View Full Version : Memorial weekend
Next week what you'll doing? 3 whole days off work, can't wait. First weekend off since my Vermont trip president day week in Feb.. I'm probably do 2 nights either md. Or maybe snp.. somewhere. Me and my dog the woods can't wait love them trips when I can lots of luxuries. Sorry almost forgot most important let's not forget to memorize are of are falling, officers, military, latest occurence on our trail ect..... so what's up get out there!!
Hmmmm.... Thinking maybe on heading up and doing the Massanutten (loop) Trail. Being a loop, no shuttle required. It's a new trail for me which is always cool, and at 70 to 71 miles it's a good length for the weekend.
Hope you and your dog have a great hike & woods time, wherever you decide to go.
u.w.
Thank you , hope you have a good one as well . I'll have to check that trail out probably not to far from me .always into new trails.
U.w. please post if do massanutten trail. Have always wondered about that trail...love signal knob which I believe is on it
jungleland1972
05-21-2019, 08:19
A friend and I are planning an overnight in Maryland portion of the AT this Saturday (kind of an out and back). I was initially worried about how crowded it's going to be but in the end, decided if it's crowded that it's still better than sitting at home. We have tents and don't plan on sleeping in the shelters anyway so we just hope the tent sites are not all full (even if they are, we will manage).
Yeah that's why I'm thinking more somewhere in va. At least I can stealth camp in va. I don't think stealth camping is legal in Maryland correct? You'll have fun.
Hmmmm.... Thinking maybe on heading up and doing the Massanutten (loop) Trail. Being a loop, no shuttle required. It's a new trail for me which is always cool, and at 70 to 71 miles it's a good length for the weekend.
Hope you and your dog have a great hike & woods time, wherever you decide to go.
u.w.
Could you please post a report when you get back with pictures if possible. Looking for new trails not to far from me. Thanks .
jungleland1972
05-21-2019, 11:50
Yeah that's why I'm thinking more somewhere in va. At least I can stealth camp in va. I don't think stealth camping is legal in Maryland correct? You'll have fun.
I don't think it is either but if the tent "boxes" at the shelters are full I assume we can still camp there on an open piece of ground. A few of the shelter sites are on hills so I would have to pick one that is on a ridge. We were thinking of going from Dalhgren to the Ed Garvy Shelter.
The ed Harvey shelter is nice ,I never stay in shelters but 1 night I was there by myself in winter it snowed and sleeted all night .I stayed upstairs in the loft reading a Steven king book until I fell asleep. Then in the morning watching the sun come up out the window from my quilt drinking coffee. so nice and very rare not to have people there. The only bad thing is water is so far down the hill but excellent piped water.
Thrifty Endurance
05-21-2019, 13:25
Next week what you'll doing? 3 whole days off work, can't wait. First weekend off since my Vermont trip president day week in Feb.. I'm probably do 2 nights either md. Or maybe snp.. somewhere. Me and my dog the woods can't wait love them trips when I can lots of luxuries. Sorry almost forgot most important let's not forget to memorize are of are falling, officers, military, latest occurence on our trail ect..... so what's up get out there!!
My hiking partner and I are heading to the Whites. We are testing gear...and my new shoes! Remembering those whom we lost...ATStrong
Slo-go'en
05-21-2019, 14:34
My hiking partner and I are heading to the Whites. We are testing gear...and my new shoes! Remembering those whom we lost...ATStrong
The snow is still melting and streams are at flood stage. If there are any stream crossings you will need to use the high water bypass or turn around. Looks like rain for Thursday through Sunday, which will just make it worse. I'd stay home.
Was planning on doing trail maintenance this weekend, but don't think the snow is going to be melted enough along my section of the GNLT. Puzzle mountain last week was a bit wet.
LoneStranger
05-21-2019, 16:25
Was planning on doing trail maintenance this weekend, but don't think the snow is going to be melted enough along my section of the GNLT. Puzzle mountain last week was a bit wet.
We drove through the notch on our way back from checking on our Cohos section last weekend. Amazing cascade on the side of Speck. The big open rock face that usually just looks damp had huge plumes of white water flying off of it.
Slo-go'en
05-21-2019, 17:50
This would be a good weekend to check out waterfalls - so long as you can get near them.
I may take a ride to Crawford Notch and check out Arethusa Falls tomorrow. NH's highest water fall (in height)
Thrifty Endurance
05-21-2019, 21:16
The snow is still melting and streams are at flood stage. If there are any stream crossings you will need to use the high water bypass or turn around. Looks like rain for Thursday through Sunday, which will just make it worse. I'd stay home.
Thanks, I appreciate the update. True...but can't know until we go...rain, snow, high winds...we will trek it. Many trails to consider...still in pre-planning stages. ATStrong
U.w. please post if do massanutten trail. Have always wondered about that trail...love signal knob which I believe is on it
Could you please post a report when you get back with pictures if possible. Looking for new trails not to far from me. Thanks .
So, I went I did that hike. I did it with another long distance hiker: two speed. We parked at Signal Knob parking and did the loop clockwise - so started from the left end of the parking lot if facing it from the road. Yes, the trail does go over Signal Knob - doing it clockwise like we did, that was at the end of our hike - the water down at the bottom, near-ish the stone building was still way good Memorial Day Weekend. Of all the views we had, Signal Knob was one of the somewhat less impressive - so - you know there are some pretty sweet views on this hike.
What I knew about the trail before doing it was: it was about 71 miles long, it is a loop trail, it is said to be rocky, not heavily used, have some really, really sweet views, and not have a lot of places to get water.
I found those to all be true. I found none of those to be an issue.
The trail was not overgrown in any places when we did it, and was marked well enough. I found some notes someone had taken a photo of and posted on-line, and that is what we used to hike the trail - it was more than sufficient.
We did the trail, ~71 miles, in a bit under 2.5 days, spending 2 nights on trail. One at the Roosevelt picnic / camp area, and one at Edinburg Gap, where water was a half mile down the road (to the right if doing the loop clockwise like we did).
I would never say that doing the trail/loop in <2.5 days is the way to do it. It is what we did, it worked well for us, and I would definitely do it again.
There was another hiker there who also did it like that too, Chris. He started right behind us and finished right behind us. We all stayed at Edinburg Gap on the second night, in some descent rain and lightening/thunder storms. I didn't see him until we finished, and I chatted it up with him a little then, in the parking lot.
Taking a bit more time to do the trail will be best for some, and would definitely be an awesome way to do it. Doing it across three or four nights out (or more), would be easy to plan around the water areas for sure.
The longest water carry we had was ~16 miles. There were two of those, and 10 or more miles between reliable on trail water seemed to be the norm. Not a big deal of course, but definitely worth mentioning - Plan accordingly.
We both agreed that it was a pretty sweet trail, we would do it again, that it's a pretty great & realistic "snapshot" of what someone could expect hiking the AT and/or would be a pretty realistic 'shake-down hike' for the AT - missing some of the bigger climbs though.
u.w. / willin'
chknfngrs
05-30-2019, 10:06
I’m gonna try this, anything else needed to succeed?! I like the challenge you posed for yourself and will do the same
Shoot me a PM with your e-mail, and I'll e-mail you a word.doc of the notes I used if you like.
We did encounter a few ticks, so permethrin on your clothes and some deet, or you preference, might be a really good idea. We both had permethrin on our clothes. I used deet and never saw another tick after I put some on. two speed used picaridrin and found ticks more or less throughout...
It was decently hot and humid when we did this. We opted for 2 liters of water for the first 16-ish mile water carry - 2.5 or even three would have been nicer, lol - two worked, but we could've been downright playful with our water if we'd have carried just a little more, lol, There was some gallon water jugs cached along the ridge on a big white letter "C" shaped table, on the first 16+ mile water carry - we left them alone, so may still be there.
There are some Really Sweet view points along the way for sure!
u.w. / willin'
Thanks much I wanna do this in the fall, I would take the linger approach.
You're welcome.
The "linger approach" would be a fine way to do it, for sure. Throw in fall time cooler temps, and the colors of fall - BAM! - Excellent!!! There are some really, really nice view points along the this trail, which would be even better in fall I think. Two Speed and I were commenting on exactly that when we hiked it.
I hope you do put it on your "to do list" for fall, and do it. Send me a pm with your e-mail address, and I'll send you the trail notes/directions. I'll be away from my e-mail and any computers until Monday next week, though.
u.w. / willin'
RiverbirchHiker
06-01-2019, 03:24
We did the trail, ~71 miles, in a bit under 2.5 days, spending 2 nights on trail....
It was decently hot and humid when we did this. We opted for 2 liters of water for the first 16-ish mile water carry - 2.5 or even three would have been nicer, lol - two worked, but we could've been downright playful with our water if we'd have carried just a little more, lol...
Thanks for the trip report. Sounds like a lovely trail. I've been so focused on the AT, that I skip on all these other trails.
Reading this is a good reminder to me about knowing your own limits--and being willing to stretch and grow, too.
The miles covered, and the limited amount of water you carried, are so way out of range for anything I can (currently) do. There's such a range of comfort zones/fitness levels/hiking styles, which shouldn't be too surprising to me, but it is.
Cheers,
Mike/riverbirch