Date: 2006-04-19
From: Jarman Gap Skyline Drive 96.9

To: Black Rock Gap Skyline Gap 87.4
Miles today: 11.3

Jarman Gap Skyline Drive 96.9 to Turk gap skyline dr 94.1 S 3.4 MilesTurk gap skyline dr 94.1 to Wildcat ridge skyline dr 92.4 S 2.0 MilesWildcat ridge skyline dr 92.4 to Skyline Drive Mile 88.9 N 4.1 MilesSkyline Drive Mile 88.9 to Black Rock Gap Skyline Gap 87.4 N 1.8 MilesSplit hikes allow you to carry less and rest more and take better care of your feet.Today is Wednesday April nineteenth, 2006. Beautiful day, we stayed last night at Sherando Lake Campground in the non-electric. I thought we'd have a lantern, couldn't get it to work, but we had a great shower. Slept real good. Got up out of their by seven o'clock. Stopped at two grocery stores, couldn't find any anything but whole milk. That worked. Got back up on the Blue Ridge Parkway went into the Shenedoah N P. Picked up the rental car at Jarman Gap. Drove to Turk gap, had breakfast. Got on the trail at eight forty. Nice little hike up to a trail that goes over Turk Mt.  We ran into a hiker, a E R physician from Charlottesville, or near there, and talked to him for probably fifteen minutes. So it was real nice. Hopefully we'll see him again. Just about an hour I think, about nine forty or so, we crossed Skyline drive. Stop for a few minutes. It turned into a pretty nice trail. Finally passed The Father and with his thirteen year old Boy Scout son, the Doctor had told us about. I guess they all stayed at Cass Mt. shelter last night. So then, we think we're getting close and we're enjoying all the wild flowers. Come to a crossing fire road, had to do another two to three tenths up and over a little hill. Finally got to Jarman Gap road. Came out to Skyline drive at Eleven o'clock to our car, and now we've moved on up To Wildcat Ridge trail, crossing the Shenandoah Parkway, and we started hiking at 11:22, we're going to try to get two miles in, back to our car at Turk Gap. Five minutes into the hike we ran into the E R physician, start talking to him again. While we're standing here this Older couple, well early sixty's, they came along and they started talking to us and they knew the E.R. doctor. Turns out this guy was a doctor also and they like to hike the way we do, shuttle themselves. They have a little Vesper scooter that they put on the back of their minivan, and that's how they do their own shuttling. Which would be neat but it causes its own problems too. Anyhow so we stood there another ten, fifteen minutes talking to them. And then we left and walked along and it's a very nice trail. Went down to a creek and we could see a road coming in from the left, we said there¢s our road. We just had a nice hike and came out to our car at 12:22, at this parking lot at Turk Gap. We did some Reshuttling and then we rested, and we had our lunch right back here at this Wildcat Ridge, not a parking lot, it's where the fire road comes out. We got back on the trail at 1:45pm. And very nice trail, fairly level. Make good time but it's getting hotter, sun was out, a lot of dead trees so we did not have much shade. Then they took us up over this mountain, for who knows why, there's a trail took off from up there. And we got close to the car, the time was about 2 hours, we hurried up, got to the car on Skyline drive MM 88.9 at 3:45 and now we're resting.We decided to do some more hiking. But we were confused by the which way to hike it so, we dropped the car off there on the Skyline Drive and drove down to what we call Blackrock gap and realized that we should be hiking south to north. so we had to drive back to get the second car, drive both cars back down the Black Rock camp, and back To Skyline Drive MM 88.9. We got on the trail at five o'clock and they take it up over a hill, and then another hill, the finally down, all the way down to the Blackrock Gap. And what do I remenber about that last hike? there was a skunk walking on the road at Skyline MM 88.9 trailhead and it was still there one hour later when we came back for our car. This morning when we got into the park, lots the squirrels on the road. You had to watch out for them. And we saw 3 or 4 deer at a time all along the road running in front of us. But anyhow, we left the rental car up in a parking lot, and brought the minivan back down to Sherando Lake. we spent the night here again, first night was fifteen dollars, no electric. Tonight we splurge for twenty bucks ,so we could have a little light and I could charge my cell phone batteries which were dead.