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nursedude
09-22-2016, 21:43
I'm planning a section hike of VA, beginning the last week of March, starting from the South. Is there a significant amount of snow historically on the trail at that time?

Pastor Bryon
09-22-2016, 21:49
I would not say significant, but there is definitely a chance of it still being on the ground. Other considerations would be icy conditions in the higher elevations in particular. You won't know until you get to the actual week, but it will likely be a very wide variation in temperatures to be prepared for. What section are you thinking of doing?

nursedude
09-22-2016, 22:05
Basically the entire state of Virginia. I can only get 3 weeks off from work. I am raising awareness and fundraising for a friend's 5 y/o with Duechenne's Muscular Dystrophy. I have a crew, with a goal of near 40 miles a day on average. I am a ultramarathon runner, with some 100 mile mountain races under my belt, but less not much long distance hiking.

rocketsocks
09-22-2016, 22:23
I would not say significant, but there is definitely a chance of it still being on the ground. Other considerations would be icy conditions in the higher elevations in particular. You won't know until you get to the actual week, but it will likely be a very wide variation in temperatures to be prepared for. What section are you thinking of doing?
There's been late season blizzard...'83,'93,'96, 2000 sumthin' IIRC

Gambit McCrae
09-23-2016, 07:57
Logistically, if you get to 4pines/ Trout Creek and it has been a heavy snow, ice storm, I would strongly advise going around this 8 mile section. Mainly due to the north side of dragons tooth, as it is a 100 foot stretch of vertical climbing that can not be done when iced over

nursedude
09-23-2016, 11:02
Logistically, if you get to 4pines/ Trout Creek and it has been a heavy snow, ice storm, I would strongly advise going around this 8 mile section. Mainly due to the north side of dragons tooth, as it is a 100 foot stretch of vertical climbing that can not be done when iced over

Thank you! Yeah, I did that section earlier this summer. Wouldn't want to be navigating that on ice.

Spirit Walker
09-23-2016, 12:12
A snowstorm can happen any time. We had snow in mid-May in southern VA. Be prepared for snow and especially ice, since it may not melt off as quickly in March as it did in May.

nursedude
09-23-2016, 12:44
Logistically, if you get to 4pines/ Trout Creek and it has been a heavy snow, ice storm, I would strongly advise going around this 8 mile section. Mainly due to the north side of dragons tooth, as it is a 100 foot stretch of vertical climbing that can not be done when iced over


A snowstorm can happen any time. We had snow in mid-May in southern VA. Be prepared for snow and especially ice, since it may not melt off as quickly in March as it did in May.

Yeah, I'm totally aware of that. A snowstorm came out of nowhere last March when I was up on Terrapin Mt in the GWNF. My bigger concern was historically, the average Amy of snow on trail at that time. Sounds like ice may be more worrisome.

Pastor Bryon
09-23-2016, 22:30
One other thought given the amount of mileage you are looking to do per day - few, if any LD hikers will have passed through Virginia by that point, and I'm not sure how much more foot traffic will have been by. Given that, I could see there being a few places where you'll need to really pay attention on where the trail is.

I'm one that believes you can do the whole AT just by following the blazes, but I have also gotten myself off course when I let the ground appearance lead me instead of looking up for the blazes.