Where's spring? It's been eluding me on Saturday outings. There's the problem... avoid Saturday! Sometimes you just can't help it and there you are. As it was this past Saturday with fellow hikers Steve and Dan. Anticipating a government shutdown, this hike would be from the boundary (aren't they all?). Close the Drive, I say, and be free of "car people". Nothing better than a quiet Park. Alas, no shutdown, but who'd come out on such a dreary day. Quite a few it seemed.
Not much activity at the Whiteoak lot in Berry Hollow around 8:45am (I'm getting lazy for sure). 43 degrees under a gloomy overcast. The ragged clouds hugging the hills on the ride over reminded me a bit of the Smokies. Maybe we'll hike above the clouds on Hawksbill! Getting there would be via the direct approach, up Cedar Run to Hawksbill summit. Sure, there are signs of spring at the lowest levels- green and red buds that are just waiting for a reason to open, and a few bedraggled trillium. The two crossings of Cedar Run were reasonable. We ascended into the clouds near the upper crossing. These are perfect conditions for those long exposure shots I love to capture. Ample water, diffuse light, quite the perfect scene.
Dan noticed a remote sensor just off trail above the Cedar Run slide and pool. Looks new, probably measuring temperature. I guess the Park Service is doing some sort of study (any way to tap into that data network?). We met several groups of hikers coming down from the Drive. Some we'd see much later in the hike. We regrouped at cold and damp Hawksbill Gap in the dense eerie fog. Steve appeared as a shadow through the woods. We could wait and do Hawksbill later in the hike, with hopes of clearing, or now. It was somewhat brighter, so the hopes of climbing above the clouds said do Hawksbill now. We did. We remained in the clouds, though the sun's disk was briefly visible. Who'd be here on such a day? The summit platform was actually crowded, something I don't often see even in the best conditions. Many here were with the Northern Virginia Hiking Club.
Descending to Upper Hawskbill, we took the Skyland-Big Meadows Horse Trail to Fishers Gap. This stretch of trail is quite rocky in places, and has long been a "least favorite" of mine. This was Dan's first time on this segment, and his sentiment was pretty much in line. Winter hasn't been kind to this trail, as there are a number of blowdowns. In the fog (and otherwise), the trail has quite the remote feel about it. I didn't mind being here and one never finds others here. Once joined into the Rose River Loop Trail, the footing is as good as it gets, all the way to Fishers Gap.
At Fishers Gap, the fog was about as thick as any I've hiked in. You needed to know your trails to figure out where to go next. A trail junction marker could be less than 100 feet away and you'd never know it. A few cars appeared and disappeared. Needing no map or sense of direction, we picked up the AT and headed north, soon passing the blank rock outcrops along Franklin Cliffs. Pausing at the junction to Rock Spring Hut, a couple backpackers caught up. These were Itznot and J-Cracker, early season thru-hikers. They left Springer on February 5th. The Smokies hadn't been difficult, the snowy trail had been well trodden. The highlands north of there had been rather difficult. I mentioned Ewok, the thru-hiker we met in Georgia on his first day on the trail (as a northbounder) last May and later hiked with (as a southbounder) into SNP in early November. They remembered him well, and mentioned that he should be just about done. "Ewok finished last week" I told them. In Ewok's blog, these were the two NOBO thru-hikers that he'd played poker with at Chestnut Knob Shelter near Burke's Garden. Not expecting any thru-hikers this early, I had little trail magic to offer. I gave each some candy (Butterfinger Squares are a big hit).
We left the AT at Hawksbill Gap, descending the horse trail to Whiteoak Canyon, where we met some of the hikers from earlier. They'd gotten a bit lost in the thick fog, and were happy to hear they were headed towards Hawksbill Gap. We got to the upper falls in the clouds. Oh boy... descending Whiteoak Canyon on wet rocks! Add to that a knee going bad, and it was a grueling descent. Out of the clouds for the lower falls, we stopped briefly to admire, knowing the rough part of the descent was done.
I'm ready for warmth and greenery. Please!
Pictures
Not much activity at the Whiteoak lot in Berry Hollow around 8:45am (I'm getting lazy for sure). 43 degrees under a gloomy overcast. The ragged clouds hugging the hills on the ride over reminded me a bit of the Smokies. Maybe we'll hike above the clouds on Hawksbill! Getting there would be via the direct approach, up Cedar Run to Hawksbill summit. Sure, there are signs of spring at the lowest levels- green and red buds that are just waiting for a reason to open, and a few bedraggled trillium. The two crossings of Cedar Run were reasonable. We ascended into the clouds near the upper crossing. These are perfect conditions for those long exposure shots I love to capture. Ample water, diffuse light, quite the perfect scene.
Dan noticed a remote sensor just off trail above the Cedar Run slide and pool. Looks new, probably measuring temperature. I guess the Park Service is doing some sort of study (any way to tap into that data network?). We met several groups of hikers coming down from the Drive. Some we'd see much later in the hike. We regrouped at cold and damp Hawksbill Gap in the dense eerie fog. Steve appeared as a shadow through the woods. We could wait and do Hawksbill later in the hike, with hopes of clearing, or now. It was somewhat brighter, so the hopes of climbing above the clouds said do Hawksbill now. We did. We remained in the clouds, though the sun's disk was briefly visible. Who'd be here on such a day? The summit platform was actually crowded, something I don't often see even in the best conditions. Many here were with the Northern Virginia Hiking Club.
Descending to Upper Hawskbill, we took the Skyland-Big Meadows Horse Trail to Fishers Gap. This stretch of trail is quite rocky in places, and has long been a "least favorite" of mine. This was Dan's first time on this segment, and his sentiment was pretty much in line. Winter hasn't been kind to this trail, as there are a number of blowdowns. In the fog (and otherwise), the trail has quite the remote feel about it. I didn't mind being here and one never finds others here. Once joined into the Rose River Loop Trail, the footing is as good as it gets, all the way to Fishers Gap.
At Fishers Gap, the fog was about as thick as any I've hiked in. You needed to know your trails to figure out where to go next. A trail junction marker could be less than 100 feet away and you'd never know it. A few cars appeared and disappeared. Needing no map or sense of direction, we picked up the AT and headed north, soon passing the blank rock outcrops along Franklin Cliffs. Pausing at the junction to Rock Spring Hut, a couple backpackers caught up. These were Itznot and J-Cracker, early season thru-hikers. They left Springer on February 5th. The Smokies hadn't been difficult, the snowy trail had been well trodden. The highlands north of there had been rather difficult. I mentioned Ewok, the thru-hiker we met in Georgia on his first day on the trail (as a northbounder) last May and later hiked with (as a southbounder) into SNP in early November. They remembered him well, and mentioned that he should be just about done. "Ewok finished last week" I told them. In Ewok's blog, these were the two NOBO thru-hikers that he'd played poker with at Chestnut Knob Shelter near Burke's Garden. Not expecting any thru-hikers this early, I had little trail magic to offer. I gave each some candy (Butterfinger Squares are a big hit).
We left the AT at Hawksbill Gap, descending the horse trail to Whiteoak Canyon, where we met some of the hikers from earlier. They'd gotten a bit lost in the thick fog, and were happy to hear they were headed towards Hawksbill Gap. We got to the upper falls in the clouds. Oh boy... descending Whiteoak Canyon on wet rocks! Add to that a knee going bad, and it was a grueling descent. Out of the clouds for the lower falls, we stopped briefly to admire, knowing the rough part of the descent was done.
I'm ready for warmth and greenery. Please!
