Lake Front Royal to HF

[gulleywhomper]

Planning a 3-4 day hike. I've decided to hike from Lake Front Royal to Harpers Ferry. I've chosen this route largely for the logistics of getting onto and off of the trail within a week. This will be a solo hike and my first on the AT. I plan to fly into Dulles and arrange a shuttle to the starting point. I'll take Amtrak back to DC and the Metro to Reagan for my return flight. Shooting for mid-late Sept.

I'm hoping for advice and information.
Specific questions:
I can check the weather for Front Royal and Harpers Ferry, but is it considerably cooler at higher elevations on the trail?
Can I expect open space in the shelters at this time of year?
The AT website indicates water available at the shelter sites. Is there danger of not being able to find water on this hike.
I'm open to alternate routes that have easy in/out logistics if anyone has a suggestion.

Thanks and Happy Hiking

[Tuckahoe]

In my experience you're not looking at significant differences in temperatures at elevation -- the elevations are not as considerable as they are to the south. Expect day time highs to in the mid to high-70s, and potentially as high as the 80s. But, the night time lows can easily be in the mid-40s

[Red Cinema]

While the Rollercoaster rolls on by for thru hikers with a few months and 900+ miles under their belts, four full days of hiking here at 11.5 miles / day (not counting blues, etc) for someone not inured to the constant up and down presents a challenge to someone just picking it up and going from Front Royal. Not impossible--just a challenge. Expect easier trail before and after the "rollercoaster." Consider aiming for a few more miles on the non-rollercoaster bits and a few miles less on the rollercoaster bits.

I did most of the area you describe in late May. Water was fine then if sometimes a climb down and up; this is not late May so not sure what the water situation might be.

Your on/off strategy seems sound.

Great little section to start with!

[thestin]

The Trail is fairly low in elevation through this area, so I wouldn't expect a lot of difference in temperatures. A bit cooler at night.

After a wet spring and early summer, it is very dry here now. My lawn has gone dormant. There has been more rain over the Blue Ridge, and I noticed that it looked a lot greener near the trail than my home as I was driving to church this morning. I would expect for springs to be running low.

[Berry Belle]

I hiked the Rollercoaster on August 22-23 and found plenty of water. Most of it is stream water and since there are several homes and a large government agency at the top of the mountain, I purified the heck out of it. No issues.

I second Red Cinema's comment about the ruggedness of this section, especially the part north of Rt. 605. It's got a lot of loose rock underfoot as well as plenty of climbs. Unless you're used to hauling yourself up mountains, you might consider dividing this section in half. There's a large campsite next to a stream just south of Rt. 605. Another stream just north of Rt. 605 doesn't have a campsite marked on the map, but we saw 2 fire rings in that area.

You could shorten your itinerary by 8 miles if you start at Linden, VA just of I-66. That would help make up for the overnight spent on the Rollercoaster.

[Gambit McCrae]

I went from bears Den hostel to Dicks Dome in a day not bad at all. If it wasn't called the rollercoaster I probably would have never mentioned going thru it

[gulleywhomper]

Thanks very much to all of you for the info and helpful suggestions. I just got my section maps last night, so now I understand the term rollercoaster.