Walking With Winter

AT in Winter

After being off the trail for almost two months (since the November work trip) due to holidays and weather, Sunday (Jan. 12) was too good an opportunity to miss to get out and do some blowdown scouting and maintaining. In deciding where to go, we had a couple of factors to consider. Primarily, the concern was for sections of the trail that are the most heavily used and those would be between Rockfish Gap and the Humpback Rocks area. The Club's annual "Freezeree" was taking place over the weekend so those folks could be counted on to check out the five miles between Rockfish and the Shelter. Maintainers had been on the Albright (trees down) and Section 5 (looking good!). The decision was made to hike Sections 6 and 7 which would take us down the Howardsville Turnpike and up the back side of Humpback Mountain to the blue blaze that goes down to The Rocks. This section of AT is frequently used as part of a circuit hike that includes Humpback Rocks.

It was a gorgeous day - sunny, extremely windy at Humpback Gap/Parking, but much calmer once we dropped out of the Gap and got into the woods. Lots of layers going on and coming off were the key to staying comfortable during the day. The winter woods, with the sunlight angling in and illuminating the bark on the bare trees, plus the visibility through the woods makes for a beautiful hike, an entirely different experience from when the trees are leafed out and the underbrush is thick and green.

We got a lot of work done, mainly diverting melt/rain water, as you will see, and we cleaned out all the water bars. Tree debris was also removed and some sawyer work was noted for future trips. Leaves were cleared off of the steps so hikers could see them. It was a very satisfying day because we got so much work done while enjoying a great hike.  The pictures below tell the story of our day:

Small patch of ice on the Howardsville - took this pic just to show it had been icy .... little did I know!

Lots and lots of water running down Howardsville - almost a creek.

The water bars on Howardsville were doing a good job.

 BIG ice! I felt silly after taking that picture of the ice in the puddle.

 One of many ice formations along the Howardsville Turnpike/AT - makes for an interesting, beautiful hike ..... and lots of melt water on the trail!

The woodpeckers have been working on this tree ... the upper portion is also riddled with holes.

 A sawyer-size blowdown on the Howardsville/AT.

 We hiked by the former 'Big Tree Jr' .... still marveling at the size of the root ball and the work the sawyers did to remove the rest of the blowdown from the AT.

Winter view, just up the trail from Big Tree Jr.  Views like this, that you don't see any other time of year, make winter hiking special. No bugs makes it extra-special!

 

We got to Bear Spring and found a LOT of water! Photos of water, due to shadows, etc. don't turn out well so here's a video. You will see how much difference it makes when leaves are removed from channels and water bars. If you're familiar with this spot on the trail, you might be surprised at the amount of water in the rock channel across the trail - usually it is dry! This was our lunch spot, while watching and listening to the water run.

This is the water bar we put in above Bear Spring in July and it is working like a champ! I confess to doing a "happy dance" to see this. The trail below, which was formerly an eroded mess and had to be rehabbed, is in great shape - no erosion found, due to the new water bar.

In the 'Alpines' above Bear Spring, the rhodies are getting ready for spring already.

 Another spot where water was flowing across and down the trail. We got it diverted, but the footing isn't great with a lot of loose rocks. This will likely be the site of a work trip project in 2014. There is some side hill tread repair that needs doing just below the water problem - since it is quite a hike in, two issues that can be dealt with by the same crew will make the longer trip in worth while.

Our destination, before we turned around and hiked back out. After talking to a single hiker coming up the blue-blaze from HB Rocks and a couple coming back from having missed turning on to the AT north (to make the loop back to the parking lot), we realized just how much confusion there is at this spot. Plus ... this is the view of the sign that people have when coming up from the Rocks ..... many walk right on by and up the hill, heading south (not north!) on the AT. This confusing situation will have to be remedied in the near future with better directional signage.

 Nature's winter garden.

Melt water, rolling off the mossy rocks.

 We noticed, once we got above Yellow Jacket Ridge, that the trail was getting a little "crunchy" as it was then getting cold enough again at the higher elevations for the muddy trail to refreeze.  As we hiked back to the parking lot and got to lower elevations, the trail became soft again. When we reached Howardsville, we noticed that with all the melting that had occurred during the day, there was even MORE water on the trail. We could also hear the sound of water rushing, far off down the hillside .... some place where we did not know there was a creek. As we got higher in the drainage, the sound diminished. Fortunately, the weather was warm enough that it was water and not ice on the trail, otherwise it would have been a skating rink.

It was quite a wonderful day on the trail. We were on the trail in January of 2013, too - that was also a good day. This time however, despite the BRP showing closed Saturday night, it was open Sunday morning which saved us about 1.6 miles of road walking ...... no road walk was a terrific way to start our day! Walking with winter ..... we highly recommend it.

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Note: Flickr has changed the way pictures are embedded so you will notice some differences from previous posts. Personally, I'm not a happy camper with some of the changes, but it is what it is.

(All photos: Merlot)