Hiking the SNP in August

[Tim Causa]

Yo!

I'll be hiking the Shenandoah the 2nd full week of August. I'm on the trail almost every weekend, and have already hiked from Thorton Gap up to 522. I'm curious as to how many hikers I'll run into considering all of the thru hikers have already passed? Will I have the huts to myself, or do the section hikers come out of woodwork after the thru hikers have passed? I really don't expect to see many people on the trail during the week.

I'm starting from the south end on Saturday night, the 11th, and night hiking to calf mountain shelter. I pack light and hike fast - 3 to 4 mph average. Looking to finish in five days averaging 20 miles a day for the last four.

Also, I'd really like to camp on a summit, such as at Mary's rock, so that I can get some good sunrise photos. I hammock - what are my chances of finding a spot to hang up there?

Looking for any other suggestions.

Cheers!

[tdoczi]

Yo!

I'll be hiking the Shenandoah the 2nd full week of August. I'm on the trail almost every weekend, and have already hiked from Thorton Gap up to 522. I'm curious as to how many hikers I'll run into considering all of the thru hikers have already passed? Will I have the huts to myself, or do the section hikers come out of woodwork after the thru hikers have passed? I really don't expect to see many people on the trail during the week.

I'm starting from the south end on Saturday night, the 11th, and night hiking to calf mountain shelter. I pack light and hike fast - 3 to 4 mph average. Looking to finish in five days averaging 20 miles a day for the last four.

Also, I'd really like to camp on a summit, such as at Mary's rock, so that I can get some good sunrise photos. I hammock - what are my chances of finding a spot to hang up there?

Looking for any other suggestions.

Cheers!

mary's rock is just that- a rock. the summit is a bit of a distance and climb off the AT (but worth it) and is really just a big pile of rocks, i don't recall much in the way of sturdy trees anywhere near the top.

i did the park nobo in 5 days myself. definitely doable, although any second someone on here is going to either ask you what the rush or tell you you're going to hurt yourself hiking that fast without "building up to it." i doubt it will be terribly crowded, i suppose you might encounter 1 or 2 fast moving soho thrus who started early.

[Tim Causa]

Hike your own hike, right? I enjoy going fast - like you I assume - and I pack light so it's easy to keep my head up and eyes on the scenery. Besides, I still manage to stop at almost every overlook, hut, shelter, and wayside. I also really enjoy night hiking; however, not sure how the bear population will react. I'll plan on doing a lot of whistling and singing when hiking under the moon in SNP....

I'll take your advice and head to the summit as well, but will probably just hang somewhere close by so I'll be able to hop up the mountain for sunrise.

Thanks for the response! Good to hear someone else confirm it's possible to do in 5 days.

Cheers

[rubyvermonter]

I hiked through there last August. There were 2 SOBO's ahead of me and two passed me. There were some other section hikers and dayhikers out. It was pretty quiet except near popular tourist spots. Have a great hike!

[shelb]

I hiked there the end of July last year. We didn't see any Thu's, but saw several section and weekenders. We always shared the shelters with at least one person, if not 2 or 3. Near the NPS park stores, we saw dayhikers, and they always reeked of soap!

[RED-DOG]

Bro you will probably see a lot of college students on section hikes, since college is about to start in a couple of weeks,and their always be a bunch of people at the overlooks and the waysides. but yeah every time i have done the shenandoah i did it in 5 days or less. RED-DOG