SNP south: Brown Mountain, Patterson Ridge

The southern district of Shenandoah National Park is my favorite, but also the most distant, so more often than not I'm down that way only when the weather is ideal. The mountains feel bigger and more remote and the crowds fewer. But it had been some time since I'd hiked down south, and Saturday's forecast looked good, sunny with low humidity. As fellow hiker Steve and I headed over Saturday morning, it was evident the humidity would not be low- the marine layer had worked further inland than forecast, and it would be a moist hike under hazy skies.
Brown Mountain Overlook is a fine spot to start a hike. The views are superb, and one sees much of hike route from the overlook. The views were hazy but fine nonetheless. Vegetation was still damp from overnight dew as we hit the trail at quarter past nine. With light winds and high humidity, vegetation was still wet hours later. The hike begins with a downhill to a saddle where the Rocky Mountain Run trail branches and descends to Big Run. From here the Brown Mountain Trail climbs to rocky views on Rocky Mountain, then descends a bit before climbing again to more views from Brown Mountain. I had charted out a route to King and Queen Rocks, but the bushwhack looked more than desired, so will wait for a winter outing. Views of Rockytop and the Big Run drainage dominate, and the crumbly rocks offer a little scrambling. On the descent to Big Run, King and Queen Rocks are prominent towers on the steep west slope of Brown Mountain.
Big Run was lazy. Minnows and tadpoles swam in the shallow pools, while butterflies congregated for a drink from mossy clusters. Butterflies don't like to have their pictures taken, but these eventually allowed us to do so. It was comfortable under the steel bridge over Big Run, and oddly this was the only place that had any breeze. Further up Big Run bright red wildflowers were blooming, crickets chirping, and snakes sunning on rocks. With the lack of wind, the sounds of the late summer forest were everywhere.
After the gentle uphill on the Bigh Run Portal came the steep climb up Patterson Ridge. I've never encountered other hikers on Patterson Ridge, but this hike had several. No bears, but plenty signs of their presence. It was a sweaty climb up Patterson Ridge, so much so that my socks became damp from sweat running down the legs. With high humidity and no wind, there was no evaporation. I guess climbing nearly 1700 feet at 3 mph didn't help. I passed a backpacker struggling up the ridge. He had spent the night along Big Run, and had seen two bears the previous evening. He had planned to backpack Wildcat Ridge, but was warned of a problem bear in that area.
This is the year of blackberry shakes, and Loft Mountain Wayside was a planned stop for one, along with fries and a soda. The wayside was busy. Butterflies aplenty were on the thistle and other flowers here and drawing a small crowd of onlookers. After the meal came a leisurely climb up the moss covered paved walkway leading from the wayside to the campground. We made a water stop at the Loft Mountain amphitheater, which provides a commanding view of Rockytop and other west-side peaks, with the Massanutten vaguely visibly through the moisture laden air. We picked up the Appalachian Trail via the short spur from the amphitheater, then followed it north as it makes a sweeping arc around the campground. Hiking the AT was nearly a bushwhack in a couple spots, with dense vegetation encroaching both sides of the trail between the campground and the camp store. We followed the AT to Ivy Creek Overlook, stopping at the viewpoint atop Loft Mountain and my personal favorite AT nook on the knob behind Rockytop Overlook. Ivy Creek was flowing gently, and the first real breeze of the day came at Ivy Creek Overlook. A Drive walk back to Brown Mountain Overlook concluded this 17.5 mile hike.

Pictures

SNP north: Overall Run, Piney Branch

Failing to link up with the thru-hikers I've been following opened up last Saturday for a good long hike in Shenandoah. Seeking bear sightings, I chose a couple remote trails in the north district, Piney Branch on the east side and Beecher Ridge on the west side. Completing the 21+ mile circuit would be Overall Run and Piney Ridge, accessing the Park from the Thompson Hollow Trail on the west side south of Front Royal. Accompanying me on this trek was fellow hiker Steve. Not hearing Overall Run on approach, I knew the midweek storm had not done much to help the water situation. Overall Run Trail is quite rocky in the lowlands but becomes less so as switchbacks climb to viewpoints above and across from Overall Run Falls. Not expecting much from the falls, I was not disappointed finding it a mere trickle. Last time here Overall Run Falls was a frozen curtain of ice.

The climb continued all the way to the Appalachian Trail, accumulating about 2500 feet along the way. The AT was a connector leg to the Sugarloaf Trail. We stopped at the standard rock outcrop above Hogback Overlook, but something was different... the old dead tree, the subject of many a picture, was gone! It finally gave way to the storm, one too many handholds, or foul play. I'll miss that old tree. I scrambled around the rocks there, and soon found myself among assorted cans and trash under the rock jumble. Climbing out, I found that the now downed tree makes a good foot and hand hold for working around the rocks. It was good to put my old friend to some use.

After descending Sugarloaf, we headed over to the Piney Branch Trail on the Pole Bridge Link Trail, where we met PATC trail maintainer Casey and talked trail awhile. His stretch of trail was in top-notch condition, as were most trail segments. Piney Branch had a couple trees down and some nettles, but was in good shape for summer. I'd chosen Piney Branch for this hike in hopes of finding a Turk's cap lily in bloom, but none were found. I'd come across one at the first crossing in early August 2008. The forest was alive with cicadas all along Piney Branch and much of Piney Ridge. The highlight of this hike was simply the sound of the forest.

Piney Ridge was the second major climb. The climb up to the ridge (at the junction with Fork Mountain Trail) gets quite steep. I stopped briefly at the small cemetery just past the junction, then continued up Piney Ridge. I had a good pace going and was well ahead of Steve as I neared the AT, so I found a good resting tree and using my daypack as a headrest, laid back and stared up at the tree tops for a spell. Steve caught up, then we took water from the spring at Range View Cabin. There were ripening blackberries here and we sampled a few. More were found on the AT. They should be ripe for picking this weekend. We cut over to Skyline Drive on the Piney Branch parking access trail, then crossed the Drive and headed down the road towards Mathews Arm campground.

The next segment was the western half of Traces Nature Trail around the campground. This completes all blue-blazed north district trails for me. Out Mathews Arm and down Beecher Ridge we went, encountering several groups along the way. Prime bear territory, but as is standard for this year, no sightings. Beecher Ridge Trail goes through open forest, at times one can see quite a long distance. The area around the Beecher-Overall junction reminds me of Rockytop in the south district- warm and dry and looks like it's always warm and dry. It just has that feel.

After a steep drop to Overall Run, the rocky climb up dry Overall Run followed. The pools were very shallow and the run was dry or a trickle. We met a ranger at the Tuscarora junction. He recognized me, and I remembered him from the Thornton Gap entrance station when stopping in there for water two months ago. After talking with him awhile, we headed up and out Thompson Hollow, finishing our 21.5 miler with 4800' elevation gain in just over ten hours.

A break week. I hope to link up with my thru-hikers after they're done (they live near Warrenton).