Exotic Plants Management day August 17 2013

On a pleasantly cool day, Pete and Bev Fink, Brad Young and I participated in a Shenandoah National Park Exotic Plants Management day at Big Meadows. Four other people, who had experience with controlling invasive plants joined ranger Cindy Blugerman.

We walked past the area where some of us removing oriental lady’s thumb last year and saw that it was pleasingly free of invasive plants, but a bittersweet vine cut last year had regrown. Further along the Story of the Forest trail, in the swamp area, we started pulling lady’s thumb, and some stilt grass and occasional garlic mustard. The plants were unevenly distributed so people roamed far to find some of the plants. Although we are well into summer, many of the lady’s thumb were not flowering which made identification more difficult.

After lunch, which included cranberry oatmeal loaf, we moved to an area where lady’s thumb were not merely weeds growing amongst other plants, but ground cover. We worked on this area until it was close to finish time, then headed back, with a couple of stops to pull trail side weeds. During the day, we explained to several groups what we were doing.

It was a good day for invasive plant control; we saw areas free of invasive plants, we cleared an area of lady’s thumb and saw an area where invasive plant removal was successful. The Park Service was, as usual, grateful for our assistance in keeping SNP natural.

White Oak Canyon August 10, 2013

Reported by Marian Styles

Rain greeted the 7 hikers who arrived at Whiteoak Canyon for what was planned to be an 8.2-mile loop encompassing the Cedar Run Trail: Brad Young, Pete & Bev Fink, Karen Ramsey, Debra Fisher, Marian Styles, and hike leader John Shannon.

We walked in a light rain for about an hour. But no matter; Whiteoak Canyon is gorgeous in any kind of weather. In fact, lots of hikers were out despite the less-than-ideal conditions. Soon enough, the rain skedaddled, leaving humidity and partly cloudy skies.

We stopped at the upper falls for lunch, where John came through with cake from BreadWorks.

Before packing up, we decided to hike back the way we came to avoid the slippery, wet rocks of the Cedar Run Trail. Brad and I were in the lead, and we spotted a long, black snake in the trail before arriving at the big swimhole that is between the upper and lower falls. Everyone except Bev and Karen took a refreshing dip before finishing the hike and heading back to Charlottesville, where we paused for refreshments.

July 27: A Trail Maintenance Dream Comes True

Reported by John Shannon

It was time, or past time, to cut summer growth along the AT between Rockfish and McCormick Gaps. A few weeks earlier, I had cut some growth at the ends of the trail, but miles of summer growth had remained in the middle.

Cutting light summer growth

Lindsay Brown and Clai Lang set up a car shuttle while I picked up a weedeater and supplies from the PATC toolbox. Lindsay carried a toolbox and cutterhead with blades; he went ahead of me cutting small branches with loppers. Clai followed with fuel for the weedeater and used loppers to cut things too large or too high for the weedeater. She also used her weedeater experience to help me cope with the left-handed thread when changing the head.

At Rockfish Gap, I (carefully) cut some poison ivy again and tried to shave some stilt grass, hoping to reduce next year’s growth. In a few spots, I stopped to damage some bittersweet easily observed from the trail, leaving many plants for another day.

Not long after starting, light rain began falling, which was earlier than forecasts had suggested. Lindsay and Clai were happy to continue working, and because I noticed the rain only when I stopped the weedeater, I was not bothered. A few backpackers passed and thanked us for our work.

Years ago Lois Mansfield decided that the number of rocks on this section of trail made use of a weedeater so difficult that it was no better than swingblades. My support crew and the weedeater’s self-feeding stringhead may be why it proved successful for me.

At lunch, plenty of lemon and berry cake was available—an advantage of a small crew.

In the northern half of this trail section, we saw a few trees down—but easily stepped over—and a leaning tree from a winter storm, which has moved closer to the ground but was still too tricky for us to cut.

Reloading string for the next user

We used the weedeater and loppers the full distance to McCormick Gap, which was as much as I hoped for. Although the trail had been passable, it looked much neater after our work. Plus, we slowed growth of some plants into the trail corridor.

Clai was happy to transport people and tools covered with wet grass back to Rockfish Gap to complete a productive day. Despite cutting poison ivy, no rashes resulted from the day’s work.

Jump Rock/Goshen Pass - July 13, 2013

Reported by Marian Styles

A-plus is the grade that participants gave leader Andy Willgruber’s 8-mile hike. What’s not to like about a hike that begins with a swinging bridge; features three spectacular overlooks, a lake, a rock scramble, and a river; and ends with a cool soak in said river? (Mind you: we did not swim in the river!)

The club had never hiked this route before. To get to the Goshen Pass Natural Area Preserve involves taking I-64W and I-81S to Exit 205 (Raphine) with a right onto Route 606 followed by a left onto Route 39 (to Goshen) to a gravel road that leads to Virginia Wayside. The drive proved quite picturesque once we left the freeways behind.

We started our hike by crossing an awesome swinging bridge. After that, the hike was punctuated by three gorgeous viewpoints, which provided wonderful lunch and rest stops. Two overlooks have names: Viewing Rock, which overlooks Lake Merriweather, and Jump Rock.

Following the last viewpoint, we had to scurry down some rocks before we hit a long descent. The last part of the hike paralleled the Maury River. Brian Muszynski and John Brandt took the lead and placed some stepping stones to make it easier for the rest of us to get across one water crossing.

Parts of our route were not well marked, and we were grateful that Andy, who had been accompanied by intrepid hiker Briana Taylor, had hiked the route twice ahead of time to scout it out for us. All told, our 8-mile route covered an elevation gain of 2,480 feet. The exertion required combined with the intense humidity to make the temperature feel quite toasty. We spent a few minutes after the hike cooling off by dipping our feet etc. into the water. An informal rock-skipping contest ensued, and Brian was declared the unofficial winner. Unfortunately, no prize accompanied the honor.

Kelly O’Rourke, Marian Styles, Pete and Bev Fink, Eileen Seaman, and Michael Seth rounded out today’s group of 9. We had hoped to end our day at Just Kay’s Café for ice cream. Alas, Kay and crew were closed for vacation, so we resorted to a stop at a run-of-the-mill convenience store/soft-serve joint.

Lovingston Spring Trail - July 20, 2013

Reported by Liz Lyons

We had a group of 4 people on the hike around Lovingston Spring Trail and the AT. Liz Lyons, Jason Gale, Brian Muszynski, and Michael Seth all ventured out to try a trail that we had never hiked before. Liz and 3 nice men- she was not complaining!! Jason had hiked with us about 9 months ago. We were glad he joined us again. 

 

The weather started out nice as we began walking north on the AT. After about 2 miles, we turned left onto Lovingston Spring Trail. This is a trail that runs along Rockbridge County and does not get much traffic. It was relatively flat and provided a nice walk through the woods. We continued along this trail until we reached Lovingston Spring. We thought that this would be a nice lunch stop. As Michael Seth looked at the map, he suggested we call this the "Three Counties Hike". We ended up traveling through Rockbridge, Nelson, and Amherst counties. 

 

After lunch, we kept hiking until we reached the intersection of the Lovingston Spring Trail and the AT. Michael Seth made the suggestion that we hike back along the AT to make this a circuit hike. Brian, Jason, and Liz agreed. We all had more energy left in us to complete what would become a 10 mile hike! 

 

We then started south along the AT and encountered large rocks to climb upon with views of the valley. Brian Muszynski was happy to have a good view he asked for earlier in the hike.   

 

The walk along the AT was great. We had some stream crossings and good terrain. The adventure was yet to come, however! 

 

With 1.5 miles left in the hike, the skies opened up!! Pouring rain and lightning! Luckily we had 4 hearty hikers that could run the last part of the trip back to the parking lot. We all arrived back safely- soggy boots and all!