Date: 2004-12-24
From: Off-trail, Hippie's parent's home, Piscataway, N.J

To: Grassy Ridge's version of events
Miles today: 0.0

In the interests of equal time, the Transcriber believes Grassy Ridge should have her say here:Message: 23         Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2004 15:33:21 -0500   From: Allison McGhee Subject: trip report 60+ miles in ShanendoahsHello All,Just arrived home this morning from a fantastic hike from Big Meadows in the Shanendoah's to Ashby Gap, over 60 miles.   I met up with Stumpknocker and Hippie Longstockings (from trailjournals 2004 thru-hikes), last Saturday morning.Saturday: We headed to the Shanendoahs and slacked 8.4 that evening from Lehigh to Front Royal. I was absolutely amazed at the number of big buck deer we saw. We ended up finishing in the dark, so I also did my first night hike without light, we chose not to use our headlamps because with night vision we could see more without them.Sunday: Big Meadows to Pass Mtn Hut, minus the 5.4 from the Pinnacles to Thornton Gap. As we entered the park the ranger warned us that a winter storm warning had been issued and to be careful, sure enough 45 minutes before we reached the Pinnacles it started to snow a lot. The ground was covered as we reached the car, so we moved ahead to Thornton Gap because we wanted to reach the shelter before dark. We hiked in the last 1.2 miles in a winer wonderland. Everything was covered in a blanket of white. It was also about 20 degrees. My eyelashes and eyebrows were crusted with snow and ice, so was Stumpknocker's beard. We all dove into our sleeping bags to warm up before dinner. I was so glad I brought hot chocolate, a hot drink really warms you up. I think I might have see a white wolf today, either that or a feral dog living int he park. Stumpy and I saw a big shaggy white wolf shaped animal about halfway through our hike. It was wearing a radio collar, and wouldn't come anywhere close to us. It had been running down the trail and when it saw us went into the woods and made a wide circle around us.Monday: None of us wanted to move. The wind chill had been below zero all night long, and at 8 am the thermometer under the sleeping bag read 18 degrees. you could only leave skin exposed (hands) for a minute at most before it started to tingle and go numb. i didn't start hiking until 10:30, it took that long to brave the cold. You really discover the number of animals in the park when it snows because you see the footprints. The trail was covered in canine, bear and cat prints. Squirrels and chipmunks made trails in the snow and the bird hop around everywhere. Between the three of us we saw 6 different bear tracks. The coyotes, foxes, wolves? and deer all make use of the trail to move around in the park. I even notices places where the fall leaves danced around on the snow and left tracks. I was cold most of the day and was happy to reach Gravel Springs HUt, it was too cold to stop. I ended up eating lunch sitting on a closed pit toilet at a Wayside just to get out of the wind.Tuesday: Much warmer today, I slept warm all night, and hiked warm all day. Wonderful day of hiking. I was moving more quickly and didn't get bogged down in the deep snow and leaves like the day before. AND....I SAW A BOBCAT! I was sitting at the overlook at Indian Run and the Bobcat came running down the hill toward me. It saw me and stopped, then hopped over the wall and ran down the mountain, I was so excited. I've never seen a bobcat in the wild before. Tons of deer as well, even a young one still nursing. The first 9 miles flew by, the last three from Tom Floyd to Lehigh Gap were slower because my knee was really bothering me. At some point on the trip I sprained it and the downhill was tough.Wednesday: Slackpacking again today, Lehigh to Ashby Gap. We were going to do the 5.4 left in the park, but the Shanendoah's were closed due to weather and we couldn't get back in. We actually met two thruhikers on the trail. For this time of year that was really unusual. Dude was Sobo, started on August 1st from Katahdin. Icebound was Nobo. beither one had seen another thru-hiker in weeks. They were definitely people deprived and talked for a long time. Best day hiking for me, even with my knee. The weather was gorgeous, most of the snow had melted and I was really moving along.Thursday: Rain and wind over 50 mph. Interesting going over Mary's Rocks. Good hiking but we got soaked. No animals today either, anyone with sense was somewhere dry. Didn't hike any more after the 5.4 in the park even though I still have 30 miles to Harper's Ferry to fill in my hole. Kentucky received over 12 inches of snow and I needed to be home before Christmas.Gear: ULA P2 pack, Western Mountaineering Versalite 10 degree bag, Leki poles, homemade esbit stove. Layer of silk capilene, layer of fleece, layer of Marmot precip raingear. Gloves, fleece hat, balaclava, silk bag liner.Most of the time I was warm enough. I will have to trade in the gloves for mittens, my hands got cold. I loved having the balaclava for hiking so minimal skin was showing. I even slept in it only leaving a hole to breath.The esbit stove doesn't work as well in the cold, I used a lot more fuel than expected, and only got it up to a boil a few times. I probably will take a soda can or cat food can stove in the winter in the future.My biggest change would be learning to use a pee bottle so I don't have to leave my bag in the middle of the night!Grassy Ridge