Date: 2006-04-27
From: Hogback Overlook Parking SD 21.1

To: Jenkins Gap, Skyline Dr, Mile 12.3
Miles today: 11.0

Hogback Overlook Parking SD 21.1 to Gravel Springs Gap SD 17.7 N 3.4 MilesGravel Springs Gap SD 17.7 to  Parking Lot SD 15.9   S 1.6 MilesParking Lot SD 15.9 to  Jenkins Gap, Skyline Dr, Mile 12.3  N 3.9 MilesJenkins Gap, Skyline Dr, Mile 12.3 to  Compton Gap, Skyline Dr, Mile 10.4 S 2.1 MilesToday is Thursday April twenty seventh. Spent last night again at the Cardinal Inn in Luray, Virginia.  And so we got to the motel and Terry went in for a shower and I went down to the grocery store and bought some groceries for breakfast. Went by subway and got a Subway sandwiches for supper. Came back watched The Amazing Race. Cleaned up, and then even though we were really tired, we stayed up till eleven thirty. I said , we could watch the weather, so I turned the T.V. on, I guess we finally did see It was going to be beautiful, cooler. So this morning we get up, get going, had our breakfast. We had some little problems in our room. We didn't like the coffee maker leaking and my microwaving oatmeal blew a fuse. So just a few little things. We got going at Seven thirty. Got out, picked up the other car at Panorama, and went on. Came all the up to Gravel Springs gap, dropped off a rental car. Stopped at a couple of overlooks on the way back trying to see Washington D.C. again. I still got a little hope maybe later today to see it. But we went back to the Hogback Overlook parking lot and get ready to go. At 8:45 we are on a trail. And just enjoying it, was just a little bit up, to get to what they call a third peak of Hogback. And come back down across the road. They say that's three tenths, I find that hard to believe. But I guess maybe it was 8:55 across the road. Then you kind of follow this road up to the second peak of Hogback where there's a radio tower. Right at the top we meet two guys coming the other way. I wasn't sure where the trail went up there, so that worked out good. Was actually so cool this morning that when we started out we were wearing not only our fleece, but our rain gear, to protect us from the wind. But going up that second peak we soon took off the rain jackets. And down down down pretty fairly steep down. And like Terry said, I'm glad we were going that way, not the way those two guys came, that would have been harder. And you get good outlook's over to the west and north into these valleys, just beautiful. And we come to Little Hogback overlook. And it was actually like 9:33. And stop there for a minute, look at the maps and stuff. Now we go just little bit further to another overlook, stop there for a couple minutes. And then you just keep going on. I don't know if that was an old road then or not, but you know a lot of this trail you've been on to this morning's been like an old road. We come to another old intersection, with another old road. It goes out to Skyline drive in just like a hundred yards, about 9:55. At ten o'clock we're crossing Skyline Drive which would make that, I think that was six tenths. It was one point five miles to the Little Hogback overlook, which we did in 45 minutes, and then another Fifteen minutes to do six tenths. And we got one point three miles to go. And it's still just a beautiful day; we're just taking our time and enjoying it. We finish the hike at 10:30 at Gravel Springs gap and we reshuttled the cars. And then we started on Skyline Drive MM 15.9 where there's a parking lot. And we hike South over South Marshall mountain. Total one point six miles. We started that hike at eleven o'clock. And it was just a nice gentle up. Dont remember too much, other than a couple of outlooks looking west and north. I called dad. And then we just went over the top and down the other side, was nice gentle down. Kept walking. Lots and lots of Rufous-sided Towhee we heard and other birds. I don't know if it was the area or just the right time of day, but they were really singing. And then just before we got out to the car, I had to stop and do my duty and Terry went on ,and I would say we roughly got to the car about 11:50 at Gravel Springs Gap. Then we came back up here to our car and we opened the side door, made ourselves some peanut butter and honey sandwiches. And now we're resting after five miles down and minimum six to go. We reposition the cars and we sat in the minivan and had lunch with the doors opened. Finally said let's get going. 1:00pm we are on the trail again from Skyline Drive MM 15.9 going over North Marshall Mountain. And eventually down to Jenkins gap. 1:10 we're at a nice lookout, 1:15 we're at the top of Marshall. It was a rocky steep climb but didn't last too long. And you get up on top and there's a nice pretty level ridge you walk along. And we only stay for a couple minutes to look out. And finally they take you down, I think it was fairly gentle. We just walk along and didn¢t hear a thing, suddenly this guy comes up behind Terry and just said, "excuse me", and I mean he didn't slow down or anything. He managed to pull one plug out of his ear, so he could hear what we said, if anything. And in no time at all he was gone. So we kept going. It was nice gentle trail and 2.2 miles we came to where it crosses the Skyline Drive. At 2:05pm we took about a five minute, pee and drink and eat, snack break. And then we said, let's just keep going. So across the road, and right away they get you up just a little bit and there's an old concrete foundation. The book says was an old farm building, I don't know if I believe that. That's all I know. And then lots of apple trees and they're blooming now and the bees are buzzing around. But it¢s a nice pleasant walk through there and they take you up on the little higher point and they're still apple trees. And we're looking for another foundation, because the book said there were two of them, but I never saw that, and now we're headed down. So I guess that was our last climb. OK at 2:30 we're headed down. We're looking for that Jenkins gap. A couple of things of note. Dew Rag, I don't know if I mentioned yesterday, that she said she started hiking at Springer March eighth. Wanted to put that in there.  We got on an old road. And it's real nice, comes around the corner, and you can see the Skyline Drive. It was only a 2:45, and I said, "No problem, we're going to get there early". And then you go through some more apple orchards. And come around and make a curve and we finally get to The Jenkins gap trail. we had a little problem deciding if this side trail came out to the parking lot or not, but it came out. I don't know, say 3:05pm we came out to Jenkins Gap. Now we're going to have a little fun. We¢re going to reshuttle the cars and then take one car and go up to the Visitor Center, Dickey ridge and check that out before they close. Our last hike for the day. Well first we went down to the Dicky Ridge Visitor Center. Neither Terry or I thought much of that, for all our Taxpayer money, there was not much there. But you know we use the bathroom. So then we came back up here to Compton Gap and we start our hike at 4:20pm. And it just goes right on up, and I just charged right on up. And I was awesome, yeah. And I got up to the top at 4:42, which I don't know if that's a half mile or what that was. Had to be maybe more, I don't know. And it kind of leveled off up there and then we came to where two side trails take off. To go to a summit on each side. And that was 4:47. We started down but then it leveled off again for a little while. Later started down again and we started noticing all the apple trees. We called that fairly steep down, took our time. Finally some little springs started popping up, and the water we had to cross a couple times. Terry was looking for more foundations, didn't find any. What else I don't know? Oh yeah yeah we're going down, there were these three guys coming up at a pretty fast clip, and I just decided to ask them questions, as they would not stop. I go, "are you thru hikers"? "Yep we are. We got this far", so they were funny. We don't mind, they were flying up hill. So then we kept going, finally we get to the flat. It¢s a pretty long flat area and we walked and walked and then we got through the mountain laurel tunnels. Which I'm sure, would just be beautiful when they're in bloom. And I kept wondering where that parking lot was. And finally, we could see the road and then we turned away from the road a little bit. 5:22 we actually came out to the parking lot at Jenkins Gap. But, just a beautiful day and now we're gonna see what there is in the town of Front Royal.