Last night I pondered my Sunday choices: bike ride, bike ride to a Nationals baseball game, or hike. I decided on a hike guessing that there might be some rain during the game.
Last weekend I hiked from Keys Gap to Loudon Heights, heading north on the Appalachian Trail. This weekend I headed south toward Buzzard Rocks overloook. which held the hope of a view of the Shenandoah Valley.
The weather report was for temperatures in the 60Fs. And no rain. Well, there was rain but it mostly happened before I started making for a muddy track. There was a bit of rain in the middle of the hike but the tree canopy protected me.
I tried to avoid the mud but it was pointless. So I let the little boy in me out and I made my peace with the slop.
The trail here is much less rocky than the trail just to the north. Without the mud you could cover this trail lickety split.
There was quite a lot of traffic during my first 2 1/2 miles. Boy scouts. Groups of adults. They all looked like they had camped overnight. They didn’t seem strained by their packs so I assumed (correctly) that the terrain would be forgiving.
The only steep section had rock steps, easy to negotiate. And it was rather striking to look at.
Along the way I was treated to my favorite: ferns. I tried to plant ferns in my side yard. They all died within weeks. Ferns are best left to the woods.
As the trail rose to the ridge, I walked into the clouds. This was great for atmospherics but the ruined the view from the overlook. I did get one picture where you can vaguely make out the Shenandoah Valley.
The hike was 7.7 miles and that’s a comfortable distance for me. I didn’t feel all banged up like last weekend.
I was surprised to learn that it was raining heavily in DC. Sometimes you guess right. The Nats game started 90 minutes late. Works for me.
There are some more pix on my Flickr page.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 