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Appalachian Trail – Ashby Gap to Bears Den Rocks (The Roller Coaster)

March 7, 2016November 17, 201610 Comments

This 13.5 mile Appalachian Trail section includes quite a bit of the infamous AT ‘Roller Coaster’. The trail is rocky and the ups and downs are pretty constant. There are two nice viewpoints along the route, good camping spots/shelters, water sources, and a finish at Bears Den Hostel.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

View from Bears Den Rocks — The view from Bears Den Rocks is a fitting finale for this section.

Adam Says…

The infamous “Roller Coaster”…. for years we have heard of how tough this stretch of the Appalachian Trail is and this was our chance to experience the grueling ups and downs that gives this section its epithet. We have previously covered 3.9 miles of the northern section of the Roller Coaster in our coverage of the AT from Harper’s Ferry to Bear’s Den. The distance between the southern and northern terminus signs marking the Roller Coaster covers 13.4 miles. From looking at elevation maps, we realized that most of the ups and downs are in the section between Bears Den and the Rod Hollow Shelter. There are about 10 significant climbs along the Roller Coaster that range from 250-450 feet of climbing (and typically over just about a quarter of a mile). This is a great section of trail if you want to get in shape. Since there aren’t a lot of views along the trail, you will find a lot of hikers on the trail are either trying to cover AT miles or are training for long-distance hikes or longer trail runs.

We dropped off our first car at Bears Den Hostel and paid our $3 day-use parking fee. We had arranged for a shuttle to pick us up and he was there within a minute of us arriving. Many times on the trail, you meet interesting people – he was a business consultant, counselor for people with drug addictions, and a school bus driver (and finds times to shuttle hikers). When we heard about how he balanced everything in his life, we were truly amazed. He dropped us off on the side of the road on US50 and we found the white blaze to head north on the Appalachian Trail.

Golden Woods — The woods were beautiful and golden along our route. Below: It would be nice if hikers didn’t leave hitch-hiking signs (trash) in the woods; Adam passes along an old stone wall; Some trees were still brilliantly colored – even at the end of October.

We pushed into the woods and soon the sounds of speeding cars was behind us. We started off with a gradual climb. We were hiking near the end of the peak of fall color, so looking all around we saw brilliant colors of yellow and orange in the trees around us. One of the challenges of hiking after many leaves have fallen is that it can make it difficult to ensure you are still on the trail. We were able to navigate easily with all the white blazes on the trees marking the AT, but retrace your steps if you don’t see any for a while. Early on this section, you come across a couple of streams at 1.4, 2.0, and 2.8 miles. At 3.6 miles, we reached the side trail for the Rod Hollow Shelter (.1 miles west of the trail). We wanted to eat a snack, so we made our way to the shelter to find the small shelter, as well as a covered picnic table for overnight campers to cook food away from where they sleep. The shelter also has a privy and a piped spring left of the shelter if you need a reliable water source.

Heading back to the trail, we continued north and at 4.2 miles, we reached the sign marking the southern end of the Roller Coaster. We knew we had some significant work ahead of us for the rest of the way. The first hill rose up steeply and descended to a spring at Bolden Hollow. At the bottom, I tweaked my knee – ugh! This gave me shooting pains for the rest of the trail. I knew I had to decide to push on to the end of the hike or turn around and bail. I decided to put on a knee brace (I always keep one in my pack) to give it some support. This helped for about half a mile, but the pain was almost unbearable. Every step was filled with pain that was begging me to give up. I just thought of all the amazing thru-hikers that fight through pain on most days of the trail and decided I wasn’t going to let myself surrender. We pushed onward and upward, reaching the next peak at 6.3 miles. At 7.1 miles, we reached a footbridge that goes over Morgan Mill Stream and also has a small campsite off to the side. We stopped here for an extended break to eat some lunch. At 7.6 miles, we reached the gravel road known as Morgan Mill Road. Crossing the road, there is a slight up and down before reaching another stream at 8.3 miles.

Rocky Climbs on the Roller Coaster — Much of the roller coaster was quite rocky! Below: Rod Hollow Shelter; You are about to enter the Roller Coaster; Descending one of the roller coaster’s hills.

After a mostly level part of the trail (relatively speaking), we then began to ascend up Buzzard Hill. Near the top, we took a small side trail that led us up to a nice viewpoint. I rested a bit on a tree overlooking the valley and then we proceeded back to the main trail. The trail descends steeply from Buzzard Hill and now for overcompensating for my one knee, my other started to hurt. Time to put on another knee brace (from Christine’s pack this time). We made it to another stream (yes, lots of water sources on this trail) and rose up another steep section to get to Sam Moore Shelter at 9.7 miles. We stopped for a snack and another rest before making the final push. I knew there was only one more major hill before the last push up to Bears Den, which gave me a small glimmer of hope.

We pushed up the next ascent, which then descends to another stream at 11.0 miles. Another small bump of a climb was ahead and we came to another footbridge at 12.2 miles. From here, it was just about .5 miles of a steep climb that led to Bears Den rocks. We took some time to enjoy the views from the rocks. So many people just drive to Bears Den and take the short trail to the rocks to enjoy the gorgeous views; but today, we truly earned it. I took a little time to reflect on how I battled through this pain and I can’t believe I made it. We took the trail leading us off the AT and to the Bears Den hostel. We went down the gravel road and made it back to our car. It was an exhausting day.

Overall, if it wasn’t for my injury, I don’t think the Roller Coaster is as hard as most people make it out to be. It does have lots of ups and downs and you may wonder why they didn’t make the trail go around some of these hills instead of up every one of them. The ascents and descents are relatively short, so you don’t have to do a grueling 5 mile climb up one steep mountain. If you are in good hiking shape, you should be able to handle the elevation. I would also recommend going in the peak of fall color – while there aren’t a ton of views until the end, the forest through this area is pretty when filled with color.

Christine Says…

Our hike of this section is significant because it closed a gap in our continuous Appalachian Trail miles! We’ve now hiked an unbroken 265 miles from Harpers Ferry to a road crossing south of Bryant Ridge Shelter (near Lexington, VA). We still have many, many miles to go, but 265 miles makes a noticeable mark on a trail map! Our tentative plan is to start working on the miles in southern Virginia later this spring, but with an elderly pet we don’t like to leave behind and a case of ankle tendinitis, I’m not sure how far we’ll get this year.

The roller coaster terrain wasn’t as challenging as I expected it to be. The hills were mostly small and short, and there is doubtlessly tougher terrain many places along the trail. I think the section’s harsh reputation might come from a couple things. First, climbing uphill feels like it should come with a reward in form of a vista; you climb uphill – you earn a view! On the roller coaster, the ups and downs mostly happen a tunnel of forest with nothing particularly noteworthy to see. Hikers call terrain like this PUDs – short for pointless ups and downs. They can be a little demotivating. I mean, honestly, if there is nothing to see at the top of a mountain, you may as well walk around it rather than over it! Second, I think most thru-hikers are ready to get out of Virginia by the time they reach the roller coaster. After 500+ miles in the state some hikers are feeling emotional doldrums known as the Virginia Blues, and the ups and downs just add to the tedium.

Pretty Spot to Eat Lunch — A pretty spot to eat lunch along Morgan Mill Stream. Below: A nice campsite along the stream; Another stream crossing; A burned area provided some more open views.

But, we’re not thru-hikers, so the hike of the roller coaster was just another fun day on the trail for us. I wish Adam hadn’t been in so much pain for most of the hike. At a road crossing, I suggested he bail out. I offered to run ahead and come back with the car to get him. I give him a ton of credit for gutting it out and hiking through the pain. He really didn’t want to miss any of the miles. You never know what you’ll see along the AT – even the most mundane miles can bring unexpected sites and experiences. For example, on this section we passed the 1,000 mile marker! It was just a plain sign stuck to an unremarkable tree, but still a memorable site to pass by.

The view from Buzzard Hill was a nice surprise on this hike. Our AWOL guide marked Bears Den as the only view along the way. (note: each vista worth seeing is typically marked with a camera icon in the guidebook). According to AWOL’s opinion, Buzzard Hill didn’t warrant a camera icon. I would disagree – the view was definitely worth a stop and the big dead tree on the rocky outcropping was fun to climb on. We took a long, restful break at the spot.

Another noteworthy thing we passed on the route was a glimpse through the trees of Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center. We could see a firing range and several large buildings in the compound. The center is a major relocation site for the highest level of civilian and military officials in case of national disaster. On 9/11, many members of congress were evacuated to this spot. It’s interesting that such a key feature of our national security lies so close to the trail!

Old Tree on Buzzard Hill — Buzzard Hill had a nice view. Below: More views; Sam Moore shelter: Snacks and our AWOL page for this hike.

By the time we got to Sam Moore shelter, both of us were vaguely wishing we had done this stretch as an overnight. We had originally considered making it our last backpacking trip of the season, especially since there were so many nice camping spots and water sources along the route. But the weather was chilly and there was rain in the forecast, so we opted for a hot meal and the comfort of our own bed.

We arrived at Bears Den around 3:00. We took photos and spent some time enjoying the last weekend of peak fall color. Eventually, we hobbled back to our car and headed back toward home. On the way, we stopped at Woodstock Brewery for beer and flatbread pizzas. It was Halloween, and the brewery staff was dressed in elaborate costumes. My favorite was probably the bartender dressed as a squirrel. One of their beers is called ‘Tipsy Squirrel’, so the costume was especially fitting. I joked that we were dressed up as smelly, tired hikers — which was not far from the truth!

Christine climbing on Bears Den Rocks. Below: Our last big descent on the Roller Coaster before reaching Bears Den; The 1000 mile marker on the AT; One last stream crossing.

Trail Notes

Distance – 13.5 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – 3200 ft.
Difficulty – 4.5. The trail has lots of ups and downs and this is a long distance, but is great for training for longer distance hikes.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail was well-maintained. A lot of the Roller Coaster is rocky, so it makes for some careful footing.
Views – 4. The views from Buzzard Hill are decent, but the best views are from Bears Den rocks.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3.5. Most of the streams aren’t scenic, but there are lots of them which provides great water sources.
Wildlife – 2. There wasn’t a lot of larger wildlife on the trail, but we did see some deer and a fence lizard at Buzzard Hill.
Ease to Navigate – 3.5. Leaves on the ground made this tougher. The confusing parts of the trail were finding the trail leaving the summit of Buzzard Hill and finding the right path leaving Bears Den rocks back to the hostel.
Solitude – 3. For most of this section of trail, we rarely came across anyone. Bears Den rocks should have lots of people enjoying the views.

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

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: First car: The Bears Den Hostel is located near VA-7, almost halfway between Berryville and Purcellville. From Berryville, take VA-7 East for about 8 miles before turning right on SR-601. Go .5 miles and turn right (you will see a sign on the right for Bears Den). Go .5 miles down the gravel road until you reach the parking lot. Leave one car here for your finish to your hike. Coordinates: 39.110111, -77.853890. Second Car: From Bears Den, head from the parking lot back to SR-601. Take a right and follow SR-601/Blue Ridge Mountain Road for 10.5 miles until you reach US-50. Turn right and park the second car on the side of the road. The AT crossing is just west of the “School Bus Stop 1000 feet” sign. Coordinates: 39.017014, -77.964454

Appalachian Trail – Ashby Gap to Front Royal

January 19, 2016January 19, 20167 Comments

This 21.2 mile route along the Appalachian Trail crosses Sky Meadows State Park and the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area. There are a couple nice vistas along the way, but it is mostly a quiet, wooded walk. This section of the trail has three shelters – one of the most luxurious (Jim & Molly Denton) and one of the oddest/smallest (Dicks Dome). Christine is going to cover the first day and Adam will pick up the second.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

The View from Sky Meadows — If you take the Ambassador Whitehead Trail off the Appalachian Trail in Sky Meadows, you will get some nice views of the Piedmont. Below: Adam crosses the four lanes of Route 50; Making our way uphill to the high point of Sky Meadows; Once you finish climbing, you clear the woods and come out into the open fields of Sky Meadows State Park.

Day One (6 miles total – 4.8 on the Appalachian Trail and 1.2 walking around Sky Meadows State Park)…

Most typical couples want to spend their anniversary in a cozy bed & breakfast inn or possibly out for a fancy multi-course dinner. Not us — we go backpacking — especially when we’re given a sunny weekend in the middle of peak fall color season! We took a Friday off of work so we could have two nights out on the trail. I was coming off a knee injury, so we picked a section with gentle terrain and several shelters/campsites spaced to allow for shorter mileage each day. The section between Ashby Gap and Front Royal fit the bill perfectly. It was also a good chunk of miles we hadn’t hiked before.

To make transportation easier, we hired a shuttle driver for this trip. None of the recommended shuttle drivers listed in our AWOL Guide were available, so we turned to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s list of shuttles. ‘Sharon’s Shuttles’ was prompt and affordable. The mother-daughter team has been shuttling hikers for over a decade now. We also arranged for a parking spot at the Mountain Home Bed & Breakfast in Front Royal. For just a couple bucks a day, Mountain Home will give you safe, off-road parking spot at their inn. (There is a small AT lot on Rt. 522, but we don’t recommend leaving a car there overnight.) Mountain Home also has a clean, well-equipped hiker hostel! The proprietors are past thru-hikers, so they’re a great source of information for the trail and the local Front Royal area.

Views from Sky Meadows — Pretty views at our lunch spot. Below: It’s nice to have a table to sit at for lunch; Leaving the high meadows area of the park; Hickory Tussock caterpillar.

We met our shuttle driver at the inn around 10 a.m. She drove us the 20 miles to our start point at Ashby Gap. As she pulled into the parking area above Ashby Gap, she said ‘I’m going to drop you off here because someone left a headless deer at the other end of the parking lot’. Gross! I am glad she gave us the warning because that is not something I want to see! I imagine the headless deer had a nice set of antlers that somebody wanted to keep. 😦

By 11:00 a.m., we were on our way! We followed a short spur trail from the parking area downhill to its junction with the Appalachian Trail. Headed south, we reached the busy road crossing of Rt. 50 after just several hundred feet. Cars were zipping by at 55+mph, so we made a run for it as soon as it was safe. After crossing the highway, we had a steady 1.75 mile climb up to the high point of Sky Meadows State Park. Most AT hikers probably walk across the high meadows of the park without detouring, but we decided to turn onto the Ambassador Whitehead Trail and enjoy a scenic view while we ate our packed lunch. At the viewpoint, there was a picnic table and a nice look down into a valley dotted with farm houses. I had been warm enough hiking in short sleeves, but as soon as we stopped I got cold really quickly. The brisk wind across the open meadow was enough that I pulled out my down jacket!

After lunch, we hiked the remaining mile within Sky Meadows, crossing into the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area. Near a trailside campsite, our paths crossed with two young guys hunting small game. They came out of the thick woods, and totally startled us. They were friendly enough, but it was pretty obvious they were mostly out to smoke pot and drink beer rather than actually hunt! As we walked along, we passed thick tangle of old grape vines. Some of the vines still had bunches of grapes. I tried a couple – they were very sour!

Tangles of Vines and Weeds in the Wildlife Management Area — The G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management area. You can probably make out some of the old grape vines in this photo. Below: Arriving at Dicks Dome; The rickety bridge across Whiskey Hollow stream; The shelter is small and oddly shaped.

We descended from higher, more open areas back into the woods. Over the last mile of trail before reaching our first campsite at Dicks Dome, we passed under power-lines and crossed a shallow spring. A small sign marked the spur trail to the shelter. The path was heavily covered with leaves and a little hard to follow. It looked like no one had passed by in days. Dicks Dome sits almost a third of a mile off the AT. A rickety, sagging bridge takes hikers across across Whiskey Hollow stream to the front of Dicks Dome Shelter. The shelter is a tiny, geodesic dome that might comfortably sleep three people. It was built by a scout group in 1987 and has seen better days. It’s so run down and small that the PATC is currently working on building a new shelter uphill from the dome. When it’s complete, it will be called Whiskey Hollow Shelter.

When we’re out backpacking, we leave the shelter space for thru-hikers and sleep in a tent. We spent some time looking around the shelter area for a decent tent site. There was nothing – everything flat was mucky and wet and everything else was on a slope. Because of the lack of tent sites, we ended up setting up camp on the completed deck of the unfinished shelter. There were no signs saying ‘keep out’ or ‘do not use’, so we figured the deck would be the easiest and most comfortable place to pitch our tent.

It was still really early in the afternoon – maybe 2:30, so we set up camp and filtered water. I took a nap while Adam read a book. Around 4:30, we collected a stack of small firewood so we could have a campfire that evening. The new shelter had a nice firepit with benches around it! We relaxed, played cards, and made spaghetti for dinner. As the sun sank lower in the sky, the temperature dropped quickly. What had been a warm, pleasant day turned into a cold night. We started our campfire and tried to stay warm!

Campfire — Our little campfire next to the shelter. A nice fire ring and benches were already there. Below: Our camping deck; The woods around the new shelter site were lovely; Cards at camp.

We climbed into our tent around 8:30. It was already completely dark, and we wanted to put the fire out completely before it got too late. We knew the nighttime lows on this trip were going to be unseasonably cold, so we had both borrowed 0 degree sleeping bags from the Adventure Program at JMU. Isn’t that a great work perk? I was able to rent a nice-quality Big Agnes bag for just a few dollars! We normally don’t backpack when it’s cold, so we both just have summer bags rated for 32 degrees. I’m a cold sleeper, so I knew it wouldn’t be enough to keep me warm on this trip. I was thankful I had rented the bag… because it was COLD! I slept in a hat, gloves, thick socks, and a silk baselayer. I was comfortable and warm enough. It took me a while to fall asleep, but I eventually did. I think I ended up sleeping over ten hours that night. I guess that’s what happens when you sleep and wake by the natural light!

Day Two (15.2 miles)…

We woke up in the cold at the first sign of daylight and made a warm breakfast of granola, Nido, and hot drinks (coffee for Christine and cider for me). We packed up everything quickly and made our way back on the trail. Some people like to have a leisurely morning when backpacking, but we like to be up at sunrise and back on the trail as soon as possible. The cold helped us get moving quickly since we knew we would warm up once the blood started flowing.

From Dicks Dome, we had only had a few tenths of a mile before we were back on the AT. The hike started off with some ups and downs, enough to get my blood going enough that I wanted to take off my outer fleece. After 2.5 miles, we reached a junction with the Trico Tower spur trail which leads to a communication tower. From this junction the trail descended a bit and at 3.2 miles, we passed a reliable spring. While a lot of the hiking in the morning was uneventful, we marveled at how beautiful the trees looked in the fall. The ground was covered with color and the sun shining through the tree tapestry gave us a reminder that the hard work of carrying packs was worth it.

At 4.5 miles, we reached the Manassas Gap Shelter. It was a little early for lunch, but we decided to stop and eat since we knew there was a reliable spring and a table to cook. We combined a macaroni & cheese meal with a buffalo chicken meal and topped it with bacon to make a glorious warm lunch. Once we had stopped, we could feel the chill of the wind, so it was back into our outer layers while we stopped. After resting a bit at the shelter, we pushed on.

A sign and a short spur trail led out to Barringer Point. The view was mostly obstructed. Below: Adam hikes along the trail; Old stone walls; Passing under I-66.

Descending from Manassas Gap, we came upon a large stone wall at 5.5 miles, which skirted the trail for a good distance. The trail continued to descend and we reached Tuckers Lane at 6.8 miles, which had some parking for the trail. Here, we hung a left and passed some houses with people doing yard work. I’m sure they are used to seeing lots of hikers, but it would strike me funny to see people coming out of the woods often right across from my house. You walk along the road for a while until you pass underneath I-66. The loudness of all the traffic made me feel eager to escape back into the wilderness. At 7 miles, you cross US-50 and continue on to a footbridge to stay on the AT. You pass over some railroad tracks before your hike begins a steep ascent.

At the top of the ascent, the trail opens up to a beautiful grassy bald with a bench at the top of the hill. The views were somewhat obstructed, but this is a nice stop for a picturesque scene. My guess is that a lot of people park at Tuckers Lane and do this as a short out-and-back of about 2 miles, a nice spot for a picnic. Due to the cold wind whipping along the bald, we didn’t stay but a minute. At the top of the ascent, the AT enters the woods and descends again. On the descent down, the trail did open up through some gorgeous farmland. We walked along the trail and enjoyed the views – the scenery exemplifies Virginia mountains and farmland. At 8.8 miles, we reached VA 638. We crossed the road and rock-hopped a small stream at 8.9 miles.

A Meadow View — The nice view after Tuckers Lane. Below: Train tracks near I-66, Some color along the trail; Rolling landscape.

At 10 miles, we arrived at the Jim & Molly Denton Shelter around 2:30 p.m. The temperatures were supposed to rise more that day, but the heavy cloud cover and brisk wind kept it from warming up at all during the day. Our plan was to stop for the night here and we found a nice campsite away from the shelter. This shelter is one of the plushest we’ve seen along the trail – it has a solar shower, separate cooking pavilion, nice Adirondack chairs, and even horseshoes to keep you entertained. We stopped for a snack before working on setting up camp. There, we met a very nice lady by the trailname of Puddles. She had thru-hiked the trail several years ago. We struck up a long conversation with her and loved her outlook on life; she has had a lot of trials in her life, but her positive attitude and love of nature keep her going.

The temperatures were dropping quickly while we ate our snack. With the foreboding skies and whipping wind, we knew we were going to be in for an even colder night. I really didn’t feel that the sleeping bags we rented were any warmer than what we personally owned (I know bags are often debated about how warm they stay with the gear-reviewing community). We talked it through and felt it may be best to try and push on to see if we could make the rest of the trip before it got dark. It was a shame to leave such a perfect spot, but we felt it was the best decision. As we had lollygagged a bit, we knew we needed to get going right away.

Descending the AT — On our way to the third shelter along this section. Below: Passing through a fence opening; The Jim and Molly Denton shelter (check out the full photo album to see more photos of this luxurious stop!); The Mosby Campground.

From the Denton Shelter, the trail was a gradual uphill. We passed a powerline at 11.1 miles and then arrived at the spur trail for the Mosby campsite at 11.8 miles. Christine checked out the campsite while I waited on the trail. She came back and talked about how nice and spacious the campsite looked. What I didn’t know was that Christine wanted to camp here for the night because her knee was hurting and she wasn’t sure she had any more miles left in her. However, I didn’t pick up on her subtle signals and suggested we move along. When we’re backpacking, we both reach a threshold somewhere between 10-12 miles when things start being less fun for both of us. When you’re a weekend backpacker, you never really get the chance to build up the trail legs you need to easily carry a pack 15-20 miles a day.

At 12 miles, we crossed a forest service road. The trail stayed level for a while before a long descent that leads to Bear Hollow Creek. The sound of the creek was nice to hear and we soon came across a large fence to our right of the trail. This serves as the boundary for the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute land, an area used to preserve and study animals. We kept hoping to see elephants or cheetahs through the chain-link fence (not that they necessarily house any), but nothing was to be seen. We knew we were at the end of the trail as we reached this fence area and at 15.2 miles for this day, we reached US 522. We took a left on the road and reached Mountain Home in a short distance. We shambled into our car totally drained. We made our way to Spelunkers in Front Royal, our favorite place for a burger and shake after a long hike in the nearby area. We knocked off another section of the AT in Virginia and that is something we were proud of as we slurped up the last remnant of shake from the bottom of our cups.

Walking along the fenceline of the Smithsonian Conservation facility. Below: Back at Mountain Home B&B; Their cute hiker hostel; The inside of the hostel is clean and well-equipped.

Trail Notes

Distance – 21.2 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike [Day One] [Day Two – Part 1] [Day Two – Part 2])*
Elevation Change – 3717 ft.
Difficulty – 3. The (unexpected) distance we covered on the second day was challenging, but overall this was a relatively easy backpacking trip.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail was in great shape with pleasant, non-rocky conditions.
Views – 3. We had nice views from Sky Meadows State Park and then some slightly obstructed field views on the second day.
Streams/Waterfalls – 2. There were only a couple very small streams on this section. They were sufficient as a water source, but not that scenic.
Wildlife – 2. We saw one deer on the second day, but that’s about it!
Ease to Navigate – 4. The White Blazes are frequent and easy to follow.
Solitude – 2. We saw relatively few people along the section. We saw two people hunting small game in the wildlife management area. There were two weekenders and one SOBO thru-hiker at the shelter.

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

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: To get to Mountain Home, take exit 13 off I-66W to get on VA-55W. Turn right on to VA-55W and follow it for 4.7 miles. Turn left on to US-522S and go 3.5 miles until you turn on to Remount Avenue and reach Mountain Home. To get to Ashby Gap from Mountain Home, head back on US-522 and now go north. In 3.5 miles, take a right on to VA-55E and follow that back to I-66. Head east on I-66 from 9.1 miles before taking exit 23/US-17N. Turn left on 55-E and go .5 miles before turning left on US-17N. Follow US-17N for 7.1 miles. Turn left on to US-50W and go 1.1 miles. Turn right on 601/Blue Ridge Mountain Road. About 1 mile up the road, you will see a small gravel parking lot on the left to park.

Signal Knob

July 12, 2015November 17, 20162 Comments

This 10.2 mile hike in the George Washington National Forest has nice views of Strasburg. It also has rocks – lots and lots of pointy rocks.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Christine on Signal Knob — Christine takes in the view on Signal Knob. Below: Adam checks out the GWNF information board; The stone cottage; Wild rose.

Christine Says…

Picking day hikes is getting challenging for us – we’ve done most of the popular ones in the area. Yet, somehow, Signal Knob had repeatedly escaped our notice. We figured a pleasant Sunday in early June was a perfect day to tackle something new!

We started our day early with a big breakfast in Harrisonburg. Then we stopped for donuts at Holy Moly in Strasburg. We decided to save the donuts for post-hike, but Holy Moly is so popular (especially on the weekend) that we didn’t want to take the risk of them selling out.

Parking at the Signal Knob trailhead is abundant and completely off-road. When we arrived there was a small handful of other cars there. We started out from the trail on the north side of the parking area – look for orange blazes (Massanutten Trail) and a GWNF information board. The trail climbed steadily right away. We passed a really neat stone cottage right along the trail very early in our hike. It was in great condition and still looked in-use. Right after the cottage, we stepped over a small stream and continued uphill. The lower parts of the trail were lined with wild roses and sweetpeas. As we climbed higher, mountain laurel became abundant. The trail was openly exposed to the sun and offered some nice views along the way.

Views Along the Climb to Signal Knob — There were some pretty views through the trees on the climb to Signal Knob. The higher we climbed, the prettier the mountain laurel became. Low elevation laurel had already gone to seed. Below: A neat tree before the Buzzard Rock Overlook; Buzzard Rock Overlook; Fort Valley Overlook.

At 1.5 miles, we reached an opening in the trees which gave a backlit view of Buzzard Rocks on the other side of the valley. I can’t look at Buzzard Rocks without recalling the horrible ankle sprain I suffered there several years ago! We chatted with an older gentleman at the overlook – he warned us that the trail was about to get rocky! He wasn’t kidding! For the next 1.25 miles, the trail was a loose jumble of pointy, shifting rock.

At about 2.5 miles, we passed the marked Fort Valley Overlook. The view was mostly overgrown, but I can imagine it lovely when the trees were smaller! Gradually the rockiness tapered off; and so did the climbing. The trail became a pleasant stroll through the woods. We passed several nice campsites and passed the junction of the Meneka Peak trail at about 3.5 miles. The last .8 of a mile to Signal Knob was ever-so-slightly downhill.

When we reached the WVPT building, we thought the open vista behind the building might be the view. We chatted with a pair of hikers there and asked ‘Is this the only view up here?’ Both of them said ‘Yes… it’s the only view we’ve ever seen and we’ve hiked here lots of times.’ We took them at their word and felt a little underwhelmed by the view – it was obstructed by powerlines and disrupted by a steady buzz from the broadcast tower. Not wanting to doubt them directly, I whispered to Adam ‘This can’t be it… there’s no view of Strasburg and there’s supposed to be one!’ We decided to explore further before hiking down the fireroad. I’m glad we did!

Leaving the WVPT tower, do not follow the fire road downhill. Go past the tower and look for a trail than runs parallel to the ridge. If you follow it a short distance, you’ll come to a marked overlook – Signal Knob. We spent some time at the knob relaxing and enjoying a bit of breeze. Signal Knob is a nice overlook, but not a spectacular one. It’s a bit closed in and overgrown. And, if I’m being 100% honest, looking down into Strasburg with its housing developments, water towers, and roads just isn’t as breathtaking as looking out into raw wilderness. I did also enjoy our ‘company’ at the summit – for whatever reason, Signal Knob was hopping with toads. We saw dozens of them! I’ve never seen so many together!

The Signal Knob Trail is Very Rocky — The trail up Signal Knob is extremely rocky. Below: Once you reach the ridge it’s a bit less rocky; WVPT broadcast; A view behind the tower.

After enjoying the view, we followed the trail slightly downhill past the overlook. A trail marker directed us toward the Tuscarora Trail. We soon merged onto the fire road we had seen near the broadcast tower. We followed it downhill for almost a mile before reaching another trail junction.

The turn onto the Tuscarora trail is marked with another national forest information board. There is also a nice bench at the junction – probably an Eagle Scout project! Turning onto the Tuscarora Trail, you’ll immediately cross Little Passage Creek. It was a very easy rock hop. From there the trail climbs uphill for a little less than a mile. This section was a bit steeper than what was required to reach Signal Knob, but still squarely moderate.

Along the ridge, we passed the other side of the Meneka Peak trail. Looking at how these trails interconnect is interesting and definitely opens up some longer loop options. At about 6.4 miles, the trail passed through a small grassy area and began to descend steadily. There really wasn’t anything remarkable about the rest of the hike. It was just a walk through the woods. We saw a big bird’s nest of some sort. We saw tons of ripening blueberries. We passed some boy scouts on a weekend backpacking trip. We passed the pink blazed Sidewinder trail at 8.1 miles. We crossed a stream. At around 9.5 miles we passed a spur trail to Elizabeth Furnace. At this point the blazes went back to orange.

We found this part of the hike a bit confusing. Our maps and GPS disagreed on distances for waypoints late in the hike. There was also a lot of trail construction and rerouting going on. New paths were cut into the woods all over the place. Fortunately they all went in the same general direction. We tried to follow the most established paths. A little over a half mile past our last trail marker, we spotted a parking lot through the trees. Adam thought it was a different one from where we started, but our MapMyHike app indicated we made a full loop and we popped out on the south side of the lot where we had started our hike several hours earlier.

The day had become hot, humid, and overcast, so we were glad to be back at the car! We shared just one of the donuts (Peach Bellini!) so we could save room for a big lunch at Spelunker’s in Front Royal. On the way to lunch, we talked about the hike a bit. We both agreed that it wasn’t one of our favorites. I think it’s popular because of its vicinity to northern Virginia, but of the knobs in the Massanutten/Fort Valley area – I like Strickler and Duncan quite a bit more!

Adam Says…

We have had many people recommend Strickler Knob to us over the years. Knowing of its popularity, we thought it would be a good idea to get an early start. When we arrived, there were not many cars there, but from the size of the parking lot we knew it was a matter of time.

We started out on the north (right) side of the parking lot. The orange-blazed Massanutten trail started off our loop hike. The trail starts uphill and soon passes a large stone cabin on the left, while you can see a stream below to the right. You cross over the stream and then loop back in a northerly direction. At 1.5 miles, we reached Buzzard Rocks overlook. We talked there to an older man who was out for some morning exercise. He warned us of about a mile of pointy rocks ahead. Since he was hiking solo, he told us he doesn’t want to risk hurting himself and just goes to this overlook and back.

The trail takes a sharp left turn and then within a few minutes, we found the rocky area we had been warned about. Wear comfortable shoes, as the rocks were pointy and you always had to look at your feet to navigate through safe footing.

The View from Signal Knob — You can see the town of Strasburg from Signal Knob. We weren’t terribly impressed with the view. Below: Toads everywhere; The fire road; The information board at the junction with the Tuscarora Trail; A glimpse of a view.

At 2.4 miles, we arrived at the sign for the Fort Valley overlook. The trees and leaves have this very obstructed now, but you can get a glimpse of the valley below. At 3.4 miles, we arrived at the junction with the white-blazed Maneka Peak trail, but continue on the orange-blazed Massanutten Trail. The trail leveled out at this point, giving us a nice forest walk until we reached the broadcast tower at 4.3 miles. We walked behind the building on a small path and saw nice views on the backside of the tower. We were feeling disappointed when the two girls had said this was the view. My idea of views doesn’t include power lines cutting through the landscape. There were lots of bugs flying around us, so we didn’t stay here long.

We pushed on from the tower and saw that there was a huge fire road leading down, but the trail blazes seemed to continue forward back into the woods. We decided to take this route and then within a short distance came to the real view. We both felt bad that these girls, who had been up here several times, had always missed the real view up here. The view here did give us nice views of Strasburg below. I noticed that one of the rocks had a plaque below it that was put in here for a couple that loved coming up here.

Walking the Tuscarora Trail — Adam walks along the Tuscarora Trail. Below: Stream crossing near the end of the hike; Pretty butterfly; Holy Moly!

The trail then loops back and does join the fire road very shortly. We walked down the steep fire road and came upon another hiker who had just hiked up the fire road to the summit. The fire road was a fairly steep descent and had nice wildflowers along both sides. At 5.5 miles, we came across a bench and a junction with the blue-blazed Tuscarora trail. We took this trail to start our return trip. The Tuscarora Trail was more overgrown and the climb up Meneka Peak was the steepest climb on this hike. We were finally finished with the uphill at 6.4 miles and then the trail descends on the other side of the ridgeline just as steeply.

The trail descends for a good distance. At 8.1 miles, we passed by the pink-blazed Sidewinder trail and the trail leveled out a little more. We continued on and the trail became orange-blazed again at 9.5 miles. We followed the orange-blazed trail through the tricky section mentioned above and then arrived back at a lower section of the parking lot at 10.2 miles.

Overall, I was underwhelmed on this hike. The views were nice, but I have seen a lot better view hikes. I can imagine that in a few years, the trees and bushes may obstruct the main view even further.

Because of the inner-connectivity of all the trails in this area, there are many options for backpacking loops through this trail system. The loop that we chose didn’t have a lot to offer after the summit. If I was doing this again, I would likely do just an out-and-back hike to the summit, making this an 8.6 hike.

Trail Notes

Distance – 10.2 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – 2159 ft.
Difficulty – 3. The climbing on this trail is all easy to moderate, but the distance and loose/rocky footing increase the difficulty rating.
Trail Conditions – 2.5. The trail is rocky and shifty – especially the middle part.
Views – 3. There are descent views from Signal Knob and the WVPT broadcast facility. While other reviews give the vistas on this hike top marks, we thought they were just OK. The WVPT view had powerlines and the Signal Knob view is starting to get a bit overgrown and looks out toward an suburban area.
Streams/Waterfalls – 2. There were a couple small streams that could be used as water sources. We believe they dry out pretty quickly based on the fact that they were already on the low side after a week of rainy days.
Wildlife – 3. We saw lots of cute toads hopping around, and supposedly this is a good place for a potential bear sighting.
Ease to Navigate – 2.5. The blazing in this area is very thorough, but trail junctions are inconsistently marked. As of June 2015, it appears the forest service is working on a reroute of the last .5-.75 miles of the hike. There are lots of unmarked trails that criss-cross the established, blazed trail.
Solitude – 3. We saw a good number of couples and solo hikers out for a day hike. We also saw a group of college students and a boy scout troop out backpacking.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-66, take exit 6 for US-340/US-522 for Front Royal/Winchester. Turn on to US-340S/US-522S/Winchester Road. Go 1.2 miles and take a right on to VA-55W/W Strasburg Road. Go 5.1 miles and take a left on to State Route 678/Fort Valley Road. Go 3.4 miles until you reach the large parking lot on the right. Park here. The trail starts on the right side of the lot. You will see the wooden information board that will mark the beginning of your hike. Parking coordinates: 38.93503, -78.31956

Appalachian Trail – Jennings Creek to the James River

June 27, 2015July 1, 20158 Comments

This 28.6 mile Appalachian Trail section is one of the toughest northbound sections in Virginia – you climb, and then you climb some more. The first nine miles are essentially ‘green tunnel’. The middle section has several great views. And, the last part is an easy downhill coast to the James River. We did this section over two nights – Adam will cover days one and three, and Christine will do day two.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

The Appalachian Trail is sometimes called ‘The Green Tunnel’. Our first day of hiking was a good example of that nickname. Below: Bryant Ridge Shelter is one of the nicest along the AT in Virginia; Adam reads the shelter log; The closest we came to a view on day one.

Day One (8.7 miles)…

We started off our day by driving to the James River footbridge parking lot. I had arranged a shuttle to pick us up at 10 a.m. and then drop us off at our starting point at Jennings Creek. We enjoyed some breakfast at Cracker Barrel, but still arrived at the parking lot around 9:30 that morning. There were a few people in the parking lot that were getting ready to start hikes or taking breaks. One guy was hiking southbound to Roanoke and said he was looking for a ride to Glasgow so he could buy batteries to charge his phone. I found some extra batteries for my GPS, so I handed them over to him and told him I hoped it got him a little closer to Roanoke.

As 10 a.m. came and went, I got a little nervous that our ride might not show. I had some hope when a car pulled in to let off some thru-hikers, but it turned out not to be our ride. by 10:20 a.m., I thought we needed to see if we could figure out what was going on. There is absolutely no phone signal at the footbridge, so Christine waited in the lot while I drove until I could get a signal to make the call for the shuttle driver. I ended up having to drive for several miles before I got one bar and ended up having to leave a message. I turned around to get back to the parking lot and when I arrived, there was the shuttle driver with Christine. Whew! We loaded up our stuff and got on the road. Turns out, he had written down 10:30 for the trip. We were just glad we didn’t have to hitchhike or beg someone else to take us.

Our shuttle driver, Ken, was retired and spends most of his time during the spring, summer, and early fall taking care of AT hikers. He helps shuttle people where they need to go and picks up packages for AT thru-hikers to deliver to them. After talking with on the ride to our start point, we could tell that he is one of those true Trail Angels that just makes hiking the AT a bit easier for everyone.

Camping at Cornelius Creek Shelter — We arrived to Cornelius Creek Shelter around 4:00 p.m. — before the crowds started rolling in. We got a very nice site behind the shelter. Below: Adam collected water from Cornelius Creek; Little Debbie Peanut Butter Creme Pies are a great dessert. They don’t get crushed. They’re soft and chewy. And they pack in 410 calories; Enjoying downtime at camp.

It was probably about 11:15 when we finally started our hike. The Jennings Creek area had lots of parking and it was a nice place to pick up the trail. We headed northbound on the white-blazed AT, which started with a steep climb from the road. After 1.6 miles, we had climbed 1000 feet and reached the top of Fork Mountain. The trail then descends about 800 feet and we reached another stream past a powerline at 2.8 miles. The trail continues along the stream for a while, giving you a great water source if you need it. At 3.8 miles, we reached the Bryant Ridge shelter, which was a great spot to eat lunch. We joined a couple of thru-hikers (one from Germany) at the shelter, who were eating a quick snack and filling up water from the stream. The Bryant Ridge shelter was one of the nicer shelters and even had a high loft and a window that let in some nice sunlight.

After fueling up here, we had a big climb ahead of us. From the shelter, the trail climbs up and up. At 6.9 miles, we had climbed about 2000 feet from the shelter and reached a sign noting a small sidetrail on the left to a campsite. We continued our climb and at 8.1 miles, reached the top of Floyd Mountain. The trail from here began to descend and we reached the sign that pointed to Cornelius Creek Shelter at 8.7 miles. This day there was nothing exceptional to see on the trail, but we were at least glad to be settling in at camp.

When we arrived at the shelter, we noticed the thru-hikers we had seen at the Bryant Ridge shelter were setting up in the shelter. The trail behind the shelter that led to the privy had lots of campsites, but some of those were already taken. It was only 4 p.m., but we felt we needed to stake our claim quickly so we set up camp in one of the remaining spots behind the shelter. Within minutes, we already had others setting up other tents nearby. We knew this was going to be a crowded night. After we set up our tents, I went to go get water by the stream near the shelter. There was a pileated woodpecker climbing up a tree just a few feet away from me. I enjoyed having this moment with this often-skittish bird. The woodpecker eventually flew off and I was joined by someone also filling water. It turned out he was a JMU student who worked at our rec center and we had some mutual acquaintances.

When we got back to our campsite, we began to make dinner, read books, and started a small campfire. Right around dusk, a large group of boy scouts arrived and there wasn’t much room. The only place left around was right near us; we were worried how they would keep us up but they were very respectful and kept it relatively quiet. As we overheard them talk, we heard they had a rough day. They had driven up and got lost somewhere on the trail and while they had parked just half a mile away from the road, they had walked for miles trying to find this shelter. They had rushed to set up camp and start to cook their dinner in the dark. One scout named Max was hungry when they arrived and asked what they had for appetizers. We got a laugh when we heard the scout leader tell him he could have a handful of unsalted nuts. I guess Max learned that the backcountry isn’t Applebee’s. After the fire faded, we crawled into our tent and drifted off to sleep.

Day Two (12.2 miles)…

Sunlight started filtering into our tent a little before 6:00 a.m. I unzipped my sleeping bag, stretched my legs, and changed from my camp clothes back into my hiking clothes. While Adam worked on packing up the tent and our sleeping gear, I made breakfast. Typically, we eat oatmeal, a honeybun, and some cheese. The goal for breakfast is always to eat lots of calories so we can hike for a while before needing a snack. On this trip, we swapped out the oatmeal for granola with Nido. Nido is a full-fat, enriched powdered milk found in most grocery stores’ Latino section. The Nido was fantastic – creamy, rich, and delicious with our maple-pecan granola.

After breakfast we were all geared up – backpacks on and ready to hike out – when suddenly I felt water running down the backs of my legs. Crap! At first I thought I had squished my Camelbak hose open, but it turned out to be a bit more serious. Even though the ‘locked’ arrows on my Camelbak lid were properly aligned, I guess the threads were still uneven. As soon as the gear inside my pack pressed against the reservoir, water started leaking out. All in all, a little over a liter of water gushed out into the bottom of my pack.

Adam took my Camelbak and the filter back down to the spring and refilled it while I worked on drying the spilled water. My pillow, sleeping pad, and sheet were all pretty wet, but I was most concerned about my sleeping bag. It was in a water-resistant compression sack. It felt wet on the outside, but I didn’t want to take the time to unpack it to check the inside. I guess my fate would be determined at camp that night! Within 10 minutes of the spill we were back on the trail.

View from Black Rock Overlook — Our first view came relatively early on Day 2. Black Rock Overlook was very nice. Below: Walking through tunnels of flowering rhododendron was very pleasant; Spiderwort along the trail; Adam approaches the summit of Apple Orchard Mountain.

I was pretty grouchy about all the wet gear, so I walked quietly behind Adam ruminating on the impending case of hypothermia I would probably get from sleeping in wet down. After a mile, we reached our first view of the day – a gorgeous vista from Black Rock Overlook. The view is located on a spur trail a couple hundred feet off the AT. After enjoying the mountainous view and taking a few photos, we headed down the trail. The going was pretty gentle for a while. We passed junctions with the Cornelius Creek and Apple Orchard Falls trails. We hiked to the falls and along Cornelius Creek earlier in the spring. It’s a great dayhike in this area.

After passing the junction with the Apple Orchard Fall Trail, we soon reached a gravel road at Parkers Gap. A flight of wooden stairs led uphill from the road. At the top of the stairs, we found two coolers of ‘trail magic’ for thru-hikers. One cooler had ice and bottled water and the other had a variety of snacks – fruit, cookies, and candy. We left the treats behind and began the tough 1.5 mile climb to the summit of Apple Orchard Mountain. On the open, grassy summit of Apple Orchard, we enjoyed more excellent views and a snack. We were even joined by a small garter snake trying to warm in the sun. The FAA radar dome sitting atop the summit is huge and plastered with NO TRESPASSING signs.

Summit of Apple Orchard Mountain — It felt good to take our packs off and enjoy the summit of Apple Orchard Mountain. Below: There are views from both sides of Apple Orchard; A snake in the grass; The FAA Radome atop Apple Orchard.

About a third of a mile north of Apple Orchard, we passed under The Guillotine – a round boulder perfectly balanced and wedged between two rock faces. Pretty neat! The trail went through a short and steep rocky section before reaching a pretty, sunny meadow. About a mile after the meadow, we popped out on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We crossed the road and picked up white blazes again. We enjoyed pleasant, easy trail for another third of a mile to the Thunder Hill Shelter. We stopped in to rest and check out the shelter log. After leaving the shelter, the trail continued gently along. It was one of the prettiest parts of our hike – so many wildflowers! My favorite bloom to spot was a large patch of yellow lady’s slippers covering a hillside. They’re not as common as the pink ones, so it was a real treat to see so many at once. About 1.5 miles past the shelter, we reached the Thunder Ridge Overlook and decided it was a great spot to stop for lunch. Nearly 7 miles of hiking had burned off my breakfast and I was ravenous.

Adam Goes Under the Guillotine — Shortly after descending Apple Orchard Mountain, Adam passed under the Guillotine – an interesting rock formation along the trail. Below: The descent from Apple Orchard was a bit rocky; A pretty meadow after the Guillotine; Thunder Hill shelter.

The viewpoint had a constructed stone platform and a superb view! Across the valley, we could even see the huge talus slope of the Devils Marbleyard – another popular dayhike in the area. We got out our Alite chairs and food bags and settled in for a nice long break. I had cashews, dried pineapple, a big handful of Sour Patch kids, and an asiago cheese bagel filled with cheddar cheese slices. I felt so re-energized after I ate! By this time, I had ceased thinking about wet gear and hypothermia and was just really enjoying my day. While we were eating lunch, clouds moved in and a breeze picked up. We ended up moving on sooner than planned because I actually got sort of chilled. Before we hiked on, we made a quick detour up to the parkway so we could throw all our garbage away in a real trashcan instead of continuing to carry it with us. When you’re backpacking, always take advantage of trash cans!

View from Thunder Ridge — You can see Devils Marbleyard from the Thunder Ridge viewing platform. Below: The trail had a large patch of yellow lady’s slippers; The platform at Thunder Ridge gave us a nice place to eat lunch and take in the view; After Thunder Ridge, we had a long descent through green woods into Pettites Gap.

The next 3.3 miles covered a huge descent with only a few tiny bumps of climbing. It was fast going and we reached Pettites Gap around 2:00 p.m. We knew we had one short but difficult climb ahead of us before reaching camp, so we took our packs off, leaned back against a huge old tree, and ate another snack. We knew the last climb would feel pretty brutal – and it did not fall short of that expectation!

High Cock Knob was beautiful – covered with blooming rhododendron and mountain laurel. But it was extremely steep and rocky. It also had a false summit! We got to the top of a tough climb and started descending and thought ‘Yay… we’re done!!!’, only to have an even steeper ascent staring us in the face a few hundred yards later.

The climb down High Cock was equally steep – covered with loose, treacherous rocks. Several southbound hikers passed us coming the opposite direction. All of them asked ‘How much more climbing!?’ On the way down, Adam had an awful allergy attack. His throat almost closed and he had a difficult time catching his breath. It was pretty scary and he says he really doesn’t remember the last half mile of hiking. Fortunately, it mostly passed and his breathing eased.

View from High Cock Knob — There was one obstructed view from High Cock Knob — our toughest climb of the day. Below: Entering the James River Face Wilderness; The Appalachian Trail leaving north from Pettites Gap; The trail over High Cock passed through dense rhododendron and mountain laurel.

Arriving at Marble Spring was like reaching an oasis in a desert! The large grassy campsite had a huge fire pit with log seats, a spring-fed water source, and plenty of room for multiple tents. We chose a secluded tent site uphill from the fire pit. I hung my sleeping bag on a branch to dry – it was a bit damp around the feet. Everything else dried out over the course of the day in my pack. Hooray – hypothermia was no longer an issue. We collected water. I napped in the tent while Adam read a book outside. Being at camp is the best! Around 6:00, I came out of the tent, ready to eat – again! Dinner was lasagna with extra cheese and mocha pudding for dessert.

When we first got to camp, we were alone. But, over the course of the afternoon, a group of four West Point grads out for the weekend and two thru-hikers arrived. Compared to the dozens of people camped the night before at Cornelius Creek, sharing a large campsite with six people felt really quiet and solitary. One of thru-hikers climbed into his tent long before sundown and never came back out. Everyone else (us, a thru-hiker named ‘Captain K’, and the four West Pointers) shared a campfire and conversation. It was interesting to hear everyone’s assessment of the trail that day. It was universally agreed that High Cock Knob was a tough way to end the day! While we sat around the fire, a whitetail deer circled us like a vulture for over an hour. Weird – maybe she wanted to the grassy area to graze? Eventually, the sun slipped behind the mountains, we ran out of firewood, and everyone headed off to their tents for the night. It was a long, hard day of hiking, but it had been full of beautiful views, colorful wildflowers, and blooming trees. One more day to go!

Marble Spring Campsite was spacious and grassy with a nicely flowing spring. Below: Our comfortable campsite; A peek into our backcountry kitchen.

Day Three (7.7 miles)…

We were woken up a little earlier than normal by the sound of a fox screaming and then an incessant whippoorwill that sang for about an hour straight at the first glimpse of sunlight. We started off our third day with an earlier start than the previous day (also thanks to no leaking water bladders) and made our way from the Marble Spring campsite heading north again on the Appalachian Trail. Captain K also was getting ready for his day of hiking and was hoping to get to town to get his resupply package. We told him we would give him a ride to town if he was still at the parking lot.

Mountain Laurel — On our third day, we enjoyed abundant blooming mountain laurel along the trail. Below: Mountain laurel; Catawba rhododendron; You can see the radome atop Apple Orchard mountain in the distance.

Day two had been a tough, long day on the trail, so I was wondering if I had enough energy for the third day. I was surprised to find that Day three was much easier. A lot of that was because it was mostly downhill, but my muscles felt surprisingly ready to tackle the day. Our moods were also boosted by how pretty the trail was. While yesterday was a day filled with tons of rhododendron, today seemed to want to match it equally with mountain laurel along the trail.

The trail started off with a flat section. At .5 miles, we reached a junction with the south side of the Sulphur Spring Trail. At 2.3 miles, we reached the junction with the Gunter Ridge Trail and at 2.8 miles, we reached the junction with the north side of the Sulphur Spring Trail (the Gunter Ridge trail is part of the Devils Marbleyard loop). The trail begins to descend more steeply at this point and we reached Big Cove Branch at 3.6 miles. The trail continues to descend until you reach Matts Creek Shelter at 5.5 miles.

First View of the James — We started to see views of the James River through the trees. Below: Stream crossing; Nice views from the trail on day 3; Adam arriving at Matts Creek Shelter; Walking along Matts Creek; Cliffsides along the river; View of the footbridge from a distance.

The Matts Creek Shelter was fairly run down and from reading the entries in the trail log, the privy was scary as well. We ate a quick snack here, but quickly moved on. At 6.3 miles, the trail ran parallel to the James River, at time providing glimpses of this impressive river. We started to see people kayaking in the river, people going out for a quick stroll on the AT, and a couple of trail runners. We knew we were getting close to the end of our trip. At 7.5 miles, we reached the James River footbridge. At the footbridge was a family that had backpacked with a couple of kids. One of the kids (about 11 in my approximation) had asked us how far we went and we told him. He was impressed, since he had backpacked from Petites Gap (about a 10 mile trip). I told him that I thought he could do it one day, since he still had a smile on his face after backpacking 10 miles. I told Christine I think we just witnessed a kid that just found his love for backpacking. We crossed the James River footbridge and made our way back to the car.

Crossing the James River Foot Bridge — We crossed the Foot Footbridge at the end of our hike. Below: Scarlet Flycatch wildflowers; Footbridge from different angles.

When we got to the parking lot, Captain K was there. He said he had arranged someone to pick him up, so he was going to wait there for his ride. Before we had left, we had filled up a cooler with ice, put in a few drinks, and hoped they would be a cool reward for when we were done. I offered him a cold soda, which he gladly took. The day was already getting quite warm, but we were able to escape into our air-conditioned car. We drove to Lexington to eat lunch at Macado’s and then had a few beer samples at Devil’s Backbone to celebrate.

I’m so proud of how far we have come since Backpacking 101. We feel like we now have the confidence and ability to do multi-day trips with heavy packs. Every backpacking trip we go on, there are new challenges, new things to learn, and adventure just around the corner.

Trail Notes

Distance – 28.6 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike* [Day One] [Day Two][Day Three])
Elevation Change – 8100 ft. (Several official sources calculated this elevation total, my less reliable hiking phone app put it closer to 6,000.)
Difficulty – 5. We are not going to sugar coat it – this was a very tough section with lots of climbing.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail was dry and not too rocky. Stream crossings were small, shallow, and easy.
Views – 4. Views from Black Rock Overlook, Apple Orchard Mountain, and Thunder Ridge were all excellent but none were true 360 degree views. We also enjoyed some nice views through the trees on the descent to the James River.
Streams/Waterfalls – 3. Matts Creek was lovely. And, of course you have to say something about the James River!
Wildlife – 4. We saw deer, snakes, and had a whippoorwill and a screaming fox at night two’s camp.
Ease to Navigate – 4. Follow the white blazes and you practically can’t get lost. The only thing slightly tricky was the big hairpin turn at Marble Spring.
Solitude – 2. We chose to hike this section on Memorial Day weekend… with perfect weather… during the thru-hiker bubble. While we didn’t see crowds on the trail, camping spots were very crowded.

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

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: To drop off first car: From I-81, take exit 188A to merge on to US-60E towards Buena Vista. Go 3.9 miles and then take a right on to US-501S at the Hardee’s. Follow 501S for 14.9 miles until you reach the parking lot on the right for the Appalachian Trial crossing. To get to starting point for this section: Take a left out of the parking lot and go 5.6 miles on US-501N. Take a left on to VA-130W and go 6.2 miles. VA-130 ends here. Take a left to go on to US-11/Lee Highway heading south and then take the exit for I-81S. Go 1.7 miles and take a right across from the Exxon to stay on US-11S. Go .4 miles and then merge on to I-81S. Go 7 miles and take exit 168 to merge on to VA-614 toward Arcadia. Turn left on to VA-614/Arcadia Rd. Follow this as it becomes Jennings Creek Road. At 4.7 miles, you will reach the parking area and where the Appalachian Trail crosses the road. Head north to start your hike.

Appalachian Trail – Harpers Ferry to Bears Den Rocks

June 6, 2015June 13, 201810 Comments

This 20.5 mile Appalachian Trail section had some views and a ton of pleasant ridge walking! We joined up with our friend, Kris, and tackled it on an unseasonably hot spring weekend. Adam will cover day one and Christine will take over with day two!

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Potomac River in Harpers Ferry — We crossed the Potomac River at the beginning of our hike out of Harpers Ferry. Below: When we parked at Bears Den, we got to play with this adorable puppy while waiting for our shuttle driver; We had our official ATC section hiker photo made; It was Flip-Flop Kick Off when we visited; The ATC had vendors and information tents set up; Someone brought a hawk; Finally getting our hike underway!

Day One (12.3 miles)…

This section of the Appalachian Trail had us doing something we had not done before – arranging a shuttle. We have covered most of the AT within an hour or two of where we live using our own two cars to shuttle. But as we hike further from home, self-shuttling has become inconvenient and costly. If you are thinking of covering any sections of the AT, I would strongly recommend picking up the latest version of The A.T. Guide by David “AWOL” Miller (often referred as the AWOL Guide). It’s a must-have for planning purposes. Included in the book are elevation profiles, things to see along the trail, road junctions, as well as information on nearby towns, where to find the post office, grocery stores for resupplies, laundromats, hostels, and shuttle providers. This book is updated yearly, so the information provided is very current and helpful. Many thru-hikers carry these books along and they will often rip out pages of the AT once they have covered them, hopefully finishing the trek with nothing more than the binding. I will admit that it felt a little odd to call a number of an individual that I found in a book to find a ride, but these shuttle providers are some of the unsung heroes of the trail, helping to make the logistics of the trip much easier along the way. We worked out a pick up time and agreed on a price.

I arranged for our shuttle driver to meet us at Bears Den. We got there early, so we were able to explore a bit before our shuttle arrived. Bears Den is a hiker hostel, providing showers, lodging, and mail drops for long-distance AT hikers. Day-use hikers pay $3 to park in the lot. Bears Den looked like a stone cottage you would find in Europe. The grounds were kept up nicely and we were excited that this would be the endpoint on the trip. We met up with our shuttle driver, who took us on a scenic, horse-country drive to Harpers Ferry. The shuttle driver used to be the manager of Bears Den, but now just lives nearby. In addition to being a shuttle driver, he’s also a former thru-hiker (as many of these shuttle drivers are – after hiking, shuttling is one way they give back and keep in touch with the AT community.) On the ride, he told us about his favorite parts of the trail, what we would see, and even some tales about other shuttles he had provided. He explained that he had gotten one call in the wee hours of the morning recently to pick up a hiker that had been bitten and sprayed by a rabid skunk. Too say the least, these trail angels really go the extra mile for the hiking community.

Leaving Harpers Ferry on a tree-lined path. Below: Red columbine – a favorite wildflower; The climb out of Harpers Ferry is steep and has very few switchbacks; Leaving the National Park area.

We asked to be dropped off at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy & Visitor Center in Harpers Ferry, WV. Thru-hikers and section hikers typically stop by the ATC Visitor Center and have a photo taken in front of the building. ATC staffers take a photo, assign you a hiker number, and have you write information about yourself on the border before adding it to a photo album. You can go back years later and check out all the people that have made it this far along the trail. Since this was the section that brought us through Harpers Ferry, it was time for us to have our photo done. Our trail names are “12th Man” (for my love of the Seattle Seahawks) and “Sugar Rush” (for Christine’s love of candy before tackling a big climb). It was fun to finally be officially added to the hiker album.

We had looked in advance and had seen the ATC was having the Flip Flop Kick Off weekend event. The hope was to have the hikers split their trip at this halfway point in WV to keep hikers from clustering together too much. One example would be north-bounders going from Georgia to Maine to stop here at this midway point and then go up to Maine and hike back down to WV. They had a cookout, vendors, games, and wildlife exhibits along the back lawn (throughout the weekend they were hosting pack shakedowns, talks, and bands). When we walked through with our backpacks, we heard a few people getting excited that ‘hikers were coming’. I didn’t have the heart to tell them we were just out for the weekend, but based on how clean and fresh-smelling we were, I’m sure most of them could have guessed we weren’t out for the long haul. We didn’t stay long at the event, since it was getting close to 11AM and we hadn’t even started our hike yet.

One of the volunteers pointed us to a blue-blazed trail that led to the Appalachian Trail. On our way to meet the AT, we walked across the grounds of former Storer College, a historically black college that opened its doors as a school to educate freed slaves. Open for 88 years, Storer’s funding was cut in 1955 after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling came in to desegregate public schools. The school was forced to close. The blue blazes continued down a series of steps and before we knew it we were on the Appalachian Trail. We turned right to head south along the trail, heading downhill. The trail came to a quick road crossing and then headed up to the large bridge along US-340 that crosses the Shenandoah River. We walked along the roadside on the bridge with cars whizzing by, but the view off the side of the bridge was breathtaking. This river is dotted with large and small boulders in the rapid-infused river, causing this to be a hotspot for kayakers.

So Many Redbuds — The woods were brilliantly colored with blooming redbuds. Below: Crossing powerlines gave us an open view; Taking a rest at Keys Gap on the VA/WV border; Christine does blister first-aid for Kris.

At the end of the bridge, the trail leads down stairs and goes under US-340 to the other side. The trail then begins its steepest climb in this section as you ascend towards Loudoun Heights. At 1.4 miles, you cross over WV 32 and at 2.0 miles, we reached the top of Loudoun Heights and a sign for the VA-WV border. Take a right to stay on the Appalachian Trail. The trail goes downhill and levels out for an easy walk and we had our lunch along the side of the trail. At 4.4 miles, we came to some power lines, which created some open views to the side. The trail begins to climb slowly. At 5.9 miles, we arrived at Keys Gap parking lot and took a short break to fix a blister forming on Kris’ foot. We crossed over WV 9 and continued our slow ascent. At 8.9 miles, we reached the side trail that led to the David Lesser Memorial Shelter. This shelter was a nice stop and there was even a swing to kick our feet up and enjoy a snack. We were tempted to stay here for the evening, but decided to push onward. At 9.4 miles, we reached a small side trail that led uphill a short distance to a view at Buzzard Rocks.

Signing the Shelter Log — Christine signs the shelter log at David Lesser. Below: David Lesser is a fantastic shelter with a covered dining area, sleeping shelter and porch swing; Buzzards Rock is about a half mile south of the shelter; Laurel Springs boardwalk.

Getting back to the trail and pushing on, we came to the Laurel Springs boardwalk at 10.4 miles. This was a long stretch of planks to walk on, which protects the trail from getting too harmed during wetter times. After the boardwalk, the trail continues to climb. Around 12 miles, there is a small trail to the right which gives you the best views of the day. At 12.1 miles, we reached the junction sign that pointed us to the Blackburn AT Center. As we descended the steep trail, we became worried as we saw lots of tents along the hillside (most belonging to a large group of Boy Scouts), wondering if we would have a place to camp. We found the last open site and set up our camp.

I struggled a lot this day. About four weeks earlier, I had pulled a muscle in my back. My doctor said it could take a few months to heal. I had been taking muscle relaxers and alternating ice and heat on my back for weeks. While I felt I could do this trip, I was dealing with a pinching pain with every step and it hurt even worse whenever I was going uphill. This challenge took a lot out of me and by the end, I had enough and wasn’t enjoying myself. Sometimes you just hit rock bottom.

Kris had told us a story about five miles into the trip about how after an extremely long bike ride how she had gone into a store and drank a soda and how great it tasted. Well, that thought of a refreshing, cold soda lasted with me for the rest of the day. After we set up camp, we walked steeply down to the Blackburn AT Center to get water. We talked to the caretakers, Chris and Sandra, for a while and they pointed out where we could fill up our water from their well. Sandra then went into her kitchen and said, “Can I get you a cold soda?” I can only imagine what my face would have looked like at that moment, but I felt such euphoria. The soda tasted like sweet ambrosia to me and their kindness had fully restored my faith in humanity. The caretakers were so nice to us and great conversationalists. They maintain a lot of the trails throughout this area also. The Blackburn AT Center is definitely a place I would like to visit and possibly stay again.

We made our way back up to our campsite for the evening and cooked our meals. We set up a small fire and talked until it got dark. We retreated to our tents, sleeping under a full moon. It was a tough day, but we made it.

Day Two (8.4 miles)…

I love the feeling of being naturally awoken by the rising sun and sound of singing birds. When morning came on this trip, I peeked out the mesh of our tent door and saw the pinks, purples, and golds of dawn spreading across the valley below our campsite. It was gorgeous! The Boy Scouts camped nearby were starting to stir – lots of muffled voices and tent zippers unzipping.

Sunrise over the Blackburn Trail Center. Below: We decided to cook breakfast at the Trail Center instead of at our campsite; Oatmeal, coffee, cheese, honeybuns; Trillium on our way out of the Trail Center.

Adam, Kris, and I were all awake and out of our tents a little before 7:00. I went and got our bear hang down and started deflating my sleeping pad and pillow. We collectively decided to pack everything up and take our stove and food bags down to the Blackburn Trail Center for a civilized breakfast. The picnic table and comfortable seating were more inviting than sitting in the dirt near our fire pit.

Adam had oatmeal and a jumbo honeybun. I had oatmeal, coffee, and cheese sticks. Kris tried a Mountain House egg dish and declared it ‘odd and spongey’ – most of it ended up in the compost pile. After finishing our meal, we said a regretful goodbye to Blackburn. What a great place to camp for a night!

Hiking Along the AT — The first few miles of our morning were easy and pleasant ridge walking. Below: Negotiating a big blowdown; Now entering the roller coaster; Native azalea in bloom.

After the short, steep climb from the trail center back to the Appalachian Trail, the first few miles of hiking for the day were pleasant and fairly flat. We made quick progress – enjoying abundant wildflowers and blooming trees. We passed through Wilson Gap before reaching the northern end of the ‘Roller Coaster’ four miles into our hike for the day. The Roller Coaster is 13.5 miles of steep, closely-spaced, rocky ups and downs. (we just did the northern portion of the roller coaster on this section… more to come on our next section south.)

A little over a half mile into the Roller Coaster we reached the spectacular viewpoint of Raven Rocks. There were already plenty of dayhikers enjoying the view, but we found our own little spot to rest. We all took our packs off and reclined on the rocks. It was a beautiful spot with panoramic views. We were lucky enough to visit when the native Pinxter azaleas were in bloom.

Ravens Rock — Adam takes in the spectacular view from Raven Rocks. Below: Kris rests in the shade; We saw a big black snake; The roller coaster is very rocky set of steep, closely spaced ups and downs.

After leaving Raven Rocks, we had a steep rocky descent that led to a shallow stream crossing. After the stream, there was another steep climb and another steep descent to another shallow stream. I guess it’s called a roller coaster for good reason! Ups and downs, followed by mores ups and downs. By the time we got to this part of the trail, the day had already become fairly hot and humid, and we all felt pretty tired on the climbs. It’s always a little surprising how much tougher climbing can be in the direct sun and heat with a large pack. The oddest part of this section was all the blood we saw on the trail. For about 2-3 miles there were fresh droplets of blood on the ground every 5-6 feet. I guess someone really had a bad day on the roller coaster!

At about 7.5 miles into our hike we descended to Snickers Gap. We stepped out of the woods onto busy Route 7. Cars were flying by at 55-65 mph. We had to cross the road and then walk up the shoulder of the road until reaching the trail again. When your legs are fatigued, it’s hard to run fast across a four lane highway. It was like Frogger with backpacks!

On the other side of Route 7 was our last climb of the day! We walked uphill for another .6 miles to the rocky outcropping of Bears Den Rocks. We spent some time relaxing and enjoying the view before walking a few more tenths of a mile to the Bears Den hostel where we had left our car parked. We posed for a group victory photo in front of the hostel, took off our boots and packs, and sunk into the wonderful air-conditioning of the vehicle.

We were all starving, so we stopped for a quick lunch at the Horseshoe Curve Restaurant right out on Route 7. The restaurant had been advertised in our AWOL Guide and on the back of the trail information kiosk at the road crossing, so we decided to give it a go. Sandwiches, french fries, and cold drinks definitely hit the spot! Even though we were all filthy and tired, we also decided to make a stop at Veramar Vineyard to share some wine and toast our hike. We got a bottle of their Seyval Blanc and found a few Adirondack chairs with a view of the ridge we had just traversed.

It was a great weekend for our first backpacking trip of the season. Honestly, the more I backpack, the more I WANT to backpack! I love being out on the trail!

Trail Notes

Distance – 20.5 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike [Day One] [Day Two])*
Elevation Change – 3882 ft.
Difficulty – 3.5. The distance makes this tough, but overall is manageable.
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail was in great shape. We only came across one tree blowdown the entire trip.
Views – 3. The best views of the trip were from Bears Den rocks at the end of the trip.
Streams/Waterfalls – 2. There weren’t any streams and only one reliable water source on the first day (at the Blackburn AT Center). The second day, there were several streams through the area of the Roller Coaster.
Wildlife – 2. We didn’t see much wildlife on this section. There were lots of pretty songbirds at the Blackburn AT Center.
Ease to Navigate – 3.5. Pay attention to signs for the AT. It should be fairly easy to follow.
Solitude – 2. We saw a good number of people throughout the trail, but most were where you would have expected them – the shelters, hiking a short distance from Harpers Ferry, and at Bears Den Rocks. We also saw several trail runners on the Roller Coaster.

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

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: To get to Bears Den to leave one car, from I-81, take exit 315 for VA-7 E toward Berryville. Turn left on VA-7 E and go 17 miles. Turn right on State Route 601 and go .4 miles. A sign shows you are entering Bears Den. Go to the second parking lot and leave a car there. Be sure to pay for your day-use fee.
For the second vehicle: Head out of Bears Den and turn left on State Route 601. In .4 miles, take a left on VA-7 W. In about 4 miles, take a right on to State Route 612/Shepherds Mill Road. Follow this for 4.3 miles until it ends at US 340. Take a right here and continue to follow US 340 N for 14.6 miles through Charles Town and approaching Harpers Ferry. At the Econo Lodge, take a left on to Union Street. Follow that .4 miles and take a right on to Washington Street. Follow that .2 miles to reach the ATC Center. If someone is not dropping you off, you should ask inside where you could leave a car overnight, since there are parking restrictions near the center.

Apple Orchard Falls – Cornelius Creek Loop

May 18, 2015August 28, 20153 Comments

This 6-mile hike is jam-packed with spectacular stream scenery and waterfalls – the most impressive being the 200 foot Apple Orchard Falls.

View the Full Album of Photos From This Hike

Christine Says…

Apple Orchard Falls has been on our ‘must hike’ list for years now, and I’m so glad we finally got out there and did it! It’s a bit of a drive from our home-base of the central Shenandoah valley, but it was well worth the trip! We hiked it on a cool, rainy day in mid-April. We thought we’d have the trail all to ourselves, but as our car bumped along the forest road nearing the parking area, a runner went by. Then three more runners… and then a cluster of ten. Pretty soon we realized that there was some kind of race going on in the vicinity. It turns out we picked the same day as the Promise Land 50K for our hike. We ended up sharing the first half of our six-mile route with 300+ trail runners.

They were all friendly folks, but it was a little stressful to constantly be looking over my shoulder, watching to make sure there wasn’t a racer on my heels, needing to pass. I certainly didn’t want to get in anyone’s way as they cruised toward victory or a personal record! I still enjoyed the gorgeous stream scenery as we ascended alongside North Creek. The sound of the water was soothing. The hillsides along the trail were covered with trillium and purple wild geraniums. The air was filled with a light misty rain and all the trees were unfurling their brilliant spring green leaves. With all these pleasures along the trail, I tried my best not to let the constant stream of passing racers disrupt the zen-like peace.

Christine checks out the creek early in the hike. Below: We hike the loop on the same day the Promised Land 50K was running. It made for a crowded trail; Trillium was blooming everywhere; Pretty little rapids on the creek.

The trail was in great shape and ascended steadily and moderately uphill. There were several sturdy footbridges across the creek on our hike up. Around 1.3 miles into the hike, the climb became a little steeper and rockier. Right before reaching the base of the falls, we passed through a jumble of huge boulders. At first, we could only see the falls through the trees. They were majestic, but obscured by the foliage. We continued uphill, making a wide switchback before coming to a curved wooden bridge and a viewing platform at the base of the fall’s largest plunge.

Adam set up my tripod and I spent some time photographing the waterfall from a variety of angles. I wish the trees around the falls had been a little more ‘leafed out’. The green would have made an even more attractive frame for the falls, but it was still very nice. I was challenged by the rain – which was beginning to fall at a steadier pace. Droplets kept landing on my lens, and making blurry bubbles on each of my photos. I used a hat as an umbrella as much as I could. While we were enjoying the waterfall, the bulk of the racers passed us by.

After leaving the falls, we climbed the 175 stairs above the falls. About halfway up the stairs, we caught our one open view of the hike – a pretty peek out over a spring green valley. Shortly after the top of the stairs, we passed another small waterfall. There was a nice established campsite near the smaller fall. What a idyllic place to spend a night! In fact, we saw many great campsites all along this loop. I think it would make a great beginner backpacking trip or short gear shakedown route.

Bridge — There were several sturdy, well-constructed bridges on the trail toward the falls. Below: Just before reaching the falls you climb through an opening between huge boulders; The viewing deck for the falls is very nice; Adam checks out the falls.

About a third of a mile past the small waterfall, we reached Apple Orchard Road, which is a grassy fire road that connects to the Cornelius Creek trail. The racers all continued uphill toward the Blue Ridge Parkway. We turned right and followed the fire road for about a mile to its intersection with the Cornelius Creek Trail. Fire roads are typically sort of dull, but this one was actually quite nice – lush green, curvy, and decorated with wildflowers – more trillium, geraniums, violets, and enormous dense patches of Dutchman’s Breeches.

The Cornelius Creek trail was probably my favorite part of the hike. The racers were off our tail, and I could fully focus on the spring forest and sound of flowing water. The rain was coming down steadily, so my photo opportunities were a bit limited. Hopefully, I captured enough to adequately convey the feel of Cornelius Creek. It was lovely with so many small cascades and swimming holes. The only real challenge on this part of the hike were the two significant stream crossings. The first (pictured at the top of the post) was wide, but not very deep. Our toes got a little wet. But the second was quite deep, wide, and fast-moving. We packed all of our camera gear and electronics away in dry bags and plunged in. Even rock-hopping, the water came halfway up to my knees. The footing was small, shifty, and slick! Thankfully, we made it across without falling completely into the water! The last bit of walking was done with sodden shoes and socks – that squishy feeling is always so weird!

When we got back to the car the first thing I did was take off my soaked shoes and socks and put on flip flops! Then we were off on our way for a well-deserved lunch at Peaks of Otter!

Adam Says…

We got up early to hit the road and beat the crowds on this hike. With a gloomy day with some rain scheduled around the early afternoon, we wanted to make the best use of our day. When we first saw the runners on the gravel road, I thought well at least they are going in the opposite way. We parked our car at the end of the road and there was a race stop set up for people to check in, get some snacks and water and keep running. Little did we know we would see most of them all again on the trail.

We got out of our car and found out that there were going to be runners on the trail. We thought we would at least try to get a head start, so we jumped on the trail right away. We took the blue-blazed Apple Orchard Falls trail left of the kiosk that came to a wooden bridge almost immediately. We soon came across the first runner of the day on the trail, who we heard ended up coming in 2nd in the race. Along the trail, there were funny signs to try and inspire the runners along the way (and most were done with Game of Thrones references). At .2 miles, take a right at the intersection to stay on the trail.

Spring Green — A view into the valley on our way up the stairs. Below: Adam takes in a side view of the falls; Climbing the famous stairs, the smaller waterfall above Apple Orchard Falls.

The trail continues along North Creek for a steady uphill. At 1.2 miles, you reach a couple of bridges and a small creekside campsite. Crossing over the second bridge, the trail becomes steeper uphill. Eventually, you get some views of the falls to the right as you make the climb up. But don’t worry, the trail leads right up to the falls. The climb up to the falls is also very steep. But, as you reach the falls at 2.0 miles, there is a nice bench and platform, inviting you to take your time to enjoy the views. We stayed here for a while and saw a ton of runners pass by. Some of them just took a quick glance, some walked slowly by, but one guy stopped to take a picture. I guess the runners had different levels of competitiveness and different levels of exhaustion at this stage of the race.

The trail continues on and winds around the hillside before beginning a series of stairs. Along the climb, there was a nice viewpoint that gave you glimpses of mountains to the west. We continued uphill along the trail until we reached another waterfall around 2.3 miles. There was a nice campsite by this waterfall also and we thought it would be a great overnight stop for a backpacking trip. At 2.5 miles, we reached a junction with a fire road. We took this fire road to the right. At 3.7 miles, the trail meets a junction with the Cornelius Creek Trail. We headed straight to start the Cornelius Creek Trail. This trail descends quite steeply. As we had seen the runners on this trail when we first arrived at the parking lot, I felt that I too was having to run down the steepness of this trail in the beginning. Be careful where you step, since the trail is incredibly steep and filled with loose rock, begging for a twisted ankle or fall. At 4.2 miles, the trail runs along Cornelius Creek.

Walking the Cornelius Creek Trail — Christine walks along in the rain. Below: Most of the hike closely follows water; A lovely little cascade on the Cornelius Creek Trail; Post hike beers at Apocalypse Ale Works.

Cornelius Creek was a long exposure photographer’s dream. There were so many spots where you saw small waterfalls and swimming holes along the way. Contrasted with the lush green forest, it was truly beautiful to see. We did have to cross Cornelius Creek a couple of times and with any recent rain, you are likely going to get your feet wet. Be careful as there are some deep holes along the creek crossings that could have you up to your waist if you don’t step carefully. We made it across and continued our hike. The rain was coming down fairly steadily, so we didn’t stop a lot for fear of ruining camera gear, but it was one of the most beautiful creekside hikes you will see in Virginia. Right before you return to the parking lot, you’ll see a large campsite (with even a rope swing put in). We got back to the parking lot at the 6 mile marker.

On our way back home, we took a detour and drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway to have lunch at Peaks of Otter. My family used to picnic here yearly, so this spot always holds a near and dear place in my heart. We had a nice lunch with music from a local singer. We decided also to stop by Apocalypse Ale Works brewery for one of our favorite post-hike things to do – beer sampling. The drive back home was rainy most of the day, but we felt like we had accomplished a lot on a dreary day.

Trail Notes

Distance – 6 miles
(Check out the stats from Map My Hike)*
Elevation Change – 1438 ft.
Difficulty – 3. This is a great moderate hike!
Trail Conditions – 4. The trail is very pleasant to walk. Sturdy bridges and a wide viewing platform are available so the walk up to the falls along North Creek is pleasant and safe. There are a couple crossings on the Cornelius Creek descent that can be tricky when there has been recent rain.
Views – 2. There is one nice view when you’re climbing the stairs after visiting Apple Orchard Falls.
Streams/Waterfalls – 5. Spectacular – you are within view of the stream for most of the hike.
Wildlife – 1. Too many people to see much wildlife!
Ease to Navigate – 4. The signs make this route pretty easy to follow. There are several places where trails go in multiple directions, but this route is well marked.
Solitude – 0. It’s supposedly the most popular hike in Jefferson National Forest. It was cool and rainy when we hiked it, so there weren’t many other day hikers. But there were 300+ racers on the trail with us.

Download a Trail Map (PDF)

Directions to trailhead: From I-81, take exit 168 for VA-614 toward Arcadia. Turn on to VA-614 heading east and go 3.3 miles. Turn left on to North Creek Road. Go 2.8 miles and turn right on to an unnamed road*. This road is a gravel road. Follow it for 2.2 miles until you reach the large parking lot. The trail starts left of the kiosk. Right of the kiosk, the trail going uphill is your return route. *Since this unnamed road can’t be found on GoogleMaps, I would suggest printing the trail map above to have a way to find this road.

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.

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.