It was eerie out on the Neighbor Mountain Trail this past weekend. I've been hiking in Shenandoah for some years now, but had never hiked through a caterpillar forest before. The day was going to be a warm one, so it was an early start from Elkwallow Wayside for me and fellow hiker Steve. The early start was dual purpose- to beat the heat, and to finish in time to have a fine greasy meal at the wayside afterwards. We were on the trail shortly after 8am (early for non-marathon distances). The route was to be one giant loop, encompassing both west and east sides of the Park. From Elkwallow, we descended the Appalachian Trail and Jeremys Run Trail, then climbed Knob Mountain Cutoff and headed south on the Knob Mountain Trail. I had a good feeling about this hike. I've seen bears during previous hikes on nearly all the trail segments we'd be doing. Last year was a very dry year for me, bear-wise. Sure enough, on the climb up Knob Mountain came my first bear sighting of the year. A medium small fellow, took off running when he saw us. OK!
Ticks... no shortage of them out there. I never escape Knob Mountain without picking up a few. Black flies are out there too, those little blood suckers. Knob summit offers no views, just a post at the top to let you know you're there. It's a fine "walk in the woods" trail- well graded with excellent footing (as in very few rocks). The entire route was like this. Beyond Knob summit came the long switchbacked descent to Jeremys Run.
A large hiking group was heading up Jeremys Run Trail as we arrived (large as in 20+, with more stragglers trailing). We did a water resupply here. Steve's SteriPEN "Classic" did not like getting plunked into Jeremys Run. It seems to be a bit less durable than the "Adventurer" model. Just into the Neighbor Mountain climb, Steve spotted yellow lady's slipper beside the trail. I though they only came in pink! Then the trail got strange. The first indication of what to come was the light sound of something falling from the canopy near Jeremys Run. This was soon followed by a truly freaked-out hiker (part of that large group), asking "are the bugs always like this here?!". Yeah, the gnats and black flies, yep, they're pretty standard. That's not what he meant. He meant the caterpillars. Lot's of them. I still wasn't sure what he was on about. He turned around and asked if there were any still on him. There were. He was not having a pleasant time. "Get them off of me!". Well, now this was different, there I am picking caterpillars off this poor guy's backside. This guy was ready to be off the trail, and just may be scarred for life. OK... on up Neighbor Mountain. The stuff falling from the canopy got louder, and soon we entered the "caterpillar forest". Thousands of them, inch-worm caterpillars, each hanging in the air from its little silk thread. Dodging them left and right. They were everywhere. It was really cool! The noise we were hearing was "frass" dropping from the canopy, and the creepy crawlers were cankerworms. It was a unique experience, I must say. This must happen every year in numerous locations, but I had not seen it like this before. If one had a phobia of insects, this was not the place to be. I could understand why that poor guy was as spooked as he was. The caterpillar zone didn't climb very high, and were were soon past them. I was still plucking them off me at the AT junction.
The heat was on by now, and it came time to decide whether to stick with the original route or follow the AT back to Elkwallow, where a cold blackberry shake awaited. After a break at Bryd's Nest #4, we pushed on with the original route, crossing the Drive and descending Hull School Trail. It was muggy on the east side (is it me, or does it always seem to be more humid on the east side than on the west side?). After a water resupply from the North Fork Thornton River came the third big climb of the day- Hull School to a saddle, then steep Fork Mountain Trail and Piney Ridge Trail. That uphill did me in. The blackberry shake awaiting at the Wayside drove me on. I stopped to snap a shot of a black snake across the Fork Mountain Trail. Steve was taking a more deliberate pace, and I waited for him near the AT junction. Folks staying at Range View cabin were gathering wood, and when one asked about our route, their response was "all in one day?" (the second time asked that that on this hike). They mentioned the blackberry shake... "Oh yeah!" was my reply.
The mouth was watering on the AT slide down to Elkwallow. We got there at quarter to six. Door: locked. Hmmm... "no, no, NOOOO!"... they closed at 5:30pm! Talk about a letdown! Oh man, I was so ready for some high fat calories. Deflated, I settled for a buck-fifty root beer from the wayside soda machine and a sub picked up on the way home. I'm still recovering from that calorie deficit.
What's up with the closed overlooks? Pass Mountain, Beahms Gap, and Jeremys Run overlooks were closed. Blocked-off closed. I suspect others are closed too. Some sort of stimulus money renovations?
Ticks... no shortage of them out there. I never escape Knob Mountain without picking up a few. Black flies are out there too, those little blood suckers. Knob summit offers no views, just a post at the top to let you know you're there. It's a fine "walk in the woods" trail- well graded with excellent footing (as in very few rocks). The entire route was like this. Beyond Knob summit came the long switchbacked descent to Jeremys Run.
A large hiking group was heading up Jeremys Run Trail as we arrived (large as in 20+, with more stragglers trailing). We did a water resupply here. Steve's SteriPEN "Classic" did not like getting plunked into Jeremys Run. It seems to be a bit less durable than the "Adventurer" model. Just into the Neighbor Mountain climb, Steve spotted yellow lady's slipper beside the trail. I though they only came in pink! Then the trail got strange. The first indication of what to come was the light sound of something falling from the canopy near Jeremys Run. This was soon followed by a truly freaked-out hiker (part of that large group), asking "are the bugs always like this here?!". Yeah, the gnats and black flies, yep, they're pretty standard. That's not what he meant. He meant the caterpillars. Lot's of them. I still wasn't sure what he was on about. He turned around and asked if there were any still on him. There were. He was not having a pleasant time. "Get them off of me!". Well, now this was different, there I am picking caterpillars off this poor guy's backside. This guy was ready to be off the trail, and just may be scarred for life. OK... on up Neighbor Mountain. The stuff falling from the canopy got louder, and soon we entered the "caterpillar forest". Thousands of them, inch-worm caterpillars, each hanging in the air from its little silk thread. Dodging them left and right. They were everywhere. It was really cool! The noise we were hearing was "frass" dropping from the canopy, and the creepy crawlers were cankerworms. It was a unique experience, I must say. This must happen every year in numerous locations, but I had not seen it like this before. If one had a phobia of insects, this was not the place to be. I could understand why that poor guy was as spooked as he was. The caterpillar zone didn't climb very high, and were were soon past them. I was still plucking them off me at the AT junction.
The heat was on by now, and it came time to decide whether to stick with the original route or follow the AT back to Elkwallow, where a cold blackberry shake awaited. After a break at Bryd's Nest #4, we pushed on with the original route, crossing the Drive and descending Hull School Trail. It was muggy on the east side (is it me, or does it always seem to be more humid on the east side than on the west side?). After a water resupply from the North Fork Thornton River came the third big climb of the day- Hull School to a saddle, then steep Fork Mountain Trail and Piney Ridge Trail. That uphill did me in. The blackberry shake awaiting at the Wayside drove me on. I stopped to snap a shot of a black snake across the Fork Mountain Trail. Steve was taking a more deliberate pace, and I waited for him near the AT junction. Folks staying at Range View cabin were gathering wood, and when one asked about our route, their response was "all in one day?" (the second time asked that that on this hike). They mentioned the blackberry shake... "Oh yeah!" was my reply.
The mouth was watering on the AT slide down to Elkwallow. We got there at quarter to six. Door: locked. Hmmm... "no, no, NOOOO!"... they closed at 5:30pm! Talk about a letdown! Oh man, I was so ready for some high fat calories. Deflated, I settled for a buck-fifty root beer from the wayside soda machine and a sub picked up on the way home. I'm still recovering from that calorie deficit.
What's up with the closed overlooks? Pass Mountain, Beahms Gap, and Jeremys Run overlooks were closed. Blocked-off closed. I suspect others are closed too. Some sort of stimulus money renovations?
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