On November 9, just five days after backpacking, I led a group of nine to hike 10+ miles along the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park, heading north from the Doyles River Trailhead to Simmons Gap. I'd not hiked that section before and really liked it, as it had some great views along the way. Here is the elevation profile of the hike, with us hiking left to right. The high point is about 3,300 feet and the low point at Simmons Gap is about 2,300 feet. We did lots of climbing at times, but more downhill than up.
The AT here went through the Loft Mountain area, which is a major campground in the park. We got some great views along the way. Here I am (yes, it was cold!) early in the hike.
The mountains are mostly without leaves now in early November.
Here is the rest of the group at our lunch spot - a lunch with a view! At lunch, one of the guys gave me a good idea - carry hot tea or coffee in a thermos. A hot drink would have hit the spot today. The temperatures never got above 37 F.
You can see a little section of the Skyline Drive far below us.
I liked this orange fungus. It looked like something had eaten part of it.
Well, I didn't get a ton of photos. I never do when I hike with a group because people keep moving and I am not fast enough to catch back up. But I did notice that my level of conditioning has improved since September. Uphills that would have made me slow way down and/or rest back then didn't seem problematic today. Probably the 22 mile hike a few days ago with the 40 pound backpack helped with that.
I enjoyed this hike and the group of people. The Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club is a fun group to hike with.
Nice you got to hike with a group of people. Once again beautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteWow 22 miles, that's quite a hike.
It was a fun group, and after being solo for three days less than a week before, I definitely preferred hiking with others. The views are great here. But only bout 10.5 miles, not 22, as we left a car at each end.
Delete