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!
No comments:
Post a Comment