I’d been wanting to get up to Shenandoah National Park and check out the classic hike to the summit of “Old Rag” for quite a while so when the weekend opened up, I hitched up the camper, picked up a pal, and hit the road Friday afternoon. We found a little campground that was open year-round – Cedar Mountain Campground – and pulled in a little before 7PM.
Fortunately, we got an early start Saturday morning because we weren’t really that close to the trailhead nor was it particularly easy to find from our direction. We eventually pulled into the Berry Hollow parking area, loaded up our packs, and hit the trail. The Berry Hollow fire road, after a little less than a mile, joins the Weakley Hollow fire road to begin the typical Old Rag loop hike. Fortunately we chose to hike the loop in the clockwise direction as the most challenging section of the climb is from the northern parking area to the summit. Beginning at about 3 miles and a low point of about 1000 feet, you climb steadily for 4.5 miles to the summit at just over 3200 feet. This is a challenging climb in any condition but add a half inch of ice and the summit becomes a real struggle. Neither of us brought crampons (chalk that up as a lesson learned) and there were several scrambles that would have been considerably easier (and safer) with them. The descent is an easy 3 miles dropping 1700 feet back to the trailhead for a total hike of just over 11 miles.
With its proximity to northern Virginia, this is one of the most popular hikes in the Shenandoah National Park and even in January, there were probably a hundred hikers scattered throughout the loop. I can’t imagine what the crowd would be like during the Spring or Fall. Regardless of the season, I highly recommend this hike. But, if you have the option, avoid the crowds check it out during the winter – just be sure to bring the crampons!
It looks like 2010 is shaping up to be a pretty active year for me. If things work out in the next few weeks, I’ll be heading out to Durango, Colorado for a little alpine training with Southwest Adventure Guides in the San Juan Mountains in late February or early March.
Although I haven’t worked up any exact dates, I’m hoping to put together a multi-day kayak trip as well as a multi-day bike tour this spring or summer. Still working up the details but both will probably be fairly local and last 3 to 4 days.
The bike legs are coming back and I’m looking forward to riding the Tour de Moore Century down around Pinehurst, North Carolina. The Sandhills Cycle Club has not yet announced the 2010 event but it’s usually held on Labor Day and is always well run and has a great turnout.
The following Friday we fly out to Seattle and spend a couple of days at the Rainier Mountaineering Festival on September 11th and 12th prior to beginning a 4 day summit climb with Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. If all goes well, we’ll be standing on the summit of Mount Rainier on September 18th!
Looking a bit further ahead, I’m starting to work out the logistics of a circumnavigation of Lake Superior in the Spring of 2011. This has been on my “Bucket List” ever since I rode around Lake Ontario in 1998. Looking even further down the road, I’m seriously considering a Himalayan Trek with a guide company like Mountain Madness, Himalayan Experience, or International Mountain Guides in 2012.
As the now defunct National Geographic Adventure magazine’s tagline used to say: “Dream It, Plan It, Do It”. It all starts with the dream.
I decided to try something a little different this Christmas and do some active traveling. Much of the local family was also away so I booked a cheap flight to Las Vegas, rented a car, and drove up to Utah to spend some time checking out Zion and Bryce National Parks.
I arrived on Sunday but unfortunately the airline decided my checked luggage would rather go to Hartford, Connecticut which left me with nothing but the clothes I was wearing and a few items in my carry-on backpack. There was some snow predicted for Tuesday so I decided that Monday would be a good day to drive over to Bryce National Park while I waited for the airline to track down and deliver my gear. Fortunately I had my backpack and heavy jacket so I was still able to do a bit of hiking in the canyon. I quickly realized what a big difference the snow can make. Normally paved trails were reverted back to a more natural state not experienced by most of the visitors to the park. Even without being able to venture more than a few miles from the parking area, the scenery and views were nothing short of fantastic.
The rest of the week was spent hiking in Zion National Park culminating in a climb to Observation Point. Four miles and 2100 feet of climbing presented a simply breathtaking view of Zion Canyon.
What an interesting time of year to explore these parks. There’s nothing like having a National Park all to yourself and being there with a couple of feet of snow was great. As I told the folks at Zion Adventure Company, this visit is going to leave me with a unique view of the canyons. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in a desert environment and that most folks battle extreme temperatures while I spent almost the entire time hiking on snow and ice. Looking up at the canyon walls, it was hard to come up a description other than “majestic.” And although I didn’t make it into the narrows, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and would have no problem returning some time in the future.
Heading back to Vegas for my Saturday night red-eye flight, I made a detour up to Kolob Canyons and then spent a few hours checking out Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. I’m looking forward to getting back to Utah although my next visit will most likely involve mountain biking around Moab.
