Rockfish Gap to McCormick Gap - The SNP 500

I can only think of five reasons why someone would want to do this rather mundane hike:

1. They are through-hiking the Appalachian Trail
2. They are hiking the southern half of Appalachian Trail
3. They are hiking all of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia
4. They are hiking all of the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park
5. They are hiking all of the trail miles in Shenandoah National Park

There are about 511 miles of trails in Shenandoah National Park, and I have decided to hike them all as a goal, which is known as the SNP 500.  I am tabulating which ones I have already hiked - my guess is between 100 and 200 miles worth - but a section I know that I never hiked is the 3.7 miles between Rockfish and McCormick Gaps along the Appalachian Trail.  It runs a short distance from the Skyline Drive through the southernmost part of the park and through a very narrow section of park land.  Here is the track, starting at the southern point, hiking north for 3.7 miles to McCormick Gap, and turning around and hiking back.  So, to get the 3.7 miles, I had to hike 7.4 miles.  And that is one of the dirty little secrets of hiking all of the trails in the park: to get them all, one has to hike something like 800-900 miles, not 511.

From my topo map, here is the elevation profile.  I started at about 1,900 feet and climbed as high as about 2,600 feet.  Above about 2,300 - 2,400 feet, the trail and woods were mostly snow and ice covered.  When I started, the temperature at my car was 25 F, and when I finished about four hours later, it had shot up to 28!  Along most of the hike, there were light snow flurries going on.

When they say "every trail," they mean every trail.  Even tiny ones like this 0.1 mile trail connecting the AT to the Skyline Drive have to be hiked.  So I did - 0.1 miles to the Skyline Drive, turn around, and hike 0.1 miles back to the AT.  The 500 mile quest is "scout's honor!"

This hike starts by crossing Interstate 64 a hundred feet or so from the parking area.  It's the least scenic part of a generally not very scenic hike.  The sound of traffic on the interstate was noticeable at least a couple of miles up the trail on what was otherwise a very quiet hike.

After a half mile or so, we enter the backcountry of SNP.  There are instructions about dealing with bears and registering for camping, and rules on where you can and cannot camp.

This picture is pretty representative of the Appalachian Trail in this part of the woods.  At this elevation, there was not any noticeable snow.

Pileated woodpeckers have worked this dead tree over looking for grubs.

I started seeing some snow at times as the trail climbed.  Other times, the snow would disappear.

Now and then, I came across large boulders right along the trail.  Wonder how it got here?

Although it would be a miserable night, if you got caught out in a storm and had to hole up overnight, this rocky overhang would offer at least some protection.

For the last 1.5 miles or so, it was continual snow and ice along the trail.  I had to slow down to avoid taking a fall.  It was quite slippery at times.  In the distance through the gloom is Bear Den Mountain.

At McCormick Gap, my side of the road was snow covered, while...

...the other side was not.  I sat on the ground and ate lunch.  By the time I left, my hands were freezing, and it took a good 30 minutes of walking to warm up.  I hiked back to the car, glad when I got out of the icy areas, and headed for home.

Would I do this hike again?  Only if I was doing one of the quests 1-4 mentioned at the start.  It was an unremarkable hike.  But now, I can cross it off the list.  Total distance hiked: 7.6 miles.  Total credit towards the SNP 500: 3.8 miles.