GaliWalker
Trail Wise!
Have camera, will use.
Posts: 3,699
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Post by GaliWalker on Jan 18, 2021 5:26:09 GMT -8
Old Rag Mountain, Shenandoah National Park (1/17/2021)Yesterday, I hiked Old Rag Mountain, one of Shenandoah National Park’s premiere hikes. The mountain features a summit ridge comprised of one billion years old granite. The views are expansive in all directions, but the price of admission is a prolonged and difficult scramble along the ridge. The hike is extremely popular, I suspect in large part because of challenge factor of the scramble. I began the hike at 7:40am, heading up the Ridge Trail from the newly constructed parking lot and trailhead. This new section of trail was comprised of frozen mud, which was slippery enough that I put on my microspikes. In 0.8mi I joined up with the original, familiar trail. Steady uphill hiking soon had me at the start of the summit scramble. Here I met up with a slew of other hikers, none of whom were wearing any traction for their feet. Watching them try to negotiate the icy, snowy scramble when their feet refused to cooperate would have been comical, if only I wasn’t deathly afraid that there would be a serious injury. Honestly, if it had been me in their position I would have turned back and approached the summit from the far side. First view of the scramble routeA hiker on one billion years old rock (selfie)Summit views (selfie)Icy potholesShadowsBasking in sunshineAfter the summit the scramble ends, and a trail takes one down the mountain. Quite a few hikers had decided to eschew the scramble and take this side up and down, so things got decidedly more crowded. All were without traction and were walking gingerly, so I was able to pass them relatively easily. Once off the mountain, I finally encountered snow-free terrain and was able to take the spikes off. I sped back to the Ridge Trail. The final 0.8mi stretch of new trail was now a non-icy, but no less slippery, muddy mess. Snow grooves (selfie)Hawksbill Mountain and ShenandoahByrd's Nest Balance RockRobertson MountainStats: 9.1mi, 2400ft elevation gain, 6.25hrs.
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Post by absarokanaut on Jan 18, 2021 6:14:51 GMT -8
Just outfreakin'standing! Thanks for sharing man!
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GaliWalker
Trail Wise!
Have camera, will use.
Posts: 3,699
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Post by GaliWalker on Jan 18, 2021 7:30:07 GMT -8
Thanks! This was my first time hiking Old Rag in winter. With the spikes it wasn’t that different, but definitely spicier. The only cases where I had to exercise greater care was during the ‘butt scooch’ parts, when my clothes refused to provide traction! It was fun to see it in these conditions.
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Post by autumnmist on Jan 18, 2021 11:55:38 GMT -8
Stunning, and inspiring, as always.
I thought for a moment about being in an area of a billion years old; it's hard to conceive, and makes our short times here on earth seem like more of a heartbeat in the overall scheme of earth.
I recall once when the prof of a geology class I was taking took us to an area affected by the last ice age, dramatic with deep gouges in the earth, and large (to us) rocks around the area. He asked to consider that the rocks were brought down during the last ice age. It was strange to consider that, to even begin to fathom that kind of duration. But it made sitting on one of the rocks seems like a very special occasion, much more important and significant than sitting in a royal throne.
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GaliWalker
Trail Wise!
Have camera, will use.
Posts: 3,699
|
Post by GaliWalker on Jan 18, 2021 12:21:05 GMT -8
^ Absolutely!
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Post by johntpenca on Jan 18, 2021 20:23:58 GMT -8
Nice, as I would expect from you.
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