fire road for a short distance, the Furnace Mountain trail begins on the right with a rock-hop crossing of Madison Run. For a little over a mile, you’ll ascend Furnace Mountain before coming to a cement post that marks the spur trail to the summit of Furnace Mountain. The spur trail is about half a mile and leads to a fantastic viewpoint. You can see Skyline Drive if you look carefully. If you look across the gorge, you’ll see the huge talus slopes of Austin Mountain that you’ll cross later in the hike. On this particular day, we skipped the side trail to the summit of Furnace. We had hiked Furnace Mountain just a few weeks earlier and knew we had many miles to go and other views to enjoy along the way.

The ascent continues in earnest along the Furnace Mountain Trail. Eventually, you’ll come to a junction with the Trayfoot Mountain trail. Take a left and descend. This trail is an old road bed, so it’s wide and nicely graded. After a few tenths of a mile, you’ll come to another cement marker post. Follow the trail to the right in the direction of Blackrock Summit. This rocky jumble will be your best view on the hike! We chose to eat lunch at this spot. That probably wasn’t the best of ideas, because the strong wind made the summit bitterly cold. It’s no fun to eat PB&J with your teeth chattering and while you’re wearing gloves. Needless to say, we ate quickly!

Overlook on Furnace Mountain — The view from Furnace Mountain. Below: From Furnace Mountain you can see the massive talus slopes on Austin Mountain; Looking back at Furnace Mountain; Junction of Furnace Mountain and Trayfoot Mountain trails.

Rounding Blackrock Summit leads you to the Appalachian Trail. To continue this route, head north on the AT for a couple miles until you reach the Browns Gap parking area on Skyline Drive. This section of AT is fast going – it’s practically flat and uncomplicated. You’ll pass the Dundo picnic area along the way. If you run out of water, there is a clean tap at the picnic area.

From the Browns Gap parking area, follow the fire road downhill for .8 of a mile. A cement post on the right marks the Madison Run Spur Trail. This trail will go steeply uphill to a junction with the Rockytop and Big Run trails. Bear to the left on the Rockytop trail. Follow the Rockytop trail for several tenths of a mile until you reach another cement marker for the Austin Mountain trail. If you hike when leaves are off the trees, you’ll get some great ridge views in this area.

Once you turn left onto the Austin Mountain trail, you’ll have a little over 3 miles to go before you hit fire road again. The terrain starts off easily enough, following a lovely ridge overlooking Dundo Hollow and Furnace Mountain (from earlier in your hike). The views are really nice, and it’s impressive to look back on all the distance you’ve traversed!

Adam on Blackrock Summit — Adam takes in the view from Blackrock Summit. Below: View from the Trayfoot Mountain trail; Arriving at Blackrock summit; Playing on the rocks.

But a little over a mile along the Austin Mountain trail, the talus slopes begin. From there, it’s an endless field of loose rocks for nearly a mile. When you think you’re done with rocks, surprise… there are more rocks! Don’t miss looking up and behind you – the cliff-like wall of Austin Mountain looks like a crenulated castle wall. After you cross the last talus slope, you have a steep, knee-grinding descent back to the Madison Run fire road.

Once you reach the fire road, you just have a easy .6 mile road-walk back to your start point. The stream is especially scenic along this stretch. After getting back to the car, we decided we had earned milkshakes! It was a fun day and a great challenge!

Adam Says…

We decided to try and tackle this loop since we wanted to get some good training for some longer hikes. While we were able to get out and do a few good hikes over the winter months, this was definitely a challenging hike to do before we (or at least I) had gotten my “summer trail legs”. This particular hike did a toll on me, especially the last couple of miles.

Junction of Trayfoot with the Appalachian Trail — The junction of the Trayfoot Mountain Trail and the Appalachian Trail. Below: Hiking the AT; Arriving at Browns Gap and the fire road; The junction with the Austin Mountain Trail.

The water across Madison Run was running a little higher and faster than normal, but we were able to rockhop across and begin our hike. The hike up Furnace Mountain is a steady uphill, but does lead to some nice views along the way. There is one section that has a small talus slope that we thought was impressive, but little did we know what Austin Mountain would bring later in the day. At the junction of the spur trail, we met a couple that was doing the same loop but camped along Madison Run that morning. They had started from the Browns Gap parking area in Shenandoah National Park, but had a day of mostly uphill climbing this day. As Christine mentioned, we decided to skip the overlook and made our way to Blackrock Summit.

Talus Slopes — Huge talus slopes on Austin Mountain. Below: Views from the Austin Mountain Trail; Talus slopes and a view of Furnace Mountain; Descending Austin Mountain.

At Blackrock, the wind was incredibly strong and cold. There was still ice in the crevices between the rocks in most places. We sat out to eat some lunch, but our hands were trembling in the cold, which made for challenging and rushed eating. We quickly got out of there and joined the Appalachian Trail, heading north. We made quick time on this flatter section of trail and crossed Skyline Drive. The trail stays close to Skyline Drive until you reach the Dundo picnic area (which does have bathrooms if you need it).

Passing the picnic area, we crossed Skyline Drive again after 6.5 miles. After crossing the road, we made our way through the parking lot and crossed the gate blocking the fire road. Heading down the fire road was easy walking. At mile 7.3, we spotted the cement post on the side of the road, leading up the Madison Run Spur Trail. This section was steep but short as we reached the crest and junction with the Rockytop Trail. We took a left here which continues uphill and reaches the junction with the Austin Mountain Trail around 8.2 miles. Bear to the left and the trail begins to go downhill finally.

Pretty Madison Run. Below: Crenulations on Austin Mountain; Adam coming down to the fire road; Walking the fire road back to the car.

Right before this junction, my IT bands near my right knee began to hurt. Sometimes when one knee begins to hurt, you tend to overcompensate with the other. We came across a hiker that was hiking up and he warned us there was a mile of loose rock to walk on. We soon reached the huge talus slopes. When you have one leg giving you pain, the last thing you want to see is loose rock footing for as long as you can see. The views of the slope were impressive, as well as looking across the mountainous valley to see Furnace Mountain, but the pain was keeping me from having the best of times. With vultures ominously circling above my head, I felt they didn’t have much faith I would make it. Just when we thought we had reached across the slopes, the trail turns back and works it way down the mountain, giving us lower parts of the slopes and more rocks. We finally reached the bottom of the trail and joined the Madison Run Road at 11.2 miles. It was a flat walk along the side of a picturesque creek until we made our way back to the car in .8 miles.

While this was a tough hike, it was rewarding. This hike has great views, unique geology, and a picturesque creek. If you don’t want to tackle it in one day, it would make a nice backpacking loop, but I would recommend starting at Brown’s Gap to split the hike and leave you camping by the water source of Madison Run.

Trail Notes

Distance – 12 miles Add .5 mile, each way, if you take the spur trail out to the overlook atop Furnace Mountain. You can make a shorter, easier loop if you descend via the fire road and skip Austin Mountain)
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – 2900 ft.
Difficulty – 4.5. The length and amount of climbing make this tough.
Trail Conditions – 2. While the trail was well-maintained, the footing on the talus slopes brings this score down due to the challenge of walking on loose rock for over a mile of the trail.
Views – 4. You have nice views from Furnace Mountain if you add that spur, but Blackrock Summit and views along the Austin Mountain Trail make it worthwhile.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. Madison Run is a nice wide stream and reliable water source year-round.
Wildlife –2. We didn’t see much, but there have been bear sightings along the Austin Mountain portion of the trail.
Ease to Navigate – 2.5. There are lots of trails that cross, so pay attention to the signs. The trickiest is around the Blackrock Summit area.
Solitude – 3. You will likely see people at Blackrock summit, but not a lot of activity elsewhere.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-81, take exit 256 heading east towards Weyers Cave. Go 6.6 miles and take a left on US-340/Augusta Avenue. Go .1 miles and take a right on Cary Street. In .2 miles, continue on to VA-663/Brown’s Gap Road. In 1.9 miles, turn right on to the dirt fire road. Follow this 1.1 miles and you will reach the parking area. Look for the concrete post for Furnace Mountain which will have you instantly rock-hopping across Madison Run to start your hike.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Neighbor Mountain – Jeremy’s Run Loop

February 5, 2015February 5, 20155 Comments

This 14.7 mile route offers wilderness, beautiful views, and stunning stream scenery (even a small waterfall!) It’s a wonderful, moderate overnight backpacking loop; or a really challenging day hike. We set out intending to camp along Jeremy’s Run, but it didn’t quite go as planned!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Views from the Neighbor Mountain Trail — The views on this loop hike come along the descent of Neighbor Mountain. Below: The trailhead at Elkwallow Picnic Area; Hiking along in golden woods; Adam and Kris at the junction of the Appalachian Trail and Neighbor Mountain Trail.

Christine Says…

The final weekend of October 2014 was so beautiful – perfect, made-to-order backpacking weather. We decided to head out on one more overnighter before the weather turned cold. We invited our friend, Kris, to come along. She loves the outdoors as much as we do, and I was sure she’d enjoy this loop. Don’t miss her guest blogger entry later in this post! It had been several years since we last hiked in the vicinity of Jeremy’s Run, and I was really looking forward to camping along the beautiful stream.

After stocking up on some lunch provisions at Elkwallow Wayside, we finally hit the trail around 11:00. We figured we had a little over eight miles of hiking on our first day, so starting late morning would get us to camp before 3:00, with plenty of daylight left to pitch tents, cook dinner, and relax.

Hiking along the Neighbor Mountain Trail. Below: The fall color was still close to peak; Adam checks out a rock formation; At the summit of Neighbor Mountain.

We started out at the Elkwallow Picnic Area. A short spur trail leads downhill to the junction with the white-blazed Appalachian Trail. The AT descends for about .3 of a mile before coming to a junction with the blue-blazed Jeremy’s Run Trail. Follow the Appalachian Trail, veering to the left. The trail ascends for a little over a mile before coming to a more level ridge. You’ll pass the junction with the Thorton River trail, continuing south on the AT. At just over four miles into the hike, you’ll reach the junction with the yellow-blazed Neighbor Mountain trail.

We decided this junction would be a nice place to stop for lunch (hummus – my favorite trail lunch of late – easy to eat and lots of quality calories!). After a relaxing, thirty-minute break, we took the turn onto the Neighbor Mountain trail. The path meandered across the ridge. For the first couple miles, it was mostly walking in the woods. There was a nice breeze and gorgeous sparkling sunshine was filtering through golden leaves. It was everything you want fall to be!

Even though there is no view, the summit of Neighbor Mountain is marked with a cement post. At the summit, I noticed I had picked up a ‘hitchhiker’ along the way – a walking stick bug was clinging to my pants. I wonder how far he had come with me. I picked him off, and set him on a fallen log off the trail.

Between six and seven miles into the hike, there are a few excellent views of the Massanutten ridge and Three Sisters. There was a forest fire in this area several years ago, so the view was pretty open and expansive. We all paused a while to enjoy the fall foliage. It was so wonderful to see colorful mountains rolling our before us. We talked about how privileged and blessed we all felt to be out on such an amazing day!

View of Valley — Adam enjoys a view of the valley and mountains to the west. Below: This part of Neighbor Mountain burned in 2012. Alot of damage is still evident; Fall color; Adam descends Neighbor Mountain toward Jeremys Run.

The last mile and a half of the day was steady downhill, meandering across switchbacks until the Neighbor Mountain trail reached the bottom of the valley and Jeremy’s Run. As soon as you reach the stream, campsites are everywhere. The first few we passed were already taken, so we ended up returning to the hidden campsite we used several years earlier. It’s a flat spot under the trees shortly before the first water crossing.

And here’s where the story takes an unexpected turn…

Adam Says…

We all worked on pitching our tents and setting up camp. I set up our tent while Christine worked on inflating our sleeping pads. Kris was on the other side of the clearing working on setting up the one-person tent she had borrowed, when she suddenly she groaned, “Uh… guys – I think we might have a little problem.”

As it turned out, the tent bag only held the rain fly and the poles. The ground cloth and the actual tent were missing in action. She hadn’t checked the bag before hitting the trail. We spent the next 45 minutes trying to improvise a shelter with everything and anything we had. We tried piling three people in our Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 (bad idea). We discussed whether or not the evening would be suitable for cowboy camping under the stars. We talked through a few different scenarios: 1) we all hike back immediately, 2) I sleep under the tarp while Kris and Christine sleep in the tent, or 3) I hike back to the car tonight and pick them up in the morning. I was least excited about the second option because the area felt tick-infested with the wet leaves. We debated the options for a few minutes, but ultimately, we decided the best choice was to keep the group together and make our backpacking trip into a very long day hike.

Failed Camp — We tried to find a way to rig up shelter, but in the end we decided it was better to hike out. Below: Crossing the first stream and trying to eat something with enough calories to hike out happily; Adam doing one of many stream crossings; The best campsite along Jeremys Run sits above a waterfall.

We knew we only had a little over an hour of daylight left – the sun sets early behind the mountains surrounding Jeremy’s Run. We rushed to pack everything up as quickly as we could. Cooking a hot dinner would have required getting more water, so we opted to just eat a few snacks from our bags. We started off at a quick pace. I twisted my knee at the first major water crossing we had to make, which made the rest of the trip pretty painful. But sometimes, you just have to suck it up and hike.

We soon passed another great campsite next to a small waterfall. The trail meanders along and across Jeremy’s Run, requiring lots of rock-hopping across the stream. The sun was dipping down quickly and we soon found that we needed to put on our headlamps. Christine and Kris had legit headlamps, but I was using a small clip-on headlight that didn’t have the lumen output needed for a night hike. When it reached dusk a few miles from our campsite, we came across a couple with a dog. They asked us how far it was to the campsites and if they were all taken. The guy was carrying an outrageous amount of gear and the girl looked completely miserable. We knew they were going to be hiking to the campsites by nightfall and setting up camp in the dark. I’m not sure if this was her first venture into overnight camping, but based on the daggers she was shooting him with her eyes, it may be their last. They warned us they had seen a couple of bears just ahead of us, so we were on full alert.

Headlamps — We hiked by headlamp the last hour. Below: Jeremys Run in twilight; A large pool along the run; One of the last few stream crossings before it became too dark to take photos.

As it became fully dark, we still had a few stream crossings to make, which made it quite hazardous. I reminded myself that the water wasn’t that deep so if we stepped in the water, we would probably be OK. Another danger of night-hiking is the ability to lose the trail. We really had to pay attention to the ground and try to keep an eye out for occasional blazes to make sure we would stay on the trail. Hiking in the fall after most of the leaves have covered the trail provides an extra challenge. Because I had a weaker headlamp, it was hard for me to lead along the trail since the lights from Christine and Kris were blasting my shadow ahead of me on the ground. And then, I heard large noises in the woods, which I’m guessing was the bears that we had been warned about. We kept talking loudly and playing some games to keep our minds sharp (animals/foods/colors that start with each letter of the alphabet) as we hiked along.

At 4.25 miles from our intended campsite, we finally came across a concrete marker post. This post marked the junction with the Knob Mountain cutoff trail, so we knew were getting closer. We kept straight on the Jeremy’s Run Trail and at 5.15 miles, we reached our first junction with the Neighbor Mountain Trail. It was now just .3 miles straight ahead until we reached the parking lot where we started. We made the last climb with renewed energy and celebrated that we made it through this adventure.

It was definitely one of the longest hikes we have done in a day and with the extra weight on our back, was one of the toughest. We got back in the car and decided to go out to dinner to celebrate with drinks and food at Ciro’s in Elkton, VA. We were physically exhausted and hungry, but it was quite an adventure we will never forget.

One takeaway I had from this trip was that we were all great at hiking together. When we faced the challenge of not having two functional tents, we kept our wits about us, made a quick decision and went with it. There was no complaining and we just relied on each other to get through. If we had panicked or become overly upset, it could have led to a dangerous situation. It is through this challenge, that we learned that having good hiking partners that work well together is a great trait to have for survival. We all vowed to come back to this spot to camp together sometime in the spring to get the full experience through camping on Jeremy’s Run. After the hike, Kris bought her own tent and I bought a better headlamp.

Kris Says…

Backpacking 101- It doesn’t matter if you were up late celebrating your birthday and borrowing some equipment…ALWAYS double check your equipment or your trip will not be so fly!

I was excited to be hiking with friends on a beautiful fall day. We have always shared an appreciation of nature, lots of conversations and tons of laughter. I guess that is why we handled our little upset so calmly and reasonably. Although, I’m pretty sure I said “Adam, just because I am a girl doesn’t mean you have to give up your tent. I will cowboy up. Now, everyone hand over any booze or sleep aides you may have!” Of course that didn’t fly.

Ultimately we laughed at the situation, even as we crossed that creek 14 or so times and in the dark. And I learned a few things on this trip: I am capable of hiking 15 miles with a 25 lbs pack in a day, Little Debbie Peanut Butter pies are so tasty and 400 calories, it was time to purchase my own backpacking tent, a packing checklist is important and a good attitude goes a long way.

I vowed to return to Jeremy’s Run and hike early enough to snag the sweet waterfall camp spot, I also plan to cowboy camp sometime just to prove I can (my dog will protect me).

Christine and Adam- you two are SuperFly!

Trail Notes

Distance – 14.7 miles
(We had issues with MapMyHike on this trip, so we have partial stats. We have the Neighbor Mountain segment and most of the Jeremys Run to Elkwallow segment. We’re missing the portion along the Appalachian Trail and a few early tenths of a mile along Jeremy’s Run. Technical issues!)*
Elevation Change – 2610 ft.
Difficulty – 4. The terrain is fairly moderate throughout the hike, but the length ups the difficulty rating.
Trail Conditions – 3. Sections along the Appalachian Trail and Neighbor Mountain are in great shape. The Jeremy’s Run trail is rocky and has at least 14 water crossings – some of them can be challenging!
Views – 3.5. The views descending Neighbor Mountain are beautiful, but never fully open/panoramic.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3.5. The stream is beautiful and scenic.
Wildlife – 5. We saw a bobcat! Hikers we passed at sunset told us there was a bear ahead, but we couldn’t see anything in the dark. But, the last time we hiked in this area, we saw three bears. We have also seen/heard owls, pileated woodpeckers, and whippoorwills.
Ease to Navigate – 4. The junctions are clearly marked and easy to follow — unless you’re hiking in the dark! 🙂
Solitude –1. It’s the most popular backpacking loop in the park’s northern district.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From the US-211 entrance of Shenandoah National Park, head north for 9 miles on Skyline Drive. Take a left towards the Mathews Arm Campground. In .7 miles, you will reach a parking lot. The trail takes off next to the outdoor bathroom.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Appalachian Trail – Hog Camp Gap to Punchbowl Mountain

December 8, 2014August 26, 20153 Comments

This 17 mile overnight backpacking trip had beautiful views from Cole Mountain within the first two miles of the hike. The rest of the hike was less scenic – mostly walking through quiet woods and along seasonally low streams. The Lynchburg Reservoir and the swinging bridge over the Pedlar River were noteworthy features on the second day. Adam will cover day one and Christine will take over with day two!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Adam Takes in the View from the Summit of Cole Mountain — Adam takes in the view from the summit of Cole Mountain. Below: Coming out of the woods onto the grassy meadow is always breathtaking; Great views from the top of Cole Mountain; Hints of fall color near the summit.

Day One (8.1 miles)…

We started off our trip by leaving one car where the AT crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Punchbowl Mountain overlook. From the lot, we could see the AT southbound, but we didn’t see where we would return to our car from the north. It turns out it was just below us on the other side of the parking lot, but the morning fog made it a little hard to spot. We dropped our car off and then headed to Hog Camp Rd, to start our journey.

From Hog Camp Gap, we headed south on the Appalachian Trail. The trail started off through a wooded section uphill, fairly steeply in some parts. Around 1.1 miles, the trail opened up to the beautiful, wide-open bald clearing that is Cole Mountain. We have hiked Cole Mountain before as a loop and I do think it is one of the more under-appreciated hikes in Virginia. The panoramic vistas make this look like something you would picture in an outdoors magazine. You can’t help but want to stop and take a look at the scenery around you. The way we split this section might not have been the best plan for enjoying vistas. We knew we had the best views of the trip done in the first 1.5 miles of the hike. But that is one of the biggest lessons I learned from hiking this section – you have to hold on to what you may have just seen, because there is no certainty about what is to come ahead.

Climbing Bald Mountain — The climb of Bald Mountain wasn’t terribly long or difficult. Bald Mountain also is not Bald! Below: Adam checks out the map at our lunch stop – a clearing near the top of Bald Mountain; A little snip of a view through the trees along the top of Bald Mountain; Huge tree!

After reaching the summit of Cole Mountain, the trail descends and again enters the forest. Around 2.5 miles, we reached a junction with a spur trail that led to the Cow Camp Gap overnight shelter and a water source. We continued on the trail which starts an ascent up Bald Mountain. We reached the summit at 3.5 miles and were hoping for some nice views at the top, but found that Bald Mountain wasn’t very bald (there were a few obstructed views through the trees). We found a clearing and camp spot and had our lunch there before continuing on. The rest of the day, the trail was a descent so our climbing was done (at least until tomorrow).

We crossed over USFS 507 at 5.5 miles and eventually came to US 60 and the Long Mountain wayside at mile 6.3. We stopped at one of the picnic tables and took a break to eat a snack and give our backs a relief from the weight. Local people just park on the roadside here and have a picnic at this spot. It is also a way to do a longer out-and-back to Cole Mountain without parking or driving on a rough, gravel road. After resting, we crossed US 60, spotting a sign for the continuation of the Appalachian trail to the right. We continued our descent and at 7.1 miles, we reached Browns Creek, a reliable water source for a good stretch of trail. At 8.2 miles, we reached the Brown Mountain Creek Shelter, our stop for the night.

The Brown Mountain Creek area is interesting from a historical/archaeological standpoint. Much of the land along the creek was part of a large plantation predating the Civil War. After the war, the land was primarily a settlement for freed African-Americans. Houses, farms, orchards and even a gristmill could be found along the creek. You can still see stone walls/stairs, pieces of metal, and other artifacts along the creek.

When we first got to the shelter, there was still a smoldering fire in the fire pit, so we realized someone had been there recently. We also noticed a large pile of fresh bear scat next to the shelter. While we didn’t think a bear had been roasting marshmallows by the fire, we felt it may be wise to not set up camp directly at the shelter. We found a nice campsite right by the creek and decided that would be a better spot. There was a boy scout troop that was camping on the other side of the creek. We worried about them being too loud over the course of the night, but they were fairly well-behaved (except for trashing the privy – but that’s another story). We set up our tent, filtered water for tonight and tomorrow, and began to unwind.

We cooked dinner up at the shelter (Good To-Go Herbed Mushroom Risotto)* and played Zombie Fluxx, a card game where the rules and objectives for winning constantly changed. I always enjoy bringing a card game along the trail – the weight isn’t too bad for the entertainment it can provide. We played a few hands (I recall Christine being better at killing zombies than I was) and then went back to our campsite after I hung our bear bag. We started off reading books by headlamp outside our tent (continuing with the zombie trend I was reading Night of the Living Trekkies), but the bugs were awful. We retired to our tent probably around 7:30, read for a little while longer, and went to bed very early. We always typically go to bed around nightfall when backpacking, but hiking with the extra weight always makes you feel a little more physically exhausted.

* Good to Go is a new backpacking food manufacturer. They use healthy ingredients and much less sodium. We thought it was one of the best dehydrated meals we’ve had on the trail! We added a foil packet of chicken breast to our dinner.

Games — We arrived at camp fairly early, so after the tent was pitched and water collected, we spent some time playing Zombie Fluxx. Below: A group of 14 Boy Scouts camped along the opposite bank; Collecting water for cooking and drinking; We tried a new brand of dehydrated meal – Good to Go (tasty!)

Day Two (9.1 miles)…

Day two started earlier than expected (and with the added bonus of a huge, swollen mosquito bite on my eyelid – I looked like I’d been punched!) Like most Boy Scout troops we’ve met along the trail, the one camping near us on this trip was awake, packed up, and on their way before sun-up. This had pros and cons. One con was all the crunching boots and headlamps moving around our tent in the dark. A pro was the opportunity we had to enjoy the creekside in peace and solitude before starting our hike for the day. The solitude also meant I could find a place to dig a cat hole in complete privacy without having to worry about Boy Scouts spotting me! I would have used the privy near the shelter, but let’s just say the privy turned out to be another con of camping near a big scout group. One of them had completely defiled the privy and there was no way I was going in there!

Breakfast was instant oatmeal, honey buns and coffee. I’ve learned the hard way after running out of gas on past backpacking trips that one packet of instant oatmeal (140 calories) is not enough to fuel me across nine miles. The Little Debbie Honey Bun has been a revelation for me. I think it has the magical balance of fat and sugar I need to power through my morning miles. They also hold up great in my pack – no smushing and no crumbling. Some people like a healthier, protein-packed breakfast, but give me a honey bun!

Morning on Brown Mountain Creek — The morning was beautiful and quiet (after the Scouts left). Below: When water is running higher, this is probably a pretty little waterfall; Adam hikes along the Appalachian Trail: One of several small stream crossings.

The first five miles of our second day were easy. The terrain was a very gradual overall descent with a couple brief uphill climbs. The first mile or so followed Brown Mountain Creek. The trail followed roughly parallel to the stream for much of the way. I kept thinking how beautiful this area would be when water levels were higher. We eventually crossed the creek via a wooden footbridge. At this spot there was a small, but pretty, waterfall cascading into a plunge pool. The flow was down to a trickle, but it was still a lovely spot.

Departing Brown Mountain Creek, we walked through serene, quiet forest for a couple more miles. There were two small stream crossings along the way. The first didn’t seem to have a name, but the second was Swapping Camp Creek. Both of these creeks end up flowing into the Lynchburg Reservoir. At around 3 miles into our hike, we started seeing glimpses of the reservoir through the trees. We followed an off-trail footpath steeply down to the shores of the water for a couple photos. We saw several herons hunting in the mud. There were ‘no camping’ signs posted everywhere, but there were also several well-used fire rings. I’m guessing there are quite a few people that ignore the regulations and attempt to stealth camp in this area.

The trail skirts around the Lynchburg Reservoir. Below: The dam at the south end of the reservoir; The Pedlar River; The Pedlar River footbridge.

We climbed back up to the Appalachian Trail and continued south, skirting the eastern side of the reservoir. At around 4.8 miles we came to the lowest elevation point of our hike – the Pedlar River crossing. The trail crosses the river on a picturesque, bouncy suspension bridge. From the middle of the bridge, we could see early fall colors reflecting from the trees onto the water’s surface. After crossing the bridge, we came out on gravel-surfaced Reservoir Road. We followed that briefly until we spotted another white blaze for the Appalachian Trail.

At this point, we began our toughest climb of the whole 17 miles. The 2-mile ascent of Rice Mountain begins pleasantly enough. The trail follows parallel to Little Irish Creek (which was running low and barely noticeable) and passes through a small plot of old growth forest. There is an extremely weather-beaten sign explaining tree sizes in the area and how the area is used to study the local watershed. Early parts of the climb are well-graded and moderate, but about .75 mile in, the trail pretty much goes straight up the mountain without the moderating benefit of switchbacks. I wanted to push through the climbing and put it behind me, but Adam was ready for a snack. We found some big rocks about 1.5 miles up the mountain and took a candy break. After a half mile more climbing, we reached the ridge of Rice Mountain. The forest was especially pretty along the top of the mountain – very open with lots of nice shade trees.

Climbing Rice Mountain was tougher than it looked on the topo map. Below: Another little peek at a view through the trees; A curly laurel thicket; The finish line!

On the descent of Rice, we had one nice view through the trees. We also saw more brilliant red fall colors and a lot more thickets of rhododendron and mountain laurel. There really wasn’t anything remarkable to see or say about our last couple miles of hiking. The terrain was rolling – there was a general uphill trend, but with small downhills as well. There were no views or streams to speak off. The lack of scenery gave me lots of time to fret over my feet. Two toes on my right foot had dislocated earlier in the day and were becoming increasingly painful. With each step, it got a little harder to bear my weight plus the weight of my pack. I think if there had been waterfalls or great views, I would have been more easily able to distract myself. But on this particular day, all I could think was ‘Ouch – when will this hike be over?’

At almost the end, we had one final road crossing at the junction of Robinson Gap Rd. and Panther Falls Rd. After just another third of mile, we came up a small hill and found ourselves back at the parking area for Punchbowl Mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I don’t think I’d ever been so happy to end a hike. It felt great to take my boots off and change into a pair of Oofos. While I enjoyed the great weather, the opportunity to be out, and the nice views from Cole Mountain, this wasn’t one of my favorite backpacking trips.

Trail Notes

Distance – 17.2 miles [Day One] [Day Two]
Elevation Change – About 2900 ft.
Difficulty – 4. Mostly for distance, but the descent of Bald Mountain is a real knee-grinder and the climb up Rice Mountain (Day 2) is surprisingly challenging.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail is in nice condition all across this stretch of AT.
Views – 5 (for Day 1) – The views from Cole Mountain are indisputably spectacular. Enjoy them early in your hike… they’ll be the last real views of the trip.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. This was hard to judge because of the unusually dry late summer/early fall. I think under normal circumstances, Brown Mountain Creek would be beautiful with lots of small cascades and rapids.
Wildlife – 2. We didn’t see any wildlife beyond a cute bullfrog in the creek. But, there was LOTS of bear scat around Brown Mountain Creek Shelter.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Just keep following the white-blazes and pay attention at road crossings/trail junctions to stay on the Appalachian Trail.
Solitude – 3. We saw quite a few people around Cole Mountain and spent the night at Brown Mountain Creek with a Boy Scout Troop. We saw only one person along the trail on the second day.

Directions to trailhead: Requires a shuttle. We parked one car where the AT crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway near Punchbowl Mountain. This is mile 51.7 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 6 miles south of where the Blue Ridge Parkway meets with US 60. From this point, we drove our other car back north on the Blue Ridge Parkway for 6.0 miles and took the exit leading us to US-60 East. We headed 4.3 miles on US 60 E before taking a left on SR 634/Coffeytown Road. Follow this for 1.6 miles before taking a right on SR 755/Wiggins Spring Road. Follow this gravel, bumpy road for 2.7 miles until you reach the parking area where the AT crosses the road. Follow the white-blazed Appalachian trail heading south.

Zealand Falls (NH)

October 27, 2014September 4, 2018Leave a comment

Introductory Guide to Visiting the White Mountains

This 5.6 mile route to Zealand Falls is one of the easiest hikes we’ve done in New Hampshire. Most of the footing is smooth, soft, and flat! It was a real treat after climbing Pierce and Madison.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Adam on Zealand Falls — Adam sits at the top of Zealand Falls and takes in the view of mountains beyond and wetlands below. Below: Zealand Falls Hut is a popular hut for people who want to stay at an AMC Hut, but don’t want a tough hike; Christine hikes along; While the trail was generally flat and smooth, there were occasional roots and rocks to negotiate.

Christine Says…

The hike to Zealand Falls is doubtlessly the easiest ‘hut hike’ in the White Mountains. The elevation gain is barely discernible until the last couple tenths of a mile. The route offers mountain views, waterfalls, stream scenery, and lovely ponds. Guidebooks say it’s a great place to bird-watch and spot a moose (though I have my doubts about the actual likelihood of seeing a moose!)

The hike starts out at a parking area at the end of Zealand Road. It’s a fee area, so make sure you bring cash to pay at the self-service parking station.

We made our way along the trail, marveling at how smooth and soft the footing felt. There were certainly some spots with roots and rocks, but generally the trail was level and covered with a bed of pine needles. We could hear the Zealand River, but didn’t reach a close view of the water until .8 miles into the hike. When we hiked (early August), the water was low, clear and running quietly along. Almost all of the water crossings we encountered on this trail were assisted by wooden footbridges – no wading and very little rock hopping necessary!

Christine Checks out the Wetlands — The Zealand Falls trail passes many ponds and marshes. Below: Several views of the ponds and marshes along the Zealand trail.

As we walked along, the terrain became marshier. At about 1.8 miles in we passed a lovely beaver pond. We could see the dam from the trail, but didn’t see any beavers. The reflections of trees and mountains in the water were especially beautiful! With all the wetlands, I expected biting flies, mosquitoes and gnats to be a major issue, but we didn’t have any trouble at all. Maybe there was just enough of a breeze to keep the bugs at bay.

At 2.3 miles we passed the junction with the A-Z trail, where we continued on the Zealand Trail. A couple tenths of a mile later, we passed Zealand Pond and reached the junction with the Twinway (which is also the Appalachian Trail in this area) and Etlan Pond Trails. The last couple tenths of a mile to the hut follow the Twinway Trail.

Almost immediately after the junction, we reached the bottom of Zealand Falls. The water was running low, but it was still beautiful. There are two places to stop and admire the falls on the way up. The first stop is a view of the gradual, slide-like lower falls. The view of the upper falls is a bit more dramatic. The rocks around the falls are blocky and reddish-orange in color. The water comes plunging steeply over a cliff-side. The last tenth of a mile up to the hut is steep and rocky – honestly, it’s the only challenging part of the hike.

Zealand Falls Hut enjoys a lofty perch looking out across two notches. You can see the Bonds and Mt. Carrigain. There’s even a bench available for anyone who wants a nice seat to enjoy the view. We spent some time poking around the hut. The Croo had just made cinnamon rolls and purple frosted blueberry cake, but we weren’t quite ready for a snack. Instead, we decided to take the little side trail to the ledges of Whitewall Brook. It’s just a 25-30 foot walk through the trees. The brook passes over immense slabs of rock. It’s a nice place to sit, soak in the sun, and enjoy the view of the pond below and distant mountains beyond.

After spending some time enjoying the hut, we returned the way we came. The walk back was all downhill, so we made quick work of it. I would highly recommend Zealand Falls to anyone looking for a low-key hike without much climbing. In fact, we gave it such glowing reviews that my parents tried the hike a few weeks later. They enjoyed it and felt it was very approachable for hikers of any level.

Adam Says…

When we go about trying to cover a lot of hiking mileage on our vacation trips, we like to alternate some easier hikes with the tougher ones. Since we had just climbed Mt. Madison, our feet and joints were happy that we chose this easier leg-stretcher.

Christine and I do like to hike with goals in mind. Since we have climbed a few of the 4000-footers in New Hampshire (there are 48), we have thought about possibly trying to bag all of those peaks. Last year on our visit, I picked up AMC’s Passport to AMC’s High Huts in the White Mountains. That book describes each of AMC’s huts through the White Mountains and details the history, features, and interesting stories about each of the huts. It also serves as a passport that you can have stamped at each location to mark that you have been there (you can even earn a patch when you’ve visited them all). This was definitely enough of an incentive to try and reach all the huts.

Zealand Hut — Zealand Falls Hut sits at the top of a waterfall. A short trail from the side of the hut leads to the streambed; Inside the hut; View from the hut; Christine at the top of the falls.

As Christine mentioned, this trail had nice footing compared to what we were used to in the White Mountains. The trail was fairly smooth as it started through the woods mixed with pine and birch. The trail eventually opened up into some great views over marshy ponds. There was a large boardwalk to walk across that I thought would be a perfect vantage point for spotting a moose. There were such nice views over the dammed-up ponds and it reminded me that we were in a state filled with lots of lakes, ponds, and streams. We took a while to enjoy the scenery around us. The trail continued to give us lots of similar views and short step-offs to pond views. The trail eventually goes back into the woods as you get closer to Zealand Falls Hut.

At 2.3 miles, we reached the junction with the A-Z trail, which I came to realize after looking at our map that it connects the Avalon and Zealand trail, hence the A-Z name. At 2.5 miles, we reached a short side trail to check out Zealand Falls. The falls here were a nice place to get sidetracked. We crossed a few rocks and enjoyed climbing around the rocks at the base of the falls. Looking up towards the top of the fall is where this hike ends, but you should stick to the trail rather than trying to climb up the falls.

We continued our last piece of the hike, which was a steep and rocky .2 miles until we reached the Zealand Falls Hut at 2.8 miles. There were a few day-hikers at the hut, recounting tales of all the places they had visited around the world. We decided to take the short trail from the hut to the streambed of Whitewall Brook, which is the top of the falls we had seen below. Christine got a lot of pictures while I walked around climbing on some of the rocks and collecting a few blueberries from the nearby bushes. We then found a picturesque spot on the large rocks to take in the view of mountains ahead and the waterways below.

Beautiful Forest — The woods along the trail were so beautiful! Below: Adam rock hops; Beautiful, tall, straight trees; A beaver dam.

We stopped back in to the hut to talk to the Croo members who were cleaning up breakfast and starting to prepare some food for lunch. I know they have some busy days, preparing meals, cleaning the hut, and transporting supplies on their backs to and from the hut. I talked to one of the members about how this hut was so much easier to reach than most of the others we had seen. I wondered if there was a selection process that was made to match up Croo members to the huts or if they even had a choice. It seems like maintaining this hut and transporting supplies would be made for those that wanted or needed an easier experience. We made our way back to our car the same way we came up.

I would recommend this hike to anyone that would like to see what one of the AMC huts looks like. It is the easiest one to reach, so people of most abilities should be able to attain the top. This is one I could see us doing many times in the future due to the ease and the serenity that the scenery of the marshes and waterfall evokes.

Trail Notes

Distance – 5.6 miles
MapMyHike Stats *
Elevation Change – 650 feet
Difficulty – 2. This is a pleasant, easy walk until the last couple tenths of a mile. The last push to hut is short but steep.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail is so nicely built and easy to walk. Most of the water crossings and marshy areas are traversed by sturdy bridges and boardwalks.
Views –3.5. Views from the hut and Whitewall Brook are nice, as are several views across the wetlands, but generally the views here are less dramatic than other spots in the White Mountains.
Waterfalls/streams – 4.5. The river, pond, wetlands, brook and waterfalls are all lovely!
Wildlife – 3. It’s supposed to be a nice area to spot wildlife, but we just saw birds and squirrels.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Trail junctions are clearly marked and easy to follow.
Solitude – 3. We saw relatively few people, but we hiked on a weekday in August. I think this is generally a popular trail.

Download a trail map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-93: Take Exit 35 for Twin Mountain. Follow 3N for 10.4 miles. Turn right onto 302E for 2.2 miles. Turn right onto Zealand Rd. and drive about four miles. The road will turn to gravel. The parking area is at the dead end of the road. There is a $3/day fee to park at the trailhead.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Mt. Madison (NH)

October 21, 2014September 4, 2018Leave a comment

Introductory Guide to Visiting the White Mountains

This 8.8 mile hike takes you past Madison Spring Hut and up to the summit of majestic Mt. Madison. The Valley Way Trail is known for being one of the safer, more protected routes into the heart of the White Mountains. While the terrain is less extreme than other trails in the area, the hike still requires a little over 4,100 feet of climbing. It’s a tough hike, but the views make it well worth the effort.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Hiking Mt. Madison — Adam makes his way across the summit ridge of Mt. Madison. The big mountain in the background is Mt. Washington. If you look closely, you can see the Auto Road snaking down the peak. Below: Plenty of parking and access to many trailheads at the Appalachia Parking area; Warning…. danger ahead – seriously, the White Mountains can be pretty extreme; The early part of the trail was fairly soft and gentle.

Adam Says…

My top goal for our 2014 New Hampshire trip was to hike up Mt. Madison. We both went to James Madison University and have worked there for years, so it only seemed fitting to take on the mountain that shared a name with our college. I even wore JMU Dukes gear almost like the guy that goes to a concert wearing a t-shirt for the band’s previous tour to show his super-fandom.

We started out the day on a rough note. Christine had put her hiking shoes and socks in the back of our car, so she could wear sandals on the car ride up. When we pulled over at one point, we realized one of our Camelbak tubes had pressed open and leaked all over the car, soaking her shoes and socks. We debated about if we would have been able to even do the hike in fear of blisters, but Christine decided to push forward.

There are a lot of ways up Mt. Madison, but in our research we found the most popular way was to make our approach by going up the Valley Way trail. We parked at the large Appalachia parking lot (which was so full we needed to park on the road) directly on US-2. We were worried there would be so many people on the trail, but this parking lot holds the beginnings of lots of trails that lead up to many peaks (including Mt. Adams and Mt. Quincy Adams).

The early part trail follows Snyder Brook. By taking a short spur trial, you can visit beautiful 25′ Tama Falls. Below: We saw a couple Croo members on their way down from the Madison Spring Hut; Adam checks out all the rocks on the ‘not as rocky’ New Hampshire trail; The final push to the Madison Spring Hut was very steep and rugged.

The trail starts off from the back of the parking lot. The trail branches off in different directions but follow the signs for the Valley Way trail. The trail begins relatively flat and easy walking, as it runs along Snyder Brook. There were a few places where we could get some nice stream views and even a glimpse at the picturesque Tama Falls at .4 miles. At .7 miles, you reach another large junction, but continue to follow the signs to the Valley Way trail. The trail then begins the steeper uphill climb. Overall, I felt that the trail, while very rocky was not as steep and rocky as some of the other trails in the White Mountains. There is a relentless amount of climbing and many rocks to navigate, but it wasn’t as grueling on my feet as some hikes in New Hampshire have felt to me. At 3.0 miles, the trail gets very steep and rocky (often filled with larger small boulder-sized rocks to hoist onto) and will remain so until you reach the Madison Spring Hut at 3.8 miles. If you’re interested in camping on the mountain, but don’t want to stay at the hut, the Valley Way tentsite is at mile 3.1 on this hike.

Once we arrived at the hut, we saw there were a couple of ways up to the summit of Mt. Madison. At this point, we were above treeline, so we saw the rocky summit up above us. I went in and found one of the Croo members and she told me the Osgood Trail had the most direct route and was a little easier than making our way via the Watson Path. The final ascent up to Mt. Madison was .5 miles along the Osgood Trail (which is also the Appalachian Trail in this area). You basically needed to walk acrpss large boulders, following cairns along the way until you reached the summit. When you are above treeline, the summits of mountains seem so close to reach, but it is very misleading. As we climbed up, we looked back and saw the hut shrink with each step, finally giving us some perspective of how far we had come. We stayed a while at the summit. The views were breathtaking and you could see for miles all around. It definitely was one of the most beautiful scenes I have witnessed hiking and to realize the work we had put in to attain the peak, made it feel even more worthwhile.

Looking Back to the Hut — Christine makes her way up the Osgood Trail to the summit of Mt. Madison. Below: About to go above treeline; Even though the summits are far away, they always look close; A view of Madison Spring Hut with Mt. Adams in the background.

While we were at the summit, we met a woman who had a sign pinned to her that had 48 over 50 written on it. She was over 50 years old and she had a goal to do all 48 peaks over 4000 ft. in elevation in New Hampshire. She had saved Mt. Madison as her last hike to meet her goal, so we were thrilled to be able to see her experience accomplishing her goal. What an inspiration! We also talked to a gentleman at the summit who was from Colorado that had done this same hike 30 years ago. He was staying at the nearby Crag Camp, run by the Randolph Mountain Club, just as he had done when we was a teenager. He wanted to see if this hike was just as amazing as he had remembered and he told us it definitely was. It made me further realize that everyone likes to hike for their own reasons and it is always a privilege to get to hear people’s stories on the hike.

We made our way back down and ate some lunch at the Madison Spring Hut. We then ventured .2 miles on the Parapet Trail to see Star Lake. This is a spot you definitely shouldn’t miss. The lake is more like a small pond, but it was so beautiful to view the summit of Mt. Madison, as it reflected into Star Lake. We debated about tackling Mt. Adams to bag another peak, but we realized that the summit looked close, but it was still a steep 1 mile away. Not wanting to add even more to our hike, we decided to make our way back down. The trail seemed to be even rockier on the way back down. While you can normally fly down some parts of downhill trails, you need to take your time on this one to navigate all the rocks. On our way down, we came into a rain shower, making the rocks a little slick. The last .8 miles were quite easy again and we did pick up some time at this point. We made our way back to the parking lot to make the round trip 8.8 miles.

Christine Says…

The morning of our Mt. Madison hike started off cheerfully enough. We stopped for breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. I ate both a bagel with cream cheese and a Boston Cream donut. If I’m going to hike almost nine miles with over 4,000 feet of climbing, I’m going to enjoy any and all the baked goods I want! However, I was jolted out of my happy post-carb afterglow when I discovered my socks and sock liners completely soaked in the back of the car. A tough hike with wet socks sounded like a really bad idea. But, driving out of our way to find an outfitter with Thorlo socks seemed like an even worse idea. I’m super picky about socks, and Thorlo’s thick-cushion hiker socks are the only ones that keep my feet happy. I decided wet Thorlo socks were better than dry socks of another brand. (and they were … I hiked all day in wet socks and didn’t get a single blister!)

As Adam said in his post, the Valley Way trail is pretty moderate for White Mountain terrain. The trail is not as rocky and stays under the shelter of trees until you get to Madison Spring Hut. It’s a great choice if you want to visit the northern Presidentials, but stay largely sheltered from wind and other weather. There is still plenty of climbing, but until the last mile, it’s all gradual and moderate. Trails like the Valley Way exist due in part to people like J. Rayner Edmands. He was an early volunteer for the Appalachian Mountain Club. Starting in the 1880’s, he spent over 20 summers building trails in the White Mountains. He believed trails to the high peaks should be passable without stumbles, even in the dark. Backpacker Magazine did a neat article about Edmands in their October 2014 issue. Check it out if you have a few free minutes.

JMU Dukes — We paid tribute to our alma mater (James Madison University) on the namesake mountain. Go Dukes! Below: The trail was extremely rocky and rugged between the hut and the summit of Mt. Madison; Cairns mark the way; Christine and Adam enjoy a summit view; The descent.

I very much enjoyed the little rapids and waterfalls along Snyder Brook early in the hike. Tama Falls was especially impressive. After we moved away from the stream, the hike was basically just a climb in the woods. As we ascended the trail got rockier, bit by bit. The last half mile to the hut was insanely steep and rocky. In one spot, my shoe got so solidly wedged between two rocks that I had to unlace it and contort my ankle to free myself. It took efforts from both of us to release my shoe from the rocks. It’s a good thing trail runners are so soft and flexible, because my feet definitely needed both shoes on this hike! I think the steepness of the terrain is actually what stopped me from getting hurt when my foot got caught. We were moving very slowly, picking our way across the rocks. Had I been moving at any significant speed, I think I could have easily broken my ankle.

When we arrived at Madison Spring Hut, it was already starting to cloud up a little. It wasn’t really overcast, but the sky had that heavy, hazy look about it. The weather was definitely changing and I wanted to make sure we enjoyed the best views possible. We headed up the Osgood Trail toward the summit of Madison. I don’t know if you can really call the path to the top a ‘trail’. It’s more of a scramble across rocks, following cairns leading you to the summit. The climb to the top is slow going, simply because there is never a simple place to put your feet. On our way up it was fun to look back and marvel at the towering peaks and the tiny hut tucked into the col.

Inside Madison Spring Hut — We decided to eat lunch at Madison Spring Hut. Below: Even pretty dogs aren’t allowed inside AMC huts; We always enjoy the baked goods for sale at huts; Compass on the hut porch.

At the top we enjoyed spectacular views of the Presidentials. Seeing the Mt. Washington Auto Road snaking down the mountain was really impressive! While the wind was a little brisk at the summit, it was really a warm, mild day for the White Mountain high peaks. Lots of people were hiking in shorts and t-shirts. Some people even basked shirtless in the summit sunshine. My blood is a little thin for that, but I wasn’t cold like I had been on the summit of Mt. Washington in 2013.

After taking lots of photos and doing our JMU rituals, we climbed back down and enjoyed our packed lunch at Madison Spring Hut. Of course, we supplemented our packed food with baked goods from the Croo. I always hear people talking about how huts are packed with dayhikers all summer long. I’m not sure if it’s our timing (we hike early), but we’ve found almost every hut we’ve visited nearly empty.

After lunch, we walked out to Star Lake. What a beautiful spot. The lake itself is small and shallow, but it makes a gorgeous reflecting pool for Mt. Madison. We were lucky to visit on a picture perfect day! While we were admiring the lake and taking in our final peak views, we started to hear distant rumbles of thunder in the distance.

Being caught in a thunderstorm in the Whites is definitely something I’d be happy to NEVER experience. Lightning strikes happen frequently, wet granite is very slick, and stream levels can change drastically in mere minutes. In fact, just last week I read a harrowing account from a solo hiker caught by storms in the White Mountains. Seriously scary!

We made our way down as quickly as we safely could. With a couple miles of hiking left, the rain started to fall. Fortunately, it was light rain and none of the thunder/lightning seemed close. We got back to the car right before the skies opened up and poured! What a great day with perfect timing. I’m really thankful that we had weather that allowed us to visit two more Presidentials on our 2014 trip!

Trail Notes

Distance – 8.8miles
MapMyHike Stats *
Elevation Change – 4150 feet
Difficulty – 5. The trail started off easier, but it is still a very tough, uphill climb.
Trail Conditions – 2.5. The trail was well-maintained, but the rocky parts of the trail make this a challenge. The final push to the summit on the Osgood Trail also took a lot of precision. Bring trekking poles.
Views – 5. It doesn’t get much better than this. If you are lucky enough to catch this on a day where clouds are off the mountain summits, you will be able to see all around you for miles.
Waterfalls/streams – 3. The Snyder Brook runs alongs the trail early on the hike and you can see a few smaller waterfalls along the trail.
Wildlife – 1. We didn’t really see any wildlife on the trail. I wouldn’t expect much at all once you get above treeline.
Ease to Navigate – 2.5. There are a lot of junctions and side trails on the route because there are a lot of trails in this area. Keep following the signs for the Valley Way Trail until you reach the hut and then follow the Osgood Path via the cairns to the summit.
Solitude – 2. We picked a gorgeous day in the summer to do this hike, so we weren’t surprised to see lots of people. We saw the most at the summit and the hut, but there was still places to find our own bit of solitude.

Download a trail map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-93: Take Exit 35 for Twin Mountain. Follow 3N for 12.4 miles. Turn right onto 115N for 9.7 miles. Turn tight onto 2E for 8 miles. The parking lot will be a large gravel area on the right.

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Mt. Pierce (NH)

October 4, 2014September 4, 2018Leave a comment

Introductory Guide to Visiting the White Mountains

This hike is one of the shorter, more moderate approaches into the Presidential range of New Hampshire. While the hike is only about 6.5 miles, we hiked an extra 2.4 miles for the chance to enjoy some views!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Mt. Pierce Summit — On our second pass-by, we were lucky to hit the summit with mostly clear views! Below: Adam makes his way up the Crawford Connector – a short spur trail from the parking lot to the Crawford Path; Trail signs and a sign for Mizpah Spring Hut; Gibbs Falls.

Adam Says…

Charles Dickens started off A Tale of Two Cities with the line, “It was the worst of times, it was the best of times.” When I was thinking about starting to write about Mt. Pierce, I was thinking, it was A Tale of Two Hikes with the worst and best of times. All of us have good days and bad days on the trail and this was a bad one for me. I wasn’t really feeling the hike deep down and I felt like I was just going through the motions rather than taking a moment to enjoy what I was able to do. The morning started off with a lot of fog around, which didn’t really help my mood. I was thinking it may burn off by the time we got to the top, but we weren’t so lucky.

The first .4 miles along the trail were relatively flat as it meandered through a wooded area. We crossed a footbridge at the base of a small waterfall and at .4 miles, we reached a junction with the Crawford Path. Taking a left at the junction, we began our ascent. The ascent begins while paralleling the Gibbs Brook on the left of the trail. The trail was extremely rocky which was making each step a challenge, as I felt like I was doing a demented, granite-laden version of a StairMaster. Most of the trail to the summit consists of having to step on rocks, so there is little evidence of soft ground to place your feet. I would recommend shoes with good padding, thick comfortable socks, ankle support, and trekking poles to help yourself along.

Rocky Trail — Even though the Crawford Path to the summit of Pierce is one of the least steep trails in the Whites, it is still very rocky and slick. Below: As we climbed, the woods got foggier and foggier; By the time we made it to the junction with the Mizpah Cutoff Trail we started to worry that we wouldn’t have a view at all; The Mizpah Cut-Off Trail departs the Crawford Path a little over a mile from the summit of Mt. Pierce.

At 1.9 miles, we reached a junction that led to the Mizpah Spring Hut, which is the return trip for this lollipop loop. Stay left and continue to climb up to the summit. The trail continued to be rocky and the fog was just sticking to the mountaintop as we progressed. I was feeling hopeless about being able to spot any views. As we got higher, we could tell the views would have opened up to the left of the trail but all we could see was a sea of gray. At 3.1 miles, we reached a large rocky, outcropping and waited a while for the views to open up. While the wind was picking up, we felt there was no end to the fog. At the outcropping, another sign for a junction pointed us to the summit and the Webster Cliff trail to the Mizpah Spring Hut (continuing on the Crawford Path would lead to the summit of Mt. Eisenhower in 1.6 miles). We took that sharp right and headed up to the top, where we reached the summit of Mt. Pierce in a short distance.

At this point the trail began to descend. The first part of the trail was a gradual descent, but eventually the trail was some of the steepest, rockiest downhill my feet and knees have witnessed. At 4.0 miles, we reached the Mizpah Spring Hut, maintained by the AMC and beds can be reserved in advance. We stopped for a while here and ate lunch. The croo (yes, that is how they spell it) that maintains the hut and cooks dinner and breakfast for overnight guests, had baked some cookies which we purchased and supplemented our lunch. As we were enjoying our lunch, we could see that the fog was finally lifting.

From the hut, we explored the nearby Nauman tent area (also able to be reserved for outside camping) and then proceeded on to the Mizpah Cutoff Trail to complete the lollipop section of the hike. The Cutoff Trail starts off flat, but is a relatively easier descent. We reached the junction with the Crawford Path at 4.7 miles. A return trip to your car by taking a left would make this a 6.6 mile hike. However, we had a debate about what to do. Going back up to the summit would be adding another grueling, rocky 2.4 miles, but the views could finally be opening up. What we had researched before told us how great the views were, so the temptation was hard to resist. I felt like I owed it to myself (and our readers) to change my attitude and fight through to see these views. I could tell Christine wanted to see the views as well, so we decided to hike up to the summit again.

As we climbed, we saw people descending that we had seen earlier on our hikes. I stopped to ask everyone if they had seen views, thinking if there was still little hope we could turn back around. Early on, some were saying that we may get lucky to see things, but as we got closer, we were told the views had opened up. As people were descending, we ran into several people that we had seen before near the summit and they had wondered if we were hiking the summit again. We got looks of admiration, which made us feel like we fit in with New Hampshire hikers – we weren’t just some normal, Virginia couple that isn’t used to hiking the tough, challenging White Mountains. When we reached the rocky outcropping near the summit, the views were spectacular. There were still clouds in the distance that was stuck to Mt. Washington and some of the other high peaks, but we could still see miles of beautiful mountain ranges around us.

We hiked again up to the summit and the views got more amazing as we looked behind us each step. We stayed up here a little longer to take in the views. After getting our fill, we went back down the Crawford Path and made our way back to the car. When we reached the end, we were a little more tired and had covered more miles than we had planned, but it was a rewarding day. At the parking lot, we saw a fox standing next to our car, but it quickly darted off into the woods.

One thing to note about Mt. Pierce is that it was once named Mt. Clinton. When hearing some people refer to it as Mt. Clinton, my initial thought was that Mt. Pierce had been renamed for President Clinton. I thought that would be odd, since Franklin Pierce was the only President born in New Hampshire and I couldn’t see them changing the name for a President from Arkansas. But the original name was from DeWitt Clinton, a governor of New York and U.S. Senator, also known for being largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. Even though the name was changed in 1913, some people have still held onto the original name of Mt. Clinton.

Christine Says…

Summiting Mt. Pierce has been on our New Hampshire ‘To Do’ list for several years now. I’m sad Adam didn’t have a better day on the trail, because I really enjoyed myself and had a strong hiking day. It’s always tough when your hiking partner is in pain or having a hard time with terrain, because there’s really nothing you can do beyond cheer them on (which is sometimes annoying) or stay quiet and let them work through the challenge.

We chose to hike Pierce on a day forecast to be clear and beautiful. As typical in the Whites, the clouds and drizzle stuck to the mountains far longer than the valley. It was sunny and pleasant at the AMC Highlands Center, but the peaks loomed in the clouds. We decided to start our hike on good faith that the clouds would blow off before we reached the summit.

By the time we arrived at Mizpah Spring Hut, the sun was fully out. Below: The Webster Cliffs trail is steep in places and is traversed by ladders and wooden stairs; Inside Mizpah Spring Hut; Cookies!

Hiking along the stream early in the hike was pretty and pleasant. Gibbs falls were lovely and I always enjoy the sound of water running through the woods! As we continued to climb uphill, the fog did the opposite of what we hoped/expected – it just got thicker! In fact, every time I paused to take a photo I had to wipe the lens with my shirt to get the droplets and mist off the glass.

Between the Mizpah Cut-Off trail and the summit, we were passed by a pair of trail runners. Running on mid-Atlantic mountain trails is challenging enough. I can’t even imagine keeping that pace over the rocks and roots of New Hampshire!

As we ascended, the fog enveloped the mountain even more. We debated taking the Mizpah Cut-Off trail, and visiting the hut first, but decided to chance the summit so that we’d hit the hut closer to lunchtime. That turned out to be the wrong call. At the summit of Pierce, we sat on the rocky outcropping looking into a sea of clouds. We couldn’t even tell which direction held the spectacular view we’d heard described in our hiking guide.

Christine on the Summit of Pierce — We hiked back up to the summit of Pierce to enjoy clear views. Below: The Nauman Tentsite is a short distance from the hut; A typical tent platform in the Whites; More views from the summit.

We sat in the clouds for a few minutes before deciding to push on to the hut. The Webster Cliff trail crossed a ridge for a while, using boardwalks and traditional trail. We stopped at one last high point and checked out the movement of the clouds. Every now and then, the clouds would blow off enough that we could see the shoulder of a mountain or the faint shape of a peak through the mist. We again discussed waiting/going back to the summit versus heading down to the hut. We agreed that it would still be a while before the view would clear, and proceeded to Mizpah Spring.

The Webster Cliff trail got steeper and slippery, using wooden stairs and ladders in a couple places. We eventually reached the hut. While we ate our lunch, the last of the clouds blew off, leaving bright bluebird skies above the White Mountains. We discussed climbing back up to the summit. Neither of us wanted to ascend via Webster Cliff, so we decided to delay our summit decision until after we walked the Mizpah Cut-Off back to its junction with the Crawford Path.

At the junction, we agreed that you don’t climb a presidential peak and pass on the opportunity to take in a spectacular view. We hiked the extra 1.2 miles (2.4 miles round trip) with 1,000 feet of elevation gain a second time. And you know what… it was SO WORTH IT. The views were spectacular, expansive, breathtaking. Even with Mt. Washington still in the clouds, it was a stunning view.

The hike down was long and slippery. We were passed again by the trail runners we had seen earlier. They had been all the way to the summit of Mt. Washington and back. Wow! We didn’t go that far, but we still felt our hike was worthy of celebration with a huge meal at The Italian Farmhouse in Plymouth. It’s always such a gift to have a great view day in the White Mountains!

Trail Notes

Distance – 6.5 miles
MapMyHike Stats *
Elevation Change – 2500 feet
Difficulty – 4. While there are steeper, more challenging trails in the White Mountains, this one is still challenging.
Trail Conditions – 2. The trail is mostly rock, requiring big steps and unsteady footing.
Views – 4.5. From the summit of Mt. Pierce on a clear day, you can see miles of the Presidential range.
Waterfalls/streams – 3.5. Early in the hike, you can see Gibbs Falls and the start of the Crawford Path part of the hike goes along the scenic Gibbs Brook.
Wildlife – 2. We weren’t expecting to see much, but we were lucky enough to see the fox at the end of our hike. Keep a lookout for the rare Bicknell’s Thrush.
Ease to Navigate – 3.5. Signage was fairly good at the junctions, but we were a little confused on how to get to the Mizpah Cutoff Trail from the hut.
Solitude – 2. This is a popular trail since the Mizpah Spring Hut is one of the easiest of the AMC huts to access. Expect to see people at the summit of Mt. Pierce and the hut mostly. Clear days in the summer could make this quite popular.

Download a trail map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-93: Take Exit 35 for Twin Mountain. Follow 3N for 10.4 miles. Turn right onto 302E and proceed for 8.2 miles. Turn left onto Mt. Clinton Road. There will be a large gravel parking lot at the trailhead ($3 fee applies).

* MapMyHike is not necessarily accurate, as the GPS signal fades in and out – but it still provides some fun and interesting information.

Spruce Knob – Seneca Creek (WV)

July 30, 2014September 4, 20182 Comments

This 16.5 mile overnight backpacking trip has cooler temperatures in the summer, beautiful streams and waterfalls, high mountain meadows, abundant berry bushes, and even an old plane wreck to explore. It’s a great change of pace from hiking the Appalachian Trail.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Hiking Along the Huckleberry Trail — The high meadows along this hike were beautiful! Below: Backpacks in the car; Everyone checks out the information at the trailhead; Suzanne picks ripe blueberries along the Huckleberry Trail; The Huckleberry Trail passes through several small meadows; Spruce-shaded areas on the Huckleberry Trail; Signage along the way.

Day One…

Initially, we planned on doing very little hiking in July this year. Our goal was to stay out of the heat and to rest up a bit so we wouldn’t overdo things before we tackle our trip to New Hampshire later this summer. But the weather was too nice and we had lots of invitations to go hiking. Over the 4th of July weekend, our friends Anthony and Suzanne suggested we go on a backpacking trip together. We always enjoy hiking with them, so plans were made to hike in the Spruce Knob area. This was actually the second 4th of July weekend we’ve spent on the trail with Anthony and Suzanne. A couple years ago, we did a trip to Dolly Sods.

Our friends came down and spent the night before the trip at our house. We divided up some group gear and then packed the car and headed out fairly early to start our trip. We arrived at the trailhead mid-morning. We saw the short trail to the Spruce Knob summit fire tower, but we decided to visit that at the end of the loop the next day to feel like we had truly earned it. Spruce Knob is the highest peak in West Virginia.

The printed maps we have found of this area are fairly outdated and online maps also don’t have the trails completely accurate. The best map I have found of the entire area has been from Mid-Atlantic Hikes and it may be helpful to bring that along since there are lots of trail options here.

Descending to Junction — Adam descends to our junction with the Lumberjack Trail. Below: Anthony makes his way along the Lumberjack Trail. The trail has a reputation of being sloppy/muddy, but it wasn’t too bad when we visited; Someone moved a piece of the plane from the wreck site up to the trail – probably to mark the spot; Even after 4+ decades on the mountainside, the plane wreck is still mostly intact.

We started off our first day of the hike on the Huckleberry Trail (TR533). The trail starts off with a little bit of crushed gravel on the trail, but that goes away in a short distance. This first section of the trail was fairly flat or downhill and alternates from going from dense Spruce forests to more open fields. There are numerous dry campsites along the trail. In the fields, we found tons of blueberries that were just starting to ripen. We stopped along the way for a few handfuls before pressing on. At 3.4 miles, you will reach a campsite and a sign that points to the trail going right. Follow this trail and in another short distance, you’ll come to another sign pointing you to go left as the trail winds around a dense forest area. You’ll soon reach another sign that shows that the Lumberjack Trail is .4 miles away. The last .4 miles of the Huckleberry trail drops rather steeply to the large trail junction at 4.7 miles. Take a right at this junction to join the Lumberjack Trail (TR534).

The Lumberjack Trail is a relatively flat trail. We were warned that it can be very muddy and wet, but we found that even after some recent heavy rains there were only a few 20-foot sections that had mud to slog through. Most of the trail had rocks or logs placed that saved us from having to get our shoes wet or muddy. Around mile 5.8, we saw a plane door hung on a tree and a short, yet steep trail that led down to plane wreckage (a Piper PA-23 that crashed here in 1973 with two casualties). Be respectful if you decide to visit this site. We stayed on the Lumberjack Trail until it came to a junction with the High Meadows Trail at mile 6.7. Take a left to join the High Meadows Trail (TR564).

The High Meadows Trail was the most overgrown trail we came across. There were times that it felt like we were bushwhacking. There are stinging nettles everywhere along the trail and grass was up to our knees in some portions. The High Meadows Trail also has alternating landscapes; you will go from dense forests to large open meadows several times. Keep an eye out for blue blazes on posts or trees as you navigate through these high grass areas. The trail descended through these gorgeous meadows and it is not surprising that we were thinking of the Sound of Music when we were walking through these fields surrounded by mountains.

Eventually, you will enter into the woods again and cross a small creek. At 8.6 miles, you will reach another trail junction. Take a right here and you will descend even more as you make your way through a scenic forest landscape. You will soon hear water flowing from Seneca Creek below you. The trail crosses the creek and comes to a junction with the Seneca Creek Trail at 9.1 miles. At this point, you will cross Seneca Creek to reach the trail on the other side. The water was flowing to make a nice small waterfall. Before we crossed, we ventured just a short distance (about 75 yards) to the right down the Seneca Creek Trail and came across one of the most beautiful waterfalls/swimming holes I’ve seen – Seneca Falls. We dropped our bags on the trail and scrambled down to reach the base of the falls. There was a large cavernous rock overhang to the right of the falls. In the water, we could see brook trout swimming around, occasionally breaching the water to catch flies that were dancing along the water surface. Once we climbed back up from the basin, another group came down to the falls jumped into the swimming hole at the base of the falls. From the screams when they jumped in, we could tell the water was extremely cold. We made our way back to our original junction and then determined the best place to cross the creek was at the very top of the small waterfall. We all made it across safely.

Christine hit a wall with her energy level, so we stopped a few minutes to eat a snack on the opposite side of the creek at a nice campsite. Knowing we still had a distance to go, we pressed on further. The Seneca Creek Trail went to the side of Seneca Creek for the entire way. We crossed the creek in a couple of places. Around mile 10.4, we began to see a ton of campsites. We were surprised to see that there were so many people that were camped here overnight. When we kept passing people on the trail, we felt that we would have our picks of campsites, but we didn’t realize how many people come here a different way (mostly from the lower Spruce Knob parking lot and taking the Seneca Creek Trail to these campsites). Anthony and Suzanne hurried ahead, while I waited a while for Christine to try and regain her strength.

Seneca Falls is an impressive waterfall with an emerald green plunge pool. Below: Leaving the high meadows for Seneca Creek; A small waterfall above Seneca Falls; A side view of the falls; The trickiest of the stream crossings; Pretty wildflower; Lovely Seneca Creek.

We caught back up with our friends soon and they had claimed a gorgeous campsite (even though it was hard to imagine a bad one here) at 10.6 miles that was near a waterfall that plunged into the creek. While there were lots of larger groups out here, we found a nice, secluded campsite that had a nice waterslide that created a babbling brook sound throughout the night. We set up camp and started to make some dinner. I always enjoy bringing a card game with us when we do an overnight backpack and this time I brought the game Hike. It was pretty brainless fun and plays similar to Uno with specialty cards that create twists in the game. It was starting to get dark, so we created a small, but nice fire in the pit. Once the sun set and the fire died out, we retired to our tents. It may have been the sound of the brook, but I probably slept the best I have ever slept backpacking that night. What a great first day!

Campfire — The evening concluded with dinner, card games and a great campfire. Below: There were abundant rosebay rhododendron all along the stream; Our campsite had nice, flat space enough for 2-3 tents; We also had a pretty waterfall and pool for our water source.

Day Two…

As usual on backpacking trips, we both woke up right around first light. We spent a little while longer in our sleeping bags, chatting and stretching. It was a chilly morning, so we weren’t quite ready to climb out into the cold.

Eventually we emerged from our tent to start the day. I put on gloves and a light jacket and headed downstream to take a few photos of the big waterfall at the next campsite over. The folks camping there had packed up and departed very early. Adam went to get the bear bags down while I took photos.

Campsite Falls — One lucky group gets to camp on a site right across from this pretty waterfall. Below: Our campsite in the morning; You can see smoke from other campsites downriver; Crossing the footbridge across Seneca Creek before our big uphill climb.

We got everything out for breakfast and started taking down our tent, rolling up sleeping pads and stuffing our sleeping bags back into compression sacks. I decided that I was going to eat a huge breakfast, so I wouldn’t bonk again on our second day of hiking. Adam didn’t go into much detail in his day one post, but right around mile ten of our hike the day before, I hit a wall – HARD! It was right after we visited Seneca Falls and crossed the stream. I sat on the ground and told everyone that I was feeling really lightheaded and sick. I didn’t feel hungry. I had been drinking water all day. Regardless, my legs just felt like jelly and I just didn’t want to walk another single step. Adam, Suzanne and Anthony all told me that they thought I needed to eat. Turns out they were right – I had been hiking for ten miles with a 25 lb. pack on under 700 calories. I guess I just didn’t realize how little I had eaten until I did the calorie math. My appetite always goes away when I’m doing strenuous activities. Usually, it doesn’t cause problems and I just eat when I get to camp. I guess this time I just expended all my short term energy before we finished for the day. I need to do a better job forcing myself to eat enough.

Alright… off that tangent and back to breakfast! As promised, I ate a large breakfast – oatmeal, cheese, a honeybun and coffee. It was about 600 calories of food and much more in line with my energy needs for a tough uphill and 6 miles of hiking. Everyone had eaten and packed up camp by around 9:45 and we were on our way again.

Final Meadow — Adam climbs steeply uphill across our final large meadow of the hike. Below: Anthony and Suzanne take a look back toward Seneca Creek; We had spectacular skies; Making progress back to our start point.

We had a short distance left to walk along Seneca Creek. Within about a quarter mile, we reached a small wooden footbridge across the stream. We crossed and continued uphill on the Seneca Creek Trail. The steepest climbing was across a beautiful, expansive meadow. We got great views of the valley and our last glimpse into the Seneca Creek watershed. The high meadows on this hike are truly majestic and are definitely one of the trip’s highlights.

After crossing out of the meadow, we continued uphill through the woods back to the four-way junction of Seneca Creek/Lumberjack/Huckleberry. Staying straight took us back onto the Huckleberry Trail. From there, we retraced our steps from the day before. It was a little slower going and felt longer on the second pass. It was all uphill and everyone was a little tired. It’s always funny how different the same four miles can feel under different circumstances.

Adam on the Huckleberry Trail — Hiking the Huckleberry Trail reminded us of hiking in New England. Below: More lovely views from the Huckleberry Trail; The trail was often paved with rock; A well-appointed campsite on the Huckleberry Trail; Ripe berries; A view from the talus slope.

We enjoyed the sunny, unseasonably cool July weather. We stopped and picked many blueberries along the walk back. I also took a little side trail from one of the meadows and found a talus slope with nice views across the mountains.

We got back to the car around noon. We threw our packs into the back of the car and took the short, flat walk to check out views from the observation tower atop Spruce Knob. It’s just a short quarter mile walk and well-worth the extra time and steps. We spent some time enjoying the lofty views and cool breezes. Anthony, Adam and Suzanne decided to walk to one more nearby viewpoint on the Whispering Spruce Trail. It was just a tenth of a mile down the trail and provided even more spectacular views. I headed back to the car to eat some more candy and switch my trail shoes for flip flops.

Tower Views — Anthony and Adam take in views from the observation tower on Spruce Knob. Below: Views from the tower; The hiking crew; Views from the Whispering Spruce Trail; The tower.

After a few minutes, everyone was back at the car and we were on our way back to Harrisonburg for a celebratory meal and beer. We all decided that Jack Brown’s was the best spot for lunch. They have fantastic gourmet burgers and a great beer list. It’s a perfect post-hike indulgence.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather, scenery, or company for this 4^th of July weekend backpacking trip. After lunch, we bid farewell to Anthony and Suzanne. They’re such great hiking buddies and we always feel lucky when we get to hit the trail together.

Trail Notes

Distance – 16.5 miles [Day One] [Day Two]
Elevation Change – About 2300 ft.
Difficulty – 4. The distance makes it fairly tough and the second day has a lot of uphill on the trail.
Trail Conditions – 3. Most of the trail was well-maintained. The High Meadows Trail was quite overgrown. There are some rocky, loose sections on this trail too, which can be a little rough on the feet.
Views – 5. The best views are from the Spruce Knob trail near the fire tower. The fire tower has wonderful views, but once you take the .5 mile trail around the fire tower, you will have gorgeous, breathtaking views from the highest point in West Virginia. The views along the main backpacking trip were mostly during the High Meadows Trail. There are gorgeous mountain views and no sign of civilization.
Wildlife – 3. There were lots of birds to be found on the High Meadows Trail. We did have a deer visit us several times at camp.
Ease to Navigate – 2. The Huckleberry Trail and High Meadows Trail could use more signage. I would suggest printing out our step-by-step desciption and bringing the midatlantichikes map to help guide your way.
Solitude – 2. This is a popular spot for people to do overnight camping. Expect to see lots at the campsites, but you will have more solitude until you get to Seneca Creek.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: Directions vary so greatly depending on the direction you’re coming from. Please refer to the trailhead marked on the map below to determine your best route.

Appalachian Trail – Hog Camp Gap to the Tye River

May 22, 2014October 8, 202011 Comments

This 19.1 mile overnight backpacking trip has amazing views and pretty stream scenery. The terrain is relatively easy, so it’s a great stretch if you’re looking to cover higher miles without a ton of uphill climbing. Since this is a longer post, Adam is going to cover day one, and Christine will cover day two.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

First Views — The first views on our hike came within about a mile! Notice Christine’s new purple backpack! She upgraded from her Gregory Z55 to an Osprey Viva 65. It has a lot of useful features – her favorite: the hydration sleeve is on the outside of the pack, which is very convenient! Below: Parking at Hog Camp Gap; Adam climbs out of the gap; Old stone walls.

Day One (10.4 miles)…

This hike had a very rough start and almost became the hike that never happened. The morning of our trip, we loaded up our cars and headed out. We needed to take two cars since we were doing a shuttle. About ten minutes into the drive, I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Christine turning back around and heading home. She had forgotten her hiking shoes and was only wearing flip-flops in the car – not the best idea for a backpacking trip. We made a quick return home. When I pulled into the driveway, black metallic smoke started rolling out from underneath our hood. Not good at all! But we didn’t want to throw in the towel yet. We took the smoking car to Bob Wade Auto World (the Subaru dealership where we bought the car), but found they weren’t open yet. So, we decided to fill up on a big breakfast at Cracker Barrel and stop by again when they opened at 9:00. We got to the dealership and explained the problem. They have great customer service! We ended up with a free loaner car to use while our Outback was in the shop. They were so quick with the paperwork and processing that we were back on the road in less than 15 minutes. Saved!!

Mayapples — Beautiful green mayapples! Spring is finally here! Below: Trillium along the trail; Lunch stop!; A perfect swallowtail.

We dropped our first car at our finish line where the Appalachian Trail crosses VA Route 56. We then headed to the starting point. It took us about 50 minutes to get to Hog Camp Gap, since there is no direct road that parallels the AT. The last piece of road to get to Hog Camp Gap is very rocky and filled with potholes, but we made it there safely. The parking lot was already crowded as this is a great starting point for many hikes, whether you’re going to Mt. Pleasant, Cole Mountain, Spy Rock, or camping near Cow Camp Gap shelter. We got all of our gear together quickly and walked through the large break in the fence to start our hike on the white-blazed Appalachian Trail, heading north. The trail began to climb up a hillside and within 1 mile, we were blessed with astonishing views, looking over the Tar Jacket Ridge to catch views of the bald on Cole Mountain, Mount Pleasant, and Pompey Mountain. I knew at this point our luck was turning for the best. I found it hard to pry myself away from the views, but knowing that we had a lot of distance to cover, we pressed on. The trail then begins to gradually descend from the ridgeline and we crossed USFS 62 and Salt Log Gap at 2.2 miles.

Stream Crossing — One of the few, small stream crossings on the hike. Below: Seely-Woodworth Shelter; Christine filters water at Porters Field; Porters Field has space for lots of tents; Through the trees, we could see the ascent still ahead of us after dinner; Christine ascends the trail near Spy Rock; Finally at camp!

The trail was relatively flat for a good stretch of the trail going forward. There were some views through the trees occasionally as we walked on, but the true treat was all the trillium that was on the trail. This is by far Christine’s favorite wildflower. She was hoping to see some along the trail and we were pleased to find entire hillsides filled with these flowers in perfect bloom. We crossed USFS 246 at mile 3.6, Greasy Spring/USFS 1176A at mile 4.1 and reached the crossing of the North Fork of Piney River at mile 5.9. We stopped and ate our lunch on the side of the trail. The only excitement along this piece of trail was Christine swore she saw a bear, but it was just a person (dressed all in black) taking a lunch break far uphill from the trail (which we thought was an odd place to stop). We pressed on along the trail and finally reached the Seely-Woodworth Shelter at mile 7.4. When we arrived at the shelter there were several backpacks at the shelter, but no sign of people anywhere. We took a long break and rested our feet. We were joined shortly by Christine’s “bear man” who was doing a longer section hike and covering a lot of Virginia. We shared some hiking stories (like how he never purifies water but has only got sick once). Knowing that we had more miles to cover today, we strapped our heavy packs back on and continued.

We reached a junction with Porters Field (a fire road that used to be a railroad trail) at mile 8.4. We had read on the hiking blog of a friend (thanks, Wandering Virginia), about a water source near this junction. We took this short side trail past a campsite and then headed downhill towards the sound of water. Water was coming out steadily from under a large rock. We decided to cook some dinner here. While we both weren’t overly starving since we had eaten lunch not too long ago, this seemed like the best place to cook some dinner and refill water. We were shooting to camp at Spy Rock, which is a dry camp, so we needed to carry enough water for breakfast After dinner, we made our way back to the AT. Christine typically doesn’t like hiking with a full stomach, but because we needed to get to our camp site for the night, we pushed on. We crossed over the Fish Hatchery Road at Montebello at 9.6 miles. On the other side of the road, we saw the steep ascent up to Spy Rock. The trail climbed up about 400 feet in .5 miles, but when we reached the top of the hill, we found our perfect campsite at the base of Spy Rock.

NOTE: Hikers are no longer allowed to camp at the base of Spy Rock. Usage rules for this area were changed in 2019. We camped there long before the rule change, and we’re thankful we had that opportunity!

Spy Rock View — Spectacular views from Spy Rock. Below: Getting to the top takes some scrambling; Christine reaches the dome; Beautiful evening light on Spy Rock.

We took off our packs and began to set up camp. There were already a few campsites already claimed, but we found a nice flat spot with no rocks or protruding roots. We had just bought a new two-person tent, the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2, which was much lighter than our 3-person tent, and we were excited to try it out. We set the tent and fly up and then made our way to check out the views from the summit of Spy Rock. There is a little rock scramble up to the top of Spy Rock, but the 360-degree views from this spot are not to be missed. We stayed up there a while to soak in as many views as we could, before making our way back to camp. We had a long, tiring, day that started off stressful, so we were ready to go to sleep before the sun fully set. We both read books for a while and then went to sleep. Or rather, tried to go to sleep. Right after sunset, the wind started to pick up. At first it was an occasional rustle across the treetops, but by midnight it was moaning and howling over the mountains.

Beautiful Spot — Adam enjoying a beautiful spot! Below: Reflecting pools on Spy Rock; Sunset is ‘hiker midnight’. By the time the sun went down, it was already cold and windy. Christine was glad for the hood on her sleeping bag!

Day Two (8.7 miles)…

That was a rough night to spend in a tent! Even with it staked and guylined, it rattled and shook all night long. The wind continually caught under the fly and funneled through the tent’s mesh. Even in long pants, a hat, and layers of fleece, I was cold in my 35 degree bag. It wasn’t even that cold outside – the wind was just really brutal! Neither Adam nor I got much sleep. I found myself wide awake when the first hints of dawn light started to brighten the tent.

Sunrise on Spy Rock — I had some canine companionship at sunrise. This beautiful dog is half German shepherd, quarter Malamute and a quarter wolf! Below: Day Two got off to a very cold start; Spy Rock has several spacious, flat campsites; Adam checks out the few from Maintop Mountain.

I told Adam I wanted to climb Spy Rock again to watch the sun come up. He decided to stay back. I grabbed my camera, scaled the rock and found a perch facing east. It was a beautiful, though cloudless, sunrise. I thought I was alone on the top of the rock, but suddenly a huge white dog we had met the night before came bounding across the rock and decked me. He was friendly, and I was fine, but his owner was embarrassed and came chasing after the dog. I stayed on Spy Rock watching the sun come up until I couldn’t take the wind and cold anymore.

When I came down, Adam was already in the process of breaking down camp. We had a quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, and were back on the trail by around 7:30. Day two of this trip had a bit more climbing than the first day. Our first ascent was that of Maintop Mountain. It was a moderate ascent with one nice view near the summit. I started the morning in a fleece jacket and gloves. By the time we reached the summit, I had stripped them off. Climbing really warms you up!

Confessions — Adam writes his confession in the Priest Shelter journal. Below: Adam approaches FR826; Adam checks out the distance covered at the information board marking the beginning of the Priest Wilderness; The Priest Shelter.

From there, we descended into Cash Hollow. We passed a southbound section hiker and a group of Boy Scouts. We crossed a couple gravel roads – 826 and 526. Off-roaders really enjoy these roads – they’re very rugged and tough to drive unless you have a serious 4WD vehicle. After the second road crossing, signs and an informational board informed us that we had just entered The Priest Wilderness.

We had about a mile of climbing to reach the Priest shelter and the ridgeline of the mountain. The climbing is really pretty moderate, but it seemed tough to my tired legs and sleepy mind. We stopped at The Priest shelter for a snack and rest. I changed into shorts – the day was warming very quickly! Adam and I both made our ‘confessions’ in the Priest journal. It’s one of the funniest we’ve seen along the AT – reading everyone’s confessions is definitely worth a stop!

Priest Summit — Christine enjoys the view near the Priest summit. Below: Spring slowly creeps up the mountainsides; Trillium were everywhere; Adam approaches a nice view from the Priest.

From there, we completed our last couple hundred feet of ascent to the top of the Priest. Near the top, we enjoyed amazing views of the valley and had a chance to see an adult bald eagle soar by on the wind. The rest of our hike was a long, 4-mile, 4,000 foot descent to the Tye River.

We took it slowly, enjoying wildflowers along the way! The trail was abundantly lined with trillium, wild violets, and wild geraniums. Both of us remarked that we were glad to not be climbing up this side of the mountain! Southbound AT hikers experience one of Virginia’s toughest climbs when they encounter the Priest!

The first mile of the descent was the steepest. As the grade moderated, we came to another outstanding overlook. The opening in the trees revealed lush Virginia countryside – farms and ponds. At this elevation, the trail was much greener. Leaves were opening in the canopy and the ground cover was brilliant green. We crossed Cripple Creek in several places. The rain a couple days earlier had filled the stream and created several beautiful waterfalls. We enjoyed walking through the woods and listening to the sounds of falling water. We saw even more wild flowers – a hillside of scarlet catchfly was especially beautiful!

Priest Views — Classic Virginia terrain! Below: Walking alongside Cripple Creek; The latter part of the descent was smooth and gentle; Scarlet Catchfly wildflowers; Post-hike at Devil’s Backbone. Is it totally horrifying that we go out to eat without showering? Nah!

Eventually, we could see the sunlight catching on car windshields through the trees. We were both pretty tired and happy to be back at the car! We had covered almost 20 miles in roughly 24 hours. It’s the furthest we’ve ever hiked in that time period, so we felt pretty accomplished.

We had a long car shuttle to get back to Hog Camp Gap. After picking up the other car, we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Reed’s Gap so we could have lunch at Devil’s Backbone. It’s always great to eat a HUGE plate of food after a big hike – fries, a grilled brat and beer for me!

Trail Notes

Distance – 19.1 miles [Day One] [Day Two]
Elevation Change – About 3172 ft.
Difficulty – 4. Mostly for distance. This section of the AT has little climbing uphill overall, but the hike down The Priest is quite steep.
Trail Conditions – 3.5. The trail is well maintained and in good shape. We did feel the hike down from The Priest was really rocky and hard on the feet and ankles.
Views – 5. This hike has AMAZING views from Tar Jacket Ridge, Spy Rock, and The Priest.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3.5. The best views are along Cripple Creek, near the end of the hike, where you can see a small waterfall and a scenic creek surrounded by wildflowers. There are options for filling up water near Greasy Spring, Porters Field, the Seeley-Woodworth Shelter, and Cripple Creek.
Wildlife – 2. We didn’t see much wildlife other than birds along the trail. We did have a great encounter with a male black-headed grosbeak, who was singing beautifully along the side of trail.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Just keep following the white-blazes and pay attention to junctions to stay on the Appalachian Trail.
Solitude – 3. We didn’t run into too many people on our trip. Spy Rock had a decent number camping at the top.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: Requires a shuttle. Park one car at the finish. From the Blue Ridge Parkway, head east on VA-56/Crabtree Falls Highway for 11.2 miles. Park car in large parking lot where the AT crosses the road. From this point to reach Hog Camp Gap with your second car to start the route, continue east on VA-56/Crabtree Falls Highway for 6.9 miles. Turn right on to VA-151S/VA-56E. In 10.5 miles, take a right on to US-29 South. In 3.1 miles, take the US-60 exit towards Amherst. Take a right at the exit ramp to go on US-60 heading west. In 18 miles, take a right on to State Route 634. In 1.6 miles, take a right on to State Route 755/Wiggins Spring Road. This road turns to gravel with large pot holes. Follow this for 2.7 miles until you reach the parking lot where the Appalachian Trail crosses. Park your second car here. Go through the wooden fence and pick up the Appalachian Trail, heading north.

Appalachian Trail – Jenkins Gap to Front Royal (Route 522)

May 18, 2014August 26, 20157 Comments

This 8-mile hike completes our Appalachian Trail mileage in Shenandoah National Park. There isn’t much to see along this section of trail – the views aren’t great and the stream is fairly run-of-the-mill, but we’re still happy to say we’ve walked every step of the AT in Shenandoah!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Adam Finishes — Adam coming off the trail on Route 522 in Front Royal.

Christine Says…

We finally finished hiking the Appalachian Trail through Shenandoah! For two years, less than 5 trail miles were keeping us from that distinction. It’s really quite silly, but this final stretch of trail has been somewhat of a mental burden for me! The reason was sort of two-fold. The first sticking point – in order to most efficiently cover the miles, we needed to do a car shuttle. I didn’t want to spend the gas money, and honestly, I just don’t like to drive by myself. Shuttles are just a pain when both cars are yours! The second problem was that this stretch of trail just seemed… boring. I will admit that a bad day hiking is still better than a good day doing many other things, but I had a hard time getting myself psyched-up to hike this stretch.

Finally, faced with a beautiful spring day and a lack of plans, I acquiesced. We dropped our first car off in a small AT parking lot on the side of 522. Then we headed into the park and left a second car at Jenkins Gap –where we came off the trail after our last section of the AT in SNP.

From Jenkins Gap, we had a steady uphill to the summit of Compton Peak. At the summit of Compton, there are blue-blazed trails leading to viewpoints on both the east and west sides of the mountain. Each viewpoint lies .2 miles off the AT. We decided to only visit the west summit (it has better views.) The east summit has some interesting columnar rock formations. If you’re into geology, they’re definitely worth a peek!

After the summit, we descended for almost a mile into Compton Gap. After Compton Gap, the AT is shared with the yellow-blazed Compton Gap trail for about 1.7 miles. The hiking is along this section is wooded trail without many distinguishing features – no streams or overlooks to speak of. The trail is wide, flat and very easy to walk. You’ll likely pick up a lot of speed along this stretch!

At roughly 4.9 miles into the hike, we reached the park boundary. There is a sign marking the beginning of private land. Just south of the park boundary, there is also a backcountry permit station. Permits are free and self-service in Shenandoah. If you’re going to camp in Shenandoah’s backcountry, all you need to do is fill out a tag and tether a copy to your pack. It’s really easy!

Right after we departed the park, we came to the one viewpoint from this stretch of Appalachian Trail. Possums Rest has a decent, but slightly obstructed view, of rolling foothills. It’s worth a stop, but there are definitely many better views along the AT in Shenandoah.

From Possums Rest, the trail descended briefly but steeply through a jumble of rocks. In about another .7 miles, we reached the Tom Floyd Wayside – the first backcountry shelter located north of the park. It’s a nice spot with a nearby water source. We chatted with a section hiker from Washington, DC. He had completed a thru-hike the year before, but evidently the trail called him back!

After Tom Floyd, the trail continued very gradually downhill. As we walked along, we could see the advance of spring on the lower elevations. Redbuds were blooming, tiny green leaves were opening in the canopy and the grass along the trail was growing quickly. We crossed Rt. 601, and a little over a mile later, Moore Run and then Rt. 602. The stream was crossing was just an easy rock-hop.

After crossing 602, we had a short uphill before one final descent to Rt. 522 in Front Royal. The last part of the hike followed a chain link fence for over a mile. I’m not sure if the fence was just marking private land, or if it was part of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Either way, it is one of the less scenic parts of the AT.

The last quarter mile of the hike passed between fenced pasture land and a residential neighborhood. After crossing a small wooden footbridge, we found ourselves back at the car. On our way out, we saw a few of the Smithsonian’s animals walking down a hillside. They appeared to be some type of antelope – kind of neat! Before going back to pick up our second car, we stopped at Spelunker’s in Front Royal for lunch. They make fantastic burgers and milkshakes! I was thrilled to see gingersnap was their shake flavor of the day!

While this hike didn’t provide much reward with views or waterfalls, I’m still really glad we did it. I’m happy to be officially and technically finished with Shenandoah’s AT miles!

Adam Says…

It was great to finally finish the AT section through Shenandoah National Park! With the entire trail being 2180 miles from Georgia to Maine, the section through Shenandoah National Park is less than 5% of the entire trail. Daunting to say the least, but we still feel we have accomplished something measurable. There are about 550 miles of the AT through Virginia, making it the longest section through any one state. Virginia is also a state where a lot of thru-hikers quit, feeling that they will never get through the state (often called the “Virginia Blues”). The section through Shenandoah is more like 19% of the AT through Virginia. Most of the thru-hikers fly through Shenandoah National Park, averaging over 20 miles per day. The climbs are not as tough as in many sections and they have worked into their “trail legs”, gaining the strength to cover many miles per day.

Tom Floyd Wayside is outside the park boundary and is the last shelter before reaching Front Royal. Below: Redbuds blooming at the lower elevations; Christine crossing Moore Run; The last mile or so of the trail followed a long, chain link fence.

After we dropped our car off at the trail crossing of Route 522, we made our way into the park and parked at Jenkins Gap. While you will drive about 12.4 miles on Skyline Drive, the trail through the park and out is a lot shorter. From the parking lot, you join the Jenkins Gap Trail for just about 100 feet and then take a right to join the white-blazed Appalachian Trail, heading north. The trail took us through some storm-damaged areas of trees, leading us through one of the two ascents on this trail. We gained about 500 feet up to Compton Peak. At 1.4 miles, we reached a post which pointed out to two short blue-blazed trails that lead to views from Compton Peak. Since we knew there wasn’t going to be many views on this trail, we decided to take a left and check out the West Compton Peak view. This side trail of .2 miles was a rocky uphill trail that led to a small, but scenic viewpoint. We made our way back the way we came to reach the post and then took a left to continue on the Appalachian Trail heading north. The trail descended again, as we dropped 500 feet in about .8 miles. If you did the side trail to Compton Peak, add another .3 miles to any of the distances given from this point forward. At 2.2 miles on the AT, you cross over Skyline Drive at Compton Gap. At 2.4 miles, you reach a junction with the Dickey Ridge Trail and at 2.7 miles, you reach a junction with the Springhouse Trail. The Springhouse Trail allows for horses and actually shares the next section of the AT, which is why you will see both yellow and white blazes. The trail is fairly level at this point.

At 3.8 miles, you reach a junction with the Compton Gap Trail. This is where horse-riders would come off the AT, since they are not allowed further on the trail. Take a left here to stay on the white-blazed AT. You will soon come across an area where backpackers can fill out paperwork for backcountry camping permits and continuing further, you will reach the Shenandoah National Park boundary at 4.0 miles. Within a short distance, you reach the area known as Possums Rest, a very small overlook that has some views. The trail at this point goes down a very steep and rocky area as you go below Possums Rest. The trail descends for most of the rest of the way At 4.7 miles, you reach the Tom Floyd Wayside shelter, which also has tent sites, a privy, and a nearby spring. Continuing from the Tom Floyd Wayside, you descend further, passing by other signs for the spring. At 5.1 miles, you reach a junction with a side trail to VA-601. From here, you have a couple of stream crossings over Moore Run and at 6.5 miles, the trail crosses VA-602. The trail at this point goes up a steep upgrade, as you gain over 300 feet in .4 miles. Once you reach the crest of the hill at 6.9 miles, the trail descends again as you go through a grassy area. You walk along a long fenceline and behind some people’s houses before reaching the boardwalk which takes you back to your car at 7.7 miles.

Once we made our way back to the car, we stopped at Spelunkers. There was a large bike ride being conducted nearby, so the place was quite crowded. One of the great things about hiking for us is that it allows us to eat whatever we want after a hike and not worry about the calories. We made our way from there back to our first car and then headed out of the park. It was a gorgeous day for a hike with perfect temperatures.

While this hike isn’t the most scenic, this was definitely one I will remember since it was our “finish line” though SNP. I’m so grateful to have a wonderful hiking partner to share all of these experiences.

Trail Notes

Distance – 8 miles (includes a visit to the Compton Peak viewpoint)
Elevation Change – About 1900 ft. but mostly downhill.
Difficulty – 2.5. There are really only two climbs on this hike – one up Compton Peak and one shorter one near the end of the hike. All in all, it’s a moderate, mostly downhill hike.
Trail Conditions – 4. Nicely maintained section of the Appalachian Trail. In fact, we saw a crew member trimming grass back when we hiked.
Views – 2. The view from Compton Peak is decent, but it’s not actually on the trail. Possums rest is small and a bit obstructed.
Streams/Waterfalls – 2. Moore Run was flowing nicely when we visited.
Wildlife – 2. You may get to catch a glimpse of zoo animals at the Smithsonian facility at the end of this hike!
Ease to Navigate – 3. There are lots of trail junctions and shared paths. Just make sure you follow the white blazes and you’ll be fine.
Solitude – 2. We saw many dayhikers and backpackers on this stretch of trail.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: We parked one car at the parking lot on US-522 in Front Royal, which is 4.7 miles from where US-340 intersects with US-522. We then drove to northwest on US-522 for 2.8 miles. Take a left on E. Criser Road. In .7 miles, take a left on US-340. In .2 miles, take a left to enter Shenandoah National Park. Drive 12.3 miles to park at the Jenkins Gap parking lot on the right. Join the Jenkins Gap Trail from the parking lot for a short distance, before taking a right on to the Appalachian Trail, heading north.