This week’s planned hike up Old Rag had been carefully scheduled well in advance, hoping to beat the crowded conditions found later in the spring and to enjoy one of the few remaining weekends where vegetation does not obscure views. In the days leading up to the hike, however, the weather forecast failed to cooperate...in fact it became ever more dismal as Saturday approached. Concerned about slippery wet rocks on Old Rag’s Ridge Trail under such conditions, by midweek hike leader Ken Moss was soliciting input from other Chapter leaders for their opinions on the situation, with the unanimous consensus being that Old Rag should be avoided in such conditions. By Friday night the National Weather Service was calling for a 100% chance of precipitation, heavy at times, with thunderstorms, windy conditions and a flash flood warning thrown into the mix for good measure!
A slim glimmer of hope always exists when predicting the weather, but by Saturday morning, with rain already falling and radar indicating no relief in sight, the die was cast and the hike leader pulled the plug on any wishful thinking about conquering Old Rag on that day. As the Chapter’s unofficial credo is more or less that we hike “rain or shine”, and not daring to run counter to such a glorious and hard-earned tradition, the hike leader’s task was now to determine an alternate hike that would avoid the hazards inherent with hiking Old Rag (slippery rocks and exposed ridgelines prone to lightning strikes) as well as avoiding trails which may have problematic stream crossings.
While initial consideration was given to an alternate hike in the Old Rag vicinity, such as Nicholson Hollow, Corbin Mountain or Robertson Mountain, a note from frequent hiker Brad Young on Friday night suggested the simple choice of the trail system around nearby Ragged Mountain Reservoir. Though he had never actually hiked these trails previously, this sounded like a reasonable alternative to Ken, who then did some research online to find driving directions and print out a trail map.
With a steady rain falling as he drove toward Albemarle High School, the hike leader wondered if anyone would actually show up for what promised to be a wet day. Upon arrival, with some sense of amusement, he found Leon Gorman, Bailey and John Shannon already there, soon followed by new PATC member Stuart Brown, who would be making his first hike with us. I explained the situation and it was agreed to proceed to Ragged Mountain. Leon decided that it would be best not to expose Bailey to the wet elements and opted out in favor of returning to a dry, safe home. Our remaining three adventurers then drove to Ragged Mountain.
The rain continued to fall upon our arrival, so rain gear was donned and final packing accomplished before heading out on the trail…during which the trail map was embarrassingly left behind in the car. After heading out on the trail to the left of the parking lot, following John’s suggestion (he had hiked the area years ago), we walked along a dirt road for a bit. Ken soon realized he had not turned his GPS on (used primarily to record hiking tracks for a personal database rather than for navigation), but as it was likely deep in his pack and not wanting to stop and search for it in the rain, he decided to just forego recording this hiking track.
The small group soon merged onto the actual trail system and headed toward the Upper Lake loop. This proved to be a pleasant walk up and down through the rolling terrain, leading us by fine views of the lake and dam. Upon arriving at a trail junction, we elected to continue to the left, taking us around the western end of the reservoir. After about an hour another trail junction caused some confusion, when it was realized that the trail map had been left behind. Finally pulling out the GPS to figure out where we were, we proceeded in what appeared to be a logical direction (though the GPS did not show the trail system on it’s internal map).
The rain seemed to come and go as we walked through the woods, with occasional gusts of wind which caused us to button up our rain gear from time to time…but at other times there was a reprieve. During one of these rain lulls, we enjoyed a nice view of both the Upper and Lower Lakes while crossing the dam separating the two, commenting on the unique color of green displayed in early spring as tender new leaves begin to emerge. Nevertheless, the conditions were sufficiently wet enough for the hike leader to discover that the Gore-Tex lining in his boots had failed, providing a not so pleasant squish with every step.
Another trail junction caused further confusion and we again chose what seemed the logical direction. Before long, though, we realized we were back on the trail to the cars and just gave in to the inevitable. We had already been on the trail for two hours and determined that to be sufficient for such a wet day. Upon returning to the car, Ken noticed that the ink on the infamous forgotten trail map had smeared almost beyond recognition from the small amount of rain it had previously been exposed to…it would have quickly become useless out in the conditions we experienced.
All in all it was a good day with pleasant company. We shared interesting conversation on a range of subjects as we walked along and by the end of the trail could all feel the satisfaction of having challenged both ourselves and the elements.
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