Read the latest gossip about what happened on recent hikes. It is mostly true.
Sunday, August 16. Browns
Run, Massanutten. Undeterred by the 90 degree heat on this cloudless,
breezeless day Theresia Barger, Ron Radloff, Al and Andre Dahler, Mark and
Betty Gatewood, Malcolm and Lynn Cameron, Chad Churchman, Jerry Rensch, and new
member Sara Williams joined hike leader Michael Seth at Cloverleaf to hike this
newly completed trail. Proceeding
to historic Catherine Furnace we were further joined there by Liz Young, Eileen
from the Charlottesville chapter who her friend (name not recalled). Betty distributed her latest work of
art, a native thistle. We waited for
one car driven by the Camerons which took a wrong turn. After Lynn figured out the logistics we
dropped some cars off and drove to the FS Visitors Center on Route 211 where we
began our hike. We took the white
blazed Wildflower Trail to the orange blazed Massanutten Trail to the newly
completed pink blazed Browns Run Trail.
We hiked five miles through Browns Run Hollow, mostly uphill but well
shaded. It was a mystery how we
could begun our hike high up on Massanutten yet still do some much climbing, but
some things are just not fathomable.
There
was a discussion of rattlesnakes but none were seen; some birds were heard and
a few wildflowers observed including an appropriately named Brown’s Knapweed
(Brown’s Knapweed growing on Browns Run) which Mark identified. A constant
chatter took place, as people caught up on the news, got to know each other
better and tackled major world problems.
Ron joined by others began to complain of hunger pains. We eventually
stopped and sat on some logs cut when the trail was being completed. Here we had our lunch. Betty cruelly taunted some of us who
were so hot and dry with her thermos of ice cold tea. In fairness she did offered a sip. Penny shared some chocolate. After lunch it was mostly
downhill as we descended on the Roaring Run Trail for about two and a half
miles. We repeatedly crossed
Roaring Run on the way down, which was easy since it was completely dry most of
the way. Some of us can remember
wading across it in the past, when it lived up to its name. We finished in
reasonable time. There was the usual risqué group photo which Eileen, Al and
Michael had the decency not to participate in; and after retrieving the cars at
the visitor’s center we took off in different directions.
Added note by Lynn Cameron: After the hike leader abandoned his flock to retrieve his car before the group photo, all the remaining hikers were left wondering how they would retrieve their cars and make it home. The group was able to come up with a plan that involved a lot of shifting of stuff in Ron Radloff’s truck. The leader eventually returned with his car, not realizing he had abandoned his flock. Sunday, August 23. Carr Mountain Worktrip. Malcolm Cameron, Michael Seth, and Mike Leahy joined Mark Gatewood at Memorial Hall in Harrisonburg. We then proceeded to Blue Hole near Bergston where we met Tom Johnson and Becky, a through hiker visiting Tom who took time off to help us. The six us made it up the barely discernable Forest “Road” 312 to the trailhead of the Carr Mountain Trail a new section of the Great Eastern Trail. There was even a Great Eastern Trail blaze. We spent most of our efforts grading a section of trail starting at a point where the last worktrip in April ended. Michael calculated that we completed about one percent of the trail. Mark pointed out that most of the rest will be much easier to complete. Mark, Malcolm and Mike doggedly stuck to their Pulaskis and McLeods while Tom, Becky and Michael walked up Beech Lick Knob removing some brush along the way. Most of the original red ribbons marking the proposed trail have disappeared, so Tom is planning to come back and reblaze it. The weather was quite nice for August, sunny but not too hot or humid. Still it was hot enough that we appreciated the cold beers Tom provided at the end of the afternoon. Saturday, Sept. 12. Flying McLeods Worktrip. The Flying McLeods cleared four blowdowns up to 18" in diameter near Wildcat Ridge Parking then went on to regrade near Pinefield Gap. Al and Andre Dahler, John Shannon and two mates from Charlottesville attended. Sunday, Sept. 13 Ant Hill-Slate Lick Hike. 8 miles moderate. The weather was near perfect, the trails are seldom hiked but beautiful and fairly accessible, no car shuttle is necessary, and all the uphill is in the first couple miles. Surprisingly for such an ideal hike on an ideal day only three people showed up: Lynn Cameron, Ron Radloff and Michael Seth. What a nice time we three had. We took a slow leisurely pace, stopping at times to enjoy the beauty, quiet and admire the late summer/early fall wildflowers. We found the Slate Lick trailhead without difficulty. The previous time this hike was done that trail had disappeared and the hike became a bushwhack. But this time the trail was clearly marked and easy to walk. It passed the lake; surprisingly there was not a soul in sight. The last mile was a road walk. Michael said it would be nice if the car were here. Lynn and Ron thought so too, and had a plan- they would wait until the car appeared. A lonely hike leader then trudged the last mile and came by to pick them up. With the aid of Ron’s map reading skills and Lynn’s vague recollections about the area we found a quiet back road route to the Cloverleaf shopping center. Sunday, Sept. 27 Picnic and Annual Meeting at Braley Pond. About twenty-four people (a bit too many to name) gathered for our annual meeting, this year held a Braley Pond. We first took a three mile stroll following the trails that loop around the pond and then at noon had our picnic and meeting. The weather cooperated clearing after two days of rain, with pleasant early autumn temperatures. We were treated with a wide variety of goldenrods and asters as well as cardinal flowers. John Held and his entourage met us for the picnic, which made the day special for everyone. At the meeting President Mark Gatewood gave a state of the club address. The state of the club is sound, our membership is up and we are engaged in more trail work than ever before. This was followed by Karen Waterman who had her treasurer’s report written on a small yellow post it. Last year we received no revenue and had no expenditures. Thus we were able to balance our budget. Lynn Cameron spoke about the initiative to protect Shenandoah Mountain in whose shadow we were picnicking; and PATC VP for Operations Tom Johnson spoke about our involvement in the Great Eastern Trail. The business part of the meeting was admirably short with the focus on the great food folks brought. Hope all our meetings go as well.
Saturday-Sunday, October 10-11. Carr Mountain Camping and Worktrip. (Mark Gatewood reporting) Tom Johnson and I met at noon at the Blue Hole and spent the sunny, hot afternoon on the trail scouting the route. The weather changed overnight with wind and rain. In spite of a drizzly morning, all hands showed up: Sawyers Mike Caprara and Dave McLain, Susan Musante, Tim Hupp and Andrew Jenner - he who wrote the nice article about our spring work trip. Lynn and Malcolm Cameron joined us later in the day. The sawyers cut through some thirty blowdowns, ranging up to 30 inches in diameter, enabling the tread crew to cut sidehill. We probably added half a mile to the trail. We returned to camp late in the afternoon and I grilled hot dogs for the group. Lynn brought her wonderful salad of peppers, beans, corn and tomatoes. Several high-end beer varieties were available to sample. Tom celebrated this 69th birthday by having a second beer. Woo hoo!Only Lynn and Malcolm and Tom and I stayed Saturday night. We had a lovely campfire, most welcome as the evening temps dropped. Temps overnight dropped to about 40 with patches of frost. Before starting back to work on the trail, Malcolm and Lynn performed some repairs on Tom/s Car (which is actually Sharon's car, so he will have some talking to do when he gets home), tying up some plastic panels which the Grove Hollow Road dislodged. Lynn ("Kendra Burns") brought her video and tripod and recorded Tom speaking on the Great Eastern Trail. We put in another couple hours on the trail, by which time bright sunshine prevailed, heightening the foliage colors. We packed up tent city and reluctantly left around 1:00PM. Saturday, October 17. Benson Run-Shenandoah Mountain Trail loop hike. Mark and Betty Gatewood, Lynn and Malcolm Cameron and Michael Seth drove up the long rough forest road to Benson Run on a dark and unseasonably cold mid-October Saturday. Despite the overcast weather or maybe due to it, the fall colors were most impressive. Betty and Lynn brought their cameras and were busy throughout the day taking photos. The weather cooperated, it was cold with temperatures staying below 40 degrees, but it didn’t rain, there was no wind, just a few afternoon snow flurries. After the drive up, not recommended to anyone with vertigo, we commenced our hike to the Benson Run Trail. The trail itself was in a somewhat neglected state with lots of blowdowns. Each of us took various strategies negotiating them, crawling under, climbing over, finding a way around. Lynn came up with a unique method (you have to see the photo). We then took a so-called “shortcut” getting off the trail walking along a stream bed, more blowdowns and lots of nettle. Mark and Lynn forged ahead while Malcolm, Michael and Betty fell behind. Although both Malcolm and Michael had done the hike before, memories can play strange tricks. Convinced they had to work their way up the ridge on the right to get back on the trail they proceeded up a steep, laurel covered side of the wrong mountain with Betty innocently following. Relying on his instincts honed by much experience in the woods, Michael wanted to continue up the mountain even if it meant struggling through one laurel hell after another; but Malcolm realized the folly of this and they followed the stream and eventually got back on the trail. They caught up with Mark and Lynn who were having lunch unaware of the near disaster that had happened. After lunch we came upon an unmarked three way trail junction, luckily Lynn remembered which way to go. (Everybody remember – it’s the way you would least expect.) Then on to the Shenandoah Mountain Trail, arguably one of the most beautiful walks in the national forest. We saw some asters including the mountain aster that only grows at high altitudes, goldenrods, a single blooming harebell, weird mushrooms and lots of bear scat. Also lots of chestnuts with almost glowing yellow leaves. Sadly the hike came to an end. It took longer than expected, due to the rough condition of the trail, that fact that it was probably longer than the original estimation of eight miles, and because there were so many views to take in. Malcolm skillfully got everyone down the mountain before darkness fell. Saturday, October 31. Mill Creek Trail in Kelley Mountain-Big Levels area Mike and Karen Waterman, Theresia Barger, Lynn and Malcolm Cameron, Tom Johnson, and Emily, Ruth, and Dan from Charlottesville led by Michael Groah dropped off cars at the Coal Road and drove to Bald Mountain overlook to the start of the hike. We were greeted by gale force winds along the Blue Ridge Parkway at the beginning of the hike, but these soon subsided. As the wind calmed and the temperature climbed, we found ourselves wishing we had on shorts as we made our way down the long Mill Creek valley. The stream was low and easy to cross. The fall leaves were mostly down, and we crunched our way through them. An old strip mine made for unusual scenery. The first day of black powder season, we saw a number of trucks parked at both ends of the trail, but didn’t see any hunters along the trail. Noteworthy was a cave entrance right along the trail near the top of the Mill Creek Trail. It was unclear how long the hike was as no two sources agreed. It was somewhere between 7 and 9 miles. We finished early and just about everybody went to the Cheese Factory in Stuarts Draft. Other News: Mark reports: First week in September Betty and I did a section hike from Front Royal to Harpers Ferry, with shuttle support from Tom and Sharon Johnson. Highlights were hiking through the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area with huge tulip poplars, hiking into Harpers Ferry across the Shenandoah, and going to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy information center in HF and being warmly greeted by the staff there. The hospitality of the staff at the Bears Den Hostel was first rate, as were the pizza, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and sleeping in a bed with sheets and a pillow! Met several long-term hikers going both directions - LB, Journeyman and Trinket, Catfish (he did surgery on an ingrown toenail for our entertainment at Bears Den), and Tinkerbell, a flip-flop hiker ( did HF to Katahdin in the spring, then came back and started south at HF to finish at Springer Mountain this fall). We ran into Tinkerbell again in SNP when I was up scouting for our Sept 12 Flying McLeods work trip. The AT is quite a community of hikers and maintainers. David Kanagy and Michael Seth worked on the Massanutten Trail on Saturday October 10 starting from Fridley’s Gap to Morgan’s Run. When they reached the junction with the Morgan Run Trail they met Dale Wilson who had just completed clearing his trail. On October 25 Michael Seth helped a Korean television crew view look for scenic shots in the Shenandoah National Park for a film they were making. They saw a red tailed hawk, a barred owl and a bear cub posing in a tree, what luck. Lee Sheaffer took over guiding them around the next day and another volunteer helped on Tuesday. The television network will donate money to the PATC. Lynn and Malcolm Cameron worked on the Grooms Ridge Trail in September, replacing water bars that had recently been removed by the Forest Service. In early October Lynn and Malcolm drove to Flagpole Knob and hiked on to Meadow Knob to take photos and met about 200 motorcyclists on their annual Northern Virginia rally. Good progress is being made on the Shenandoah Mountain Proposal. On October 1, Lynn made a presentation on the Shenandoah Mountain Proposal to the Rockingham Bird Club, who endorsed the proposal unanimously. Afterwards, several RBC members furnished excellent bird photos for the slide show, web site, and brochure. Friends of Shenandoah Mountain also had a display at the Harrisonburg International Festival, the Virginia Environmental Assembly, and the Virginia Native Plant Society annual meeting during the fall. Several new local businesses have endorsed, as well as several major national organizations. Check the Friends web site for a full list: http://www.friendsofshenandoahmountain.org |