Hiking Old Rag

Here is a link to my recent hike of Old Rag.

http://www.christophermoule.com/2009/07/hiking-old-rag/

Shenandoah Hiking trip - Part 3 of 3

The following is a travel log of my hiking trip in the Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia.

Part 3 of 3

Day 5 - Monday April 23 2007

Once again the day started off with the warm sun shining through the tent. I was up early and decided to air out all my gear that was starting to get a little damp from its constant use. It would be a day spent drying things out, relaxing and doing a bit of exploring. After a meal of Tang and oatmeal we hiked up to the rocks to the middle of the upper falls. We had some fun getting wet and dunking our body and clothing in the falls. This picture is of Jason and Emily hiking down the falls back to camp. We broke camp late morning and continued our trek east until reaching the lower falls at which point we started to ascend in a northerly direction. Our lunch stop was at one of the falls along the trail. It was cool eating lunch in the shadow of a mist and breeze coming off the falls. Our stamina would be tested during the next part of the hike as it would be all uphill to Appalachian trail. We sought some relief at a mountain fed spring. It was a relief when we reached the softly undulating Appalachian trail. We would hike the Appalachian Trail back to Jason car and it was a pleasure to hike along. We took this group picture along the Appalachian Trail. Once back at the car we loaded our gear into Jason's car and drove to Emily's car. Once at Blackrock gap we took some final pictures of Jason and Chris. Our next stop would be Outback Steakhouse for a filling meal after a couple of days out in the hinterland. The crab cakes and shrimp was a great way to start off the meal. Our main course was a thick and juicy steak.

Day 6 - Tuesday April 24 2007

I started the day off early and once again had a hot breakfast in the hotel. While eating breakfast I booked the hotel shuttle to drop me off in the Inner Harbor. I left the hotel wearing long pants but quickly zipped into shorts as it was going to be another hot day. As I was nearing the World Trade Center I spotted something that I had wanted to see and that is, an R2D2 USPS mail box. I stopped in at Borders to see if they had any Shenandoah hiking books but they were all out of stock. It was great to survey the construction in the Inner Harbor and take note of some new condos being built along the waterfront. I slowly walked along the waterfront stopping an sporting goods store with hopes of getting some Timbuk2 gear and may be a Patagonia top but ended up getting a travel t-shirt and underwear. While shopping my folks called and I was able to relay what a great trip I had and to catch up on news at home. My next stop would be Canton, where I stopped in at Safeway to load up on some last minute groceries. It was then back to the hotel to load up the large backpack for the last time. Jason and Adam met me at noon and we went for lunch at Rosina's Gourmet. It is sort of a tradition to go for lunch at Rosina's. After lunch, Jason dropped me off at the airport and I started my journey south to Atlanta, Georgia before heading north a little while later up to Ottawa. It was a really great long weekend. I hope that we can make hiking in the Shenandoah National Park an annual tradition.

Shenandoah Hiking Trip - Part 2 of 3

The following is a travel log of my hiking trip in the Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia.

Part 2 of 3

Day 3 - Saturday April 21 2007

Today would be a race against time. We had arranged to meet Emily for lunch at the trailhead. She was driving from Baltimore with sandwiches for lunch and also bringing along a much desired secret. We had oatmeal for breakfast and quickly set about breaking down the camp. Under time pressure, we started down the trail a little after sunrise. Despite feeling pressured, we had a lot of fun fording the same river multiple times. (river2) When there were stones available, we would dart from stone to stone. As the river grew deeper we had to find more inventive ways of getting across. Jason "MacGyver" came upon a novel way. In this picture you can see him midway across the river. After a time we grew tired of the river and started our ascent out of the valley. Jason was able to send a text message to Emily along our trek up. I was able to receive a text from my other friend Jason. It was a welcome relief to see Emily waiting for us as we emerged onto the road. Emily sandwiches were filling and hit the spot. Now for the secret...To my and Jason relief, Emily had brought along some suntan lotion. Both of our arms were starting to show signs of a slight sunburn. After lunch we loaded into Emily's car and headed back to Jason car. The trailhead looked different under bright sunny conditions. After stashing our trash and we loaded up with our extra food once again loaded up into Emily's car and headed south, to Blackrock trail. The trail derives its name from the black lichens that grow on the edge of the rock face. The parking lot was full of cars, but were able to squeeze in at the end of the lot. We mounted our packs and started down the horse trail. Midway down the trail we met some mounted trail clearing volunteers that had been sawing through recent dead falls. With horses comes, horse waste, and horse flies and a slight stench. These made the journey down the trail a little more challenging. Once at the base of the valley we decided to set up camp along the river. This was a really good decision. There was plenty of water and the next campsite would be a two hour hike away, arid and on the summit. Once we had the camp setup we had a leisurely evening with much time spent cooling off in the river. We had a multi-course meal for supper. It started with a lightly spiced pasta dice with some tasty "Alaskan" salmon as the appetizer. The main course was a stew. We closed out the day with full and happy stomachs.

Day 4 - Sunday April 22 2007

The next morning we were greeted by another warm day and after breakfast quickly started to shed layers. Once we had loaded up all of the Nalgene bottles, Dromedary bags and Camelbacks and briskly started our ascent of Blackrock Mountain. It was slow going as the climb was steep, and its was hot. We took advantage of any breeze to cool ourselves. It would be a day of climbing. As we were worked our way up the mountain we took a series of pictures, Jason and Emily in the scree zone and Chris in the scree zone. Our initial goal for the day was to summit Trayfoot mountain which ascends to a height of 3380 feet. Just as we thought we had reached the summit, around the corner it would start to climb again. We stopped for lunch on one of the inclined sections. Lunch took the form of pita, tuna/salmon, avocado and the infamous brick of cheese. After we summitted Trayfoot Mountain we took a variety of pictures, Emily relieved at reaching Trayfoot summit, Chris and Emily relieved at reaching the summit. In the shade of a tree we took our final picture before starting our descent. Our goal for the afternoon would be to descend to Skyline Drive and to camp in the Doyle/Jones Fall area. It felt great to we walking down for once. Along our trek east we took some pictures while crossing along scree zone. (Chris among the boulders and Jason and Emily among the boulders ). Jason took the following picture as it marks my first time hiking along the Appalachian trail. After crossing Skyline Drive we stopped at the first stream to wet our caps and scarfs. This is a picture of the Upper falls. Jason and Emily hiking down the falls. We would be setting up camp in a sloped area that runs parallel to the falls. Jason went along ahead and was able to locate a flat campsite which offered access to running water. After setting up the tents we spent the next hour or so, trying to cool down. It would take about 20 minutes of standing a cold pool of water before I started to shiver. As I was to find later, I still was warm inside. As we getting ready for supper I snapped this picture from across the river. The next part is still sort of foggy in my mind as the details are not to clear. We had decided to prepare and eat supper on the slippery rock face across from the camp. It was at this point that we had two adverse incidents that caused us to eat our meal on the other side of the river. Our largest Dromedary bag slide down the slide of the rock face and into the quickly flowing river. Emily was able to dash down and grab the bag and got wet feet in the process. Jason darted further down stream, just in case, Emily was unable to grab the bag in time. Jason shouted to Emily that perhaps, we should cook supper at the campsite. A short while later as Chris was setting up the Jetboil, the gas canister slide down the rock face into the river. Luckily, Jason was able to grab it a little further downstream but not before going feet first into the river. He was able to grab the canister just before it disappeared. Chris cooked supper upriver as Jason and Emily tried to dry out the boots and clothes on the nearby rocks. My thought at the time was at I really hoped that no additional adversity would threaten us overnight. Our attempt to have apple cobbler for dessert was dismal failure as you have to prepare and cook the apples and cake crust separately and then combine together once they are cooked. The apple cobbler just tasted weird. One of the first things we did once at camp was to throw the ropes over branches to suspend our food from overnight. Jason always had a knack for throwing it over a branch usually 15 feet in the air. This is a bit of an aside but one of these occasions what I thought happen was that the rock came back to hit but no, he had banged his foot against a nearby log. I had a good laugh until I figured out what really happened. So, what do this have to do with where were left off. When we set up camp Jason had suspended the ropes from a large tree while Emily and I had pumped water. Getting the ropes in the tree once at camp would save us future grief of trying to throw rocks in the dark. Emily, in socking feet, helped me hoist the two food bags as Jason dried out his boots nearby. Much of Jason's clothing had got drenched while retrieving the Jetboil canister. Jason was short of dry clothes. He tried on Emily's Capri but it was too small. I gave Jason my goretex rain pants. It was time to get some rest but I was still hot from the day's exertion. I lay in the tent on just my thermarest until 0130 before finally getting into my sleeping bag.

Shenandoah Hiking Trip - Part 1 of 3

The following is a travel log of my hiking trip in the Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia.

Part 1 of 3

Day 0 - Wednesday April 18 2007

I woke up at 0600 and ate the usual granola for breakfast and then jumped into the shower. Next, I headed into the office to check a couple of overnight item and took the O-train to the airport. My mid-morning flight to Newark, NJ was delayed due to weather. At noon, the Continental flight left Ottawa bound for Newark. The Embraer jet was able to cover the distance south quickly but, I still missed my connecting flight to Baltimore. I was relieved when the agent in Ottawa booked me on a later flight just in case the connections didn't work out. My late arrival in Newark gave me a bit of a layover to explore the airport and to have a leisurely lunch. I spent much of the afternoon reading the Wall Street Journal and glancing at the New York skyline from across the Hudson River. The Empire State building was visible and I could make out the World Financial Center building and get a feel for how omnipresent the Twin Towers must have appeared. My flight for Maryland left Newark during the late afternoon and Jason met me at the airport. We went to Jason's office and planned out our hiking route. We came up with a meal plan for our five day hike and then drove up REI to buy some more food and gear. Most of our food would be boil-in-a-bag freeze dried meals which were light and nutritious. I bought a REI travel coffee mug and some Clif bars and was able to make use of my REI dividend from last year. The REI store we visited was up in Timmonium. On our way back, we stopped in at Charm City Swing's newest dancing venue and arrived just as the final song of the night was played. Drats, I missed my chance to show Jason and Emily how much my dancing had improved. Our next stop was Safeway to buy the groceries for the trip. The store closes at midnight which allowed us to shop during the silent hours. We bought pita, packages of tuna and salmon, fig newtons, packaged oatmeal, a block of cheese and hand sanitizer. We forgot one thing which at the time seemed trivial but would eventually become a lifesaver. It was suntan lotion. Our final stop of the day was the hotel and after a shower I bedded down for the night.

Day 1 - Thursday April 19 2007

I was up at 0600 and after a shower, I headed down to check my email and then to eat a cooked breakfast. There was a bus tour from New Jersey and they were puzzled by the scrambled eggs. They were apparently Maryland-style and looked like egg pancakes. The breakfast room was dominated by older folks walking around with gauze eye patches. They were convalescing after cataract surgery. Jason met me at 0730 and we headed back to his place to assemble and pack the gear for our expedition. By early morning, we had most of our gear assembled. Jason left for a medical appointment. I made myself a cup of tea and was able to use Heather's laptop to further catch up on my email. This was really really great. While waiting for Jason I had an AIM session with my brother, Richard, and we had a discussion about some proposed changes to his website. We headed back to Jason office to photocopy some pages from a Shenandoah Hiking guide (AFalcon Guide - Hiking Shenandoah National Park - 3rd Edition Bert and Jane Gildart). Once the trail pages were photocopied we stapled into booklets which would prove very useful when navigating along the trails. We headed back to Jason place and did the final packing and loaded up his car shortly thereafter. Our expedition had finally started. Our drive south from Baltimore was a quick one along the freeway and after three hours of driving we reached the park office. While driving south we listened to swing music on Jason's Ipod and talked about swing dancing. To our surprise, the park office was closed for the day. The conditions at the time were overcast and a light spitting drizzle. It was so quiet. Jason filled out our hiking permit and started our trek along Skyline Drive, which cuts the park into two sections. As we were gaining elevation the fog started to roll in which made for an eerie drive. There were a plethora of deer that were foraging along the road. One had to have a keen and eager eye to avoid them. The tree along Skyline Drive were weird. A recent batch of freezing rain had caused most of the deciduous tree to have their tops splinter off. We reached the Rockytop trailhead late in the afternoon. Just as we were getting ready to embark we met an old guy hiking down the Appalachian trail carrying an old frame backpack. We took some picture and then headed down the old fire road (530pm). (Getting ready to go...) (Starting the hike...) We descended the old fire road and then upon reaching the first cement marker we started our hike on the Shenandoah National Trail. We hiked for two hours arriving at the 3.7 mile cement trail marker at 742pm. We were in luck as there was some flat areas were the trail marker. I cracked open the Celebration Mix and we celebrated our hike to this point. We setup the two tents under a splitting drizzle and then set about preparing the meals. Jason fired up the jetboil and he had hot water in short order. Our two pouch meals were prepared quickly and eagerly consumed. For dessert, we had freeze-dried smores which were yummy. As dusk started to set in the temperature started to drop and up came the humidity. Jason and I put on our winter hats as a way of combating the elements. We were in a loosing battle. We would need all our strength for a long day ahead. We hit the sack early.

Day 2 - Friday April 20 2007

Overnight the weather systems had changed and we were greeted by a warm sunrise. Just at the sun was rising, I took this picture. I really enjoyed spending some time watching the sun rise over valley as it was relaxing, quiet and peacefully. Once again Jason fired up the Jetboil and we had hot oatmeal for breakfast. We started to shed layers of clothing while eating breakfast. I took a early morning picture while we still had our layers on, Jason, and Chris. Once all our gear was packed and we started down the trail by 0900. At this point, we continued our climb up and over Rocky Top mountain . The view along the range was good. The environs were interesting as an accidental fire ten years ago had burnt off most of the trees and despite the regrowth much of the trail was scared by charred trees and stumps. It took a couple of switchbacks before we reached the base of the mountain. At the base we took a quick stretch break. In the background we heard something promising, the hissing sound of rushing water. As we continued further down the trail we reached a river and replenished our Nalgene and Dromedary bags. At around 1300, just as we were heading up a pass, we stopped for lunch. It was packaged salmon/tuna on pita, with avocados. While eating some fig newtons, Jason remarked that we had forgotten the block of cheese. Would it survive the additional days of sitting in the car? I think we ate our lunch on Brown Mountain - Rocky Mountain. During the day we made good hiking progress and decided to keep with our original hiking route and not to rely on our Plan B. I was really pleased with the progress we covered in our first day. Along the way we found some great mountain top campsite and Jason did some bouldering. (Climb on ) (On top ) Over the day we had gained some elevation. We made frequent stops along the trail to cool off. Our campsite for the night was along a river. After a leisurely supper we chatted next to some large logs that gave us lumbar support. Saturday would be along long day so again we bedded down early again.

Absence...

I haven't blogged for a couple of days as I have been hiking in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with Jason (http://www.jasonplancaster.com) and Emily. We hiked on I think four major hiking trails and climbed about four mountains. It was a fun and relaxing expedition. We saw a lot of deer on the first day and the last but very few during the actual hike. During our hike we experienced some challenges but were able to overcome them successfully. While traveling north yesterday, I drafted some rough notes which I will convert into most likely one long blog entry to capture all of the details of the great trip.