In the fall of last year April and I did a late southbound hike of 3/4 of the Appalachian Trail. I am just now getting around to posting some photos of the hike. Pictures from the New England states can be found here. Pictures from the Mid Atlantics are here. Click here for our trailjournal.
Why you should (never) southbound the AT in the late season pt 3/3: Virginia is for lovers (except in December in which case Virginia is pretty cold and your gf is probably wondering why you are still out hiking.)
Thru-hiking dinner looks suspiciously like grade school lunch, except the cheetos are now really spicy
Virginia is for lovers!
Packsplosion defined
Foot care started to become a serious chore by this point. Temperatures were cool and it was often wet.
Lots of fog in northern VA
Counting calories in Virginia
Along the Appalachian Trail in the Shennies (Shenedoah National Park, not to be missed)
There is no hunting in the Shennies, I think we counted 30+ deer on one day.
Washing socks and hoping for a few days of sun.
Missed a water source a few miles back in the Shennies, had to fill out by putting this grass into my bottle which was dripping very slowly, 20 min for half a bottle seemed well worth it at the time.
Prarie in the Shennies
More tame deer in the Shennies, these deer had no fear of humans whatsoever.
We had great weather in the Shennies, catching sunrise after sunset etc
Piece #57 in the 'April stands at the edge of something and looks off in the distance'
By this time though when the snow came down it meant it.
Just outside of Buena Vista, VA, pronounced Beeyuuuna Vista, that is. Thanks for hanging with us Liz and Rich
Snowmelt in central VA.
Snowmelt in Central VA.
We got hit with an icestorm near the Blue Ridge Parkway.
We got hit with an icestorm near the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Along the Blue Ridge parkway
Snowmelt filling up the creeks + cold temps = wet feet for days.
April's specialty: frowning at the databook.
Pastures in Virginia
The cold issues led to many broken stakes. The lower one froze and broke off in the mountains in Virginia. We left a trace.
McAfee's Knob
Getting colder
Trying to stay warm in Virginia in December
Very short days in December. This is pretty much what thruhiking in the off season looks like. Hours and hours of hiking by headlamp in the morning and in the night.
Shortcut around the Dragons Tooth ... 18 F this morning.
Everything froze this morning ... even the Aqua Mira. Its one thing for water to freeze in the bottle, but on this day our water treatment froze too! We had about 4 hours above freezing on this day which, in the context of a thruhike this was hard to deal with, the only way to store water was in the ground ... ie hiking from source to source. By the time water was treated it was freezing.
Yep, thats perma-frozen boogies.
Frozen spring on trail in Southern Virginia
April prepares the breakfast of champions.
Ridgeline route through VA.
Despite the sunny conditions temperatures remained a challenge through all of VA ...
... until roughly mid Dec when things got a bit ridicilous
Frozen hunting vest retains shape all by itself
The Knot Maul shelter 3 hours after snow started falling
The next morning
April postholing on trail
Hitchiking off trail, in a pickup with a bedful of snow, in 20 degree temperatures. OK thats enough for now!
And, as promised the video of me postholing through a feet of oak leaves in Northern Virginia.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment