Slackpacking SNP With Hootch in the Snow

“On Saturday HiMaintenance and I drove out to SNP for short hike/overnighter..

Arriving at 10:00 am we were greeted by a friendly park ranger who seemed to question our sanity. Apparently the weather report that I had been going on was a tad wrong, and instead of a chance of showers we were now looking at a chance of freezing rain and 2-4 inches of snow...

We pulled out our maps and regrouped. Thinking about the recent death of the x-c skieer, I painstakenly filled out the permit, with as much infomation as I could cram onto it. Instead of giving general info, I gave specific trails as well as time periods, cell phone numbers, a small gear list, anything that I could think of..

Due to the fact that they were threatening to close Skyline Drive, we parked outside the visitor center and hiked to the AT. We headed North fom 33 (Swift Run Gap -south end of Central Section) following the AT for 1.9 miles until we hit the blue blazed Saddleback Mountain Trail which we followed east. The trail is 1.5 miles and loops back to the AT. It is a pleasant hike, no rocks, almost like an old coutry road. Arriving back on the AT we swung north for 1/2 a mile before veering East again on the South River Falls Trail.. We hit the falls in 1.6 miles.. It was awesome.. the snow melt from earlier had refrozen on the mountain and this was the backdrop for the falls.. Unfortunately my camera is still not working and HM's battery died, so we were pictureless...

After relaxing at the falls we took a connecter trail to the South River Fire Trail and continued heading north.. Along the trail in the woods we saw some very old relics. Part of an old tractor and the front end of a car.. Several other places had what looked like other pieces of cars.. It was pretty neat...

Arriving at the Poccosin Trail we headed North, arriving at the ruins of an old Episcopal Mission. There was one ruined building and the stone steps of what was probably the church...

We then followed the trail west, arriving at the PATC Poccosin Cabin. There were 4 people there and I informed them of the impending snow and potential closing of Skyline Drive. They seemed to be unaware of it...

Hitting the AT again, we hiked the 6.5 miles south to 33.

We got back to the car and picked up the 1.5 ltr box of wine we had stashed there. Heading back up to Skyline Drive I spotted a Park Ranger and flagged him down. He had already started the process of closing the Drive Down. I told him about the people at the cabin and told him we were just going to hike the 3.5 miles up to Hightop Hut and then back out again on Sunday Morning.. I told him we had emergency gear, food and water and that we were set just in case...

He thanked me and we started the climb up Hightop... The climb took longer then I thought, and it was way past dark by the time we hit the Hut. It had already started snowing, and as we ate and drank the wine, our surroundings grew whiter.

We awoke Sunday to an inch and a half of white stuff, which made the hike out absolutely awesome.. We spotted Turkey, Bear, Deer, Chipmonk, Squirrel and Rabbit tracks as we walked. The AT crosses over Skyline Drive a mile south of 33, and we decided to walk skyline drive back to the car.. It was awesome.. The views to the east and all of the snow covered trees was spectacular..

Another awesome hike in the woods!!!!!!!!

'32oz”

“Bastard!!

See you on the trail soon!”

“Heading back out to SNP with my sons this weekend.. We will be doing some scouting of trails for a Boy Scout trip the following weekend... (Bag nights are starting to mount once more.. LOL)

Tentative plan is to meet a couple more hikers from ODATC at one of the huts Saturday Night... If anyone is interested let me know..

'32oz”

“North Fork Mountain Trail??????
(March 13-14-15)”

“sounds awesome!!!!...thanks for sharing...too bad no pics:(...”

“I wish I could.. That is the weekend of the Boy Scout trip..

HOWEVER, we had a three snowdays this week (IN RICHMOND VA no less) and during that time I planned out a NON-AT section hike through Shenandoah National Park.

Pretty much, I wanted to see how little of the AT one would have to hike to get from Rockfish Gap to Front Royal. I also tried to include stops at the waysides and campgrouds just for the heck of... I wanted to stick to blazed trails as opposed to bushwhacking....

I have always said that the AT through SNP is boring.. If I can fit this hike into my schedule it would be great.. (It would also be a heck of a lot harder then the AT as many of the trails lead a way from and then back to Skyline Drive..


'32oz”

“32oz - yeah - I'm interested - which hut?”

“I'm not sure yet.. Possibly Rock Spring... I will know more tomorrow..

'32oz”

“you might want to take a look at the new hut - Byrds Nest #3 - its a great hut with only one problem - the water is 0.3 downhill”

“Boy Scouts, Hah!

Have fun!”

“I stayed there about a month ago.. the interior fire place is awesome!!!! I thought that I did a trip report.. Maybe not..

They really needed a hut there.. It's close to Mary's Rock which is nice..

'32oz”

“Rock Spring is good too - basically anywhere South or Central is good for me”

“Man it's going to be crappy weather this weekend.. 50-60's during the day.. 40's at night... Oh is this gonna suck.. LOL

70's in Richmond...

'32oz”

“32oz - any further word? If I don't hear I'll probably just go up to Hightop Hut area for Sat. night.”

“HOI.. I will be at the Rockspring Hut... I was at Hightop last weekend.. (the mouse is still there)...

My youngest sun likes Rockspring and after a day of hiking its a little easier to get to.. PLis I think on Sunday we will hike up to Hawksbill on our way out...

Hopefully I will see you, if not I'll be looking for you during your AT hike this Summer..

'32oz”

“OK Rockspring it is

btw have you seen any sign (registers) of Trek having come through already - I think he is the leader of the NOBO pack”

“The last post in the High Top Hut was Feb 14th and from what I remember it was a couple of day hikers..

I don't remember any thru-hiker posts, I would think they would still be a few days south of SNP...

'32oz”