Fore Mountain Trail Loop - December 27, 2021

 A cloudy post-Christmas Monday saw seven hikers exploring never-before-explored trails near Douthat State Park.  The hiked portion of Fore Mountain Trail starts northwest of Clifton Forge - near the city reservoir, and climbs to the southwestern part of Douthat State Park, where it meets the park's Middle Mountain Trail and Stoney Run Trail.  (The rest of the trail continues west to Covington.)

The trail was in great shape - always a nice surprise on new trails!  (We found out later that this section is maintained by the Alleghany Highlands Trail Club.) The group hiked 11.8 miles total (shorter than the projected 12.3 mile length) and ascended nearly 2000 feet, mostly in the first third of the loop.  Parts of the loop were very well signed at intersections, but other parts were not as well labeled.  A GPS with the route highlighted proved very useful at a few points in the loop.  

The group was on the trail starting at about 10:15 and the hike ended at about 3:45.  Hikers included PATC veterans John Brandt, Barbara Martin, Susanna Williams, Michael Seth and hike leader Jeff Monroe.  Also attending was Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club member David Horst, who has hiked with the PATC before.

Michael and Jeff agreed that future group hikes in this area should explore the rest of the Fore Mountain Trail and, north of Douthat, the Little Mare Mountain Trail.  

Trail Work Events - Rebuilding Rock Stairway on the AT - Ivy Creek Overlook in Shenandoah National Park- 12/14/21, 11/2/21, 10/26/21

 

December 14 was the third trail work event rebuilding a rock stairway on the Appalachian Trail near Ivy Creek Overlook in Shenandoah National Park. Marit Anderson and Mark Perschel were the PATC leaders organizing the day, but Leah Cawthorn from the Appalachian Conservation Corps, Chandler Berry from Conservation Legacy, and Olivia Jackson from Student Conservation Association were the experienced rock workers, so their expertise helped guide the whole crew. Lisa Swales is the Trail Maintainer for this section and she joined the team of volunteers, including Jen Jackson, John Brandt, Peggy Byrd, Iva Gillet, and Helen-Marie Field. The crew did a variety of tasks from harvesting rock from the forest, laying down and positioning rock to rebuild a section of the stairway, to making crush to fill in the gaps and level the rock.  We also took turns building water bars on the AT going south. Mark gave tutorials and everyone got a chance to dig, grade, and create dirt berm water bars that were needed for water mitigation.  It was a beautiful day and we all were happy to be outdoors.  We ate lunch at noon and brownies, peppermint chocolates, and chocolate chip cookies were shared to top off our break.  Work continued until 2 pm, then we hiked back to Ivy Creek Overlook parking lot to clean the tools and say our goodbyes.  We hope to have one more work day to position the three very large rocks that the team moved near the trail and will be used to complete the top of the stairway.  

The two prior work days on rebuilding the rock stairway at Ivy Creek Overlook were October 26 when Lisa Swales, Marit Anderson, and Mark Perschel were joined by Leah Cawthorn and Student Conservation Association members Ian Eberly, Brad Lathrop, Rily Collins, and Annie Nelson. Much of the groundwork was begun this day because a number of the group were experienced in laying rock and building stairs.  The SCA team and Leah returned on November 2 to extend the stairs, but Marit and Mark were already committed to do chainsaw work on the Charlottesville PATC section at McCormick Gap.  It really has been a collection of days with various trail organizations lending a helping hand to rebuild this crumbling area.  Hikers will be safer for it.  Thanks to all the volunteers!

Submitted by Marit Anderson

AT From Dragon's Tooth Parking to Rt 311

 A group of seven PATC hikers headed down to Roanoke early on Saturday, December 11th to hike a relatively short trail that relatively few area hikers actually hike.  The route was on the AT between the parking lot for the popular Dragon's Tooth hike and the parking lot for the even more popular McAfee Knob hike.  In between these two crowded hiking locations, the AT meanders in relative obscurity.  The hikers used the Boy Scout Trail on the south end to connect to the Dragon's Tooth Parking.  Next time, they will hike the AT to the Dragon's Tooth summit.

The hikers included Karen Ballen, Nancy Handley, Anna Castle, Aileen McKernan, Sharon Celsor-Hughes, Mary Burgert, and hike leader Jeff Monroe.  Some of the group started at the McAfee parking lot, and some of the group at the Dragon's Tooth parking lot.  There was a key exchange in the middle.  This was a relatively short hike, taking under 4 hours.  There were record warm temps, but windy conditions and a storm front were predicted to start mid-afternoon, so the timing worked well for the group.  

There was a great variety of landscapes over a short amount of trail.  There was a sawtoothed ridge walk, active pastures with cows, a streamside stroll, and some short-but-steep uphills.

On the way home, the group stopped in Buena Vista to lunch at JJ's Meat Shak.  Their turkey sandwich is worth the trip, and our only rain was while we were in the restaurant!

PATC New Member Hike - December 5, 2021

The PATC - Charlottesville Chapter and its sister chapter, the Southern Shenandoah Valley Chapter, co-sponsored a hike specifically for new PATC members on Sunday, December 5th. Invitations were sent to PATC members who joined after May, 2021, expressed an interest in either Chapter when joining, the Club, and actually live in the area. A group of 12, including 3 hike leaders from the two chapters, explored the White Rock Falls loop, located off of the Blue Ridge Parkway south of Wintergreen Ski Area.

Hike Leaders included Pam Heinrich from the SSVC, and Iva Gillett and Jeff Monroe from the Charlotteville Chapter.

A.T. between Curry Gap and Bobblett Gap, 11/15/2021

 The Charlottesville Chapter members working on the "Hike the AT Through Virginia with the PATC" series completed a section that connected some Roanoke sections to the rest of the portions hiked to the north.  There was a group of nine hikers, split into two groups for a key exchange. The southbound group included hike leaders Margaret Helber and Nancy Kern, with Susanna Williams and Nancy Handley.  The northbound group included hike leaders Michael Seth and Jeff Monroe, along with Karen Ballen, Lynn Hatch and first-timer Mary Bugert.

Both groups met near the middle of the hike and had lunch together, along with exchanging car keys for the return shuttle.  Weather was cool - in the 50's and sometimes breezy, with the day starting in the 30's.  But it was sunnier than predicted - a great day to be out on the trail logging more Virginia Appalachian Trail miles.  Although the group hiked on a Sunday, deer hunting rifle season started the day before, so everyone wore orange or blaze pink.