Back in the Mountains

I have some catching up to do on this blog, and will start with a quick post about my first mountain hike in months.  On March 1, I had a chance to head for the mountains for a couple of short hikes.  I was looking for trails that I'd never hiked on in the Southern District of Shenandoah National Park, as I have hiked almost every trail in this section and wish to finish these trails soon.

I hiked two trails: the Stull Brook Trail (northern trail on the map), which was a little more than 2 miles each way, and the "backdoor" entrance to the Paine Run Trail (southern trail on the map), which was about 0.6 miles each way.

The approach to these trails is from the west, rather than from the Skyline Drive.  I tried to find a third trail, but gave up after about 45 minutes of trying to get there. 

There was nothing spectacular about these trails, but it felt great to be back in the mountains, even though both of these were pretty flat.

Here are some photos from the Stull Brook Trail:

The trail is a pleasant walk, kind of an old woods road going from one park boundary to another for about two miles.

Clearly, the trail maintainers have some work to do.

I like the forest in the late winter / early spring.  I heard a few birds, mostly woodpeckers - pileated, red-bellied, and downy - but also a few chickadees and Carolina wrens.

The hike to Paine Run from the west is the only part of a longer trail that I hadn't hiked.  Coming from the west saved me miles of hiking.  I had to do several stream crossings here, which were easy enough to do with my trekking poles.  I camped near this spot a number of years ago.

Not too long ago, a raccoon left proof of his existence in the mud.

This trail was a nice and easy one.

There were a lot of lovely stream views along this trail.

I enjoyed being back in the mountains, and will try to catch up my additional hikes soon.

Counting the Birds

Every year, the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology coordinates the Great Backyard Bird Count.  This year, it went from Friday the 14th through Monday the 17th.  You can record birds as little or as much as you wish, and in your backyard or anywhere else.  I did backyard counts, as well as counts in five other areas.  Although these all involved some hiking, I really only kept track of the mileage for my hiking records on the last hike, which was Monday at Dutch Gap Conservation Area.  I hiked 6.2 miles there, and I probably hiked close to another six miles or so at the other four sites.

I saw and/or heard 51 separate species, including this beautiful pileated woodpecker.  You can scroll down past the species list to see some more photos.  Count data is entered in eBird.

The six areas, and the species counts are:

Around home - 18 species
Ginter Botanical Gardens - 11 species
Three Lakes Park - 14 species
Gaines Mills Battlefield - 15 species
Malvern Hill Battlefield (Crewes Channel) - 27 species
Dutch Gap Conservation Area - 41 species

Here is a list of the 51 species of birds I saw and/or heard during the four days of the count:

Double-crested cormorant
Great blue heron
Canada goose
Wood duck
Mallard
Ring-Necked duck
Northern shoveler
Gadwall
Hooded merganser
Green-winged teal
Turkey vulture
Black vulture
Cooper's hawk
Red-shouldered hawk
Bald eagle
American kestrel
Killdeer
Mourning dove
Barred owl
Belted kingfisher
Red-bellied woodpecker
Downy woodpecker
Northern flicker
Pileated woodpecker
Eastern phoebe
Blue jay
American crow
Fish crow
Tree swallow
Tufted titmouse
Carolina chickadee
Carolina wren
Golden-crowned kinglet
Ruby-crowned kinglet
Eastern bluebird
American robin
Hermit thrush
Northern mockingbird
European starling
Yellow-rumped warbler
Pine warbler
Northern cardinal
Eastern towhee
Field sparrow
White-throated sparrow
Song sparrow
Eastern meadowlark
Red-winged blackbird
Common grackle
Dark-eyed junco
American goldfinch

Here are some pictures of some of the birds I saw, and some of the natural features on my birding hikes, starting with this great blue heron at Three Lakes Park:

Nearby, was this group of double-crested cormorants.

At Gaines Mill, it looks like spring is in the air.

At Crewes Channel at the Malvern Hill Battlefield, while I didn't see any beaver, they were surely in evidence, and seemingly had been very busy.

The rest of these are from Dutch Gap...

Canada goose

The trees are well into bud all over, even though it's just mid-February.

Dutch Gap has a wide variety of habitats, including seasonally flooded swamps like this one.

The ducks on the left are gadwalls.  I am not sure about the one on the right.

Northern cardinal

Northern mockingbird

A pair of northern shovelers.  The drakes are so beautiful!

Ring-necked ducks - I love the yellow eye!

Birds are in terrible trouble in North America and all over the world, unfortunately.  Participating in citizen science projects such as the Great Backyard Bird Count can help scientists gain valuable information about bird populations and trends.

The Group Hike That Kind of Wasn't

My last hike of 2019 was December 8 at Powhatan State Park (I didn't post about it, but it was 7 miles).  Exactly a month later, I took my first hike of 2020.  My wife's health has improved enough in the last few weeks that we are okay with me heading out for fairly short hikes not too far from the house.  So, while I won't be going up to the mountains - too far and not as easy to stay in touch - Powhatan SP is only about a 35 minute drive and is within cell phone coverage.  And on that Wednesday, the Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club was having a hike there of about 5 miles, gathering at 10:50.  Seemed perfect!

I hit the road and even got there about 5 minutes early.  As I pulled into the parking area, I was amazed to see so many other people there early as well.  The parking lot was full, but not a single person was in sight.  I pulled out my phone and checked the email: gather at 9:50.  Doh!!!!  Well, I was at the park, it was a pretty day, and I could still do a hike.  I looked at the map, planned my route, and started my feet moving.  And in about 1.5 miles, I encountered our big group coming the other way, so I hiked back to the cars with them, getting to chat with some of the club members.  After they left, I hit the trails again and hiked about 2 + more miles by myself.  Here is my route.  The star is the parking area, the big arrow to the red circle was my first hike, running into the ODATC at the red circle, where I turned and retraced my steps.  The loop at the top of the map was my second hike, solo.

The first part of the hike goes through open woods near the James River, and past some canoe-in and walk-in campsites.  One can camp here year round, I believe.

This park is a pleasant mixture of forest, riverfront, and open fields.

The stairs to nowhere?  Actually, this park is popular with horsewomen and horsemen, and my guess is that the steps are provided for easier mounting of one's horse.

As I walked along the edge between the field and the forest, I was delighted to see the ODATC hikers coming towards me, so I retraced my steps with them to the parking area.

Back on my own, I started out on the River Trail, then looped back through the forests and fields.

Here is a deep gully that likely contains an intermittent stream when heavy rains occur.

I really like going through the forest in the winter.  It's peaceful, although I do miss the bird song of spring and summer.  Birds calling are infrequent this time of year: a few pileated, red-bellied. and downy woodpeckers; Carolina chickadees; Carolina wrens; white-breasted nuthatches; tufted titmice; white-throated sparrows.

I was happy to get in a short (5.6 miles) hike, and also to run into fellow hikers, despite my senior moment about the time.  I'll try to go on a few other short hikes before my wife's surgery.  I may not write about them - for example, I got to Three Lake Park and Malvern Hill Battlefield in the past week.  Eventually, I'll be up in the mountains again, but not for a few months, I would guess.

Wrapping Up 2019

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In 2019, I took over 5,000,000 steps, walking an estimated 2,470 miles.  Of this, 422 miles were hiking on trails, the first time I've ever hiked over 400 miles in a year.

Some other stats: I hiked 384 miles as day hikes, and only 38 miles while backpacking.  It was not a good year for backpacking.  I cancelled two trips when I got sick, another to go to my step-mother's memorial service, and at least two more when our cat got sick.  Maybe I'll manage more in 2020 - that's my goal at least, once I start hiking again.

I hiked 100 miles by myself, and 322 miles with groups, including 159 miles with the Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club.  I went backpacking once with a group and once by myself.  I finished most of the trails in the Southern District of Shenandoah National Park.  I have about 200 miles left to hike in the entire park, which probably means hiking closer to 400 miles, since so many are out and back, or I have to repeat some sections I've already done to get to a trail that I haven't hiked yet.

My favorite hikes of the year?  The Grayson Highlands backpacking trip, my November backpacking trip over Rockytop, the ODATC hike on the AT from Stony Man to Thornton Gap, and the three Road Scholar hikes for June, July, and October - which I got paid for!

New Map

I'm glad I saw the bear up close on my last hike, because I won't be hiking for a while.  My wife needs surgery and so I will staying close to home for some time.  In the meanwhile, I can study maps and dream of days to come on the trail.  Speaking of maps, in my Christmas stocking was a Purple Lizard topographic map of the Laurel Highlands region of Pennsylvania, where I backpacked twice in 2018.  The map includes the southern 35 miles or so of the wonderful Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail.  But the map contains the following health warning: "Continued use of Lizard Maps may result in an inability to stay indoors and an uncontrollable desire to explore.  Your skin may become covered with dust and dirt.  Mild euphoria can make it difficult to relate time and distance.  A perpetual smile may alter your definition of weather.  Your entire worldview may change.  There is a potential of all of these to occur simultaneously and without warning.  This is why we are warning you now."

Okay, I've been warned.  Bring it on!

Four Hikes, and a Bear

I'm always happy to hit the trails in the mountains, but last Tuesday, I was a little less excited than usual.  My goal was strictly to hike several short trails to check them off my SNP 500 list.  None of them seemed overly amazing - they were all short sections, out and back, repeating the same ground each time.  Here are the trails I hiked, for a total of about 10 miles, with a loss and gain of 1,800 - 2,000 feet:

Eaton Hollow
Simmons Gap Fire Road West (Beldor Road)
Pinefield Hut
Browns Gap Fire Road (east of Doyles River)

On this track, they are located in order north to south to give an idea of their locations, all in the Southern District of Shenandoah National Park:

Yet, despite my lack of enthusiasm, each of these four little hikes yielded a good memory.  On Eaton Hollow, I hiked to a cool PATC camp building.  On the Simmons Gap hike, I encountered two ladies hiking and had an enjoyable chat.  On the hike to the hut, I enjoyed a nice lunch break at a picnic table.  And on the Browns Gap hike, I encountered a bear close up, my first great look at a bear in a long time.

The Eaton Hollow hike was about a half mile each way.  There was a nice view right at the start, followed by a mostly gentle descent to the camp area:

At the turn-around point, I reached the Schairer Trail Center of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC).  I don't know what they do here, but doesn't it look inviting?

Here is the view from the front porch:

This photo gives a good idea of the setting.

Next, I drove a few miles south to Simmons Gap, where these three deer gave me a look over.

I started hiking downhill along the fire road, heading west.

On the way back up, against all expectations, I met two ladies hiking down.  I'll call them K and S.  Why in the world was anyone else on this trail on a cold Tuesday morning?  Well, the logical explanation is that they were also attempting to hike every trail in the park, and that was the case.  We had a very nice chat. K wore a cap with the pink breast cancer symbol, so I asked if she was a survivor, which she was.  I told her that I was a 17 year Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor, and she said that her husband has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  I told her about walking the 3-Day 60 mile Susan Komen walk in 2011 (in memory of my sister, Ann, who died from breast cancer that year), and also about doing marathons and half-marathons for Team in Training to raise money for blood cancer research.  And we also talked about hiking in the park, and working towards the SNP 500.  I think K was getting pretty close to finishing, and S - while not doing the formal miles - likes to help her and hike with her.  I still have about 200 miles to go.  I enjoyed meeting fellow hikers out there and getting to talk.  They were the only people I saw all day.

Next, I drove south a bit and hiked the short distance into the Pinefield Hut, a perfect spot for lunch.

Finally, there was time for one last hike, the east side of the Browns Gap Fire Road.  I'd been by this spot at least a dozen times on my Doyles River hikes, including exactly a week ago with my friend Doug.  I left my car at the Doyles River trailhead, and dropped almost 700 feet like a stone to get to the fire road junction,

this time turning east instead of west.  The trail went almost two miles from here and dropped another 500 feet, although at a more pleasant pace.

Could there be a bear in this cave?  Maybe.  Did I stick my head in there to find out?  No., I did not!

 This was a very pleasant old road to hike along.

On one side was the steep Doyles River Valley.  I could hear the falls far below, and even crossed the Doyles River - easily rock hopped - as it flowed over the fire road.

I got some nice views across the valley at times.

The end of the road at the park boundary!  Check off one more trail towards the SNP 500.

On the hike back up, I got a treat.  I was trying to send my wife a message on the inReach but it was not going through.  So on that steep section, near the junction of the trail to the Doyles River Cabin, I stopped to get the message sent.  While I was stopped, I heard the sound of an animal in the leaves.  Squirrel?  No, something larger.  I waited and waited, and suddenly, there was a young bear about 100 feet off the trail.  I spent a while there, trying to get a good look for a photo.  Most of the time, he was partially hidden behind vegetation, but eventually, I got some good shots.  He was cautious but not fearful.  Up through the woods by the cabin, I could hear two men calling a dog and the dog barking.  The bear didn't seem concerned, and eventually ran across the trail about 50 feet from me and headed up towards the cabin.  Hopefully, he was not getting food from a human source.  This bear looked to me to be a second year cub, meaning his mom had recently kicked him out and he was having to make his own way in the world for the first time.  Seeing a bear is always a thrill!  This was my first sighting since June, and my first while hiking solo in several years.  If I hadn't stopped at that exact spot to send the message, I never would have seen this animal.

What a fun day in the mountains!  Meet some wonderful hikers and have a nice chat, and see a bear!  And check off about 4 more miles towards my SNP 500!  I'd call that a pretty good day!