This is a quick video showing what I do to get my butane canister stove to operate when it is below freezing in the winter. Canister stove fuel, especially 100% butane, does not work very well below freezing. This is because butane has a boiling point of 30.2°F. Below 30, the fuel just stays liquid in the canister. Many manufactures have a mix of fuels in the canister that contains some propane. These “winter mix’ formulas work below freezing, and some work well down into the teens. All suffer as the fuel level drops in cold weather because the propane burns off first, leaving the other fuels. To overcome this problem, this “hack” uses a copper strip (copper conducts heat very well) to divert some of the heat from the flame back down to the canister to vaporize the fuel. The strip is held to the canister using a silicone bracelet. Silicone is resistant to high temperatures and won’t melt from the hot copper strip. It’s a simple setup that brings the fuel in the area of the strip up to temperature to pressurize the stove well. There is a thread on backpackinglight that explores the method: https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/98947/ There is also a thread on WhiteBlaze.Net about the method: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/115424-How-low-will-a-cannister-go!
** Warning ** This is a hack and not the intended use for canisters. Failure to monitor canister temperature and letting it get too hot may result in serious injury. Do not do this in warm weather, as there is a risk of adding too much heat to the canister making it burst, which would be very dangerous. Please subscribe to my channel and thanks for watching! Watch my other hiking videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa
Made a quick stop for a "dinner hike" rest break on the way back from WVU after the Thanksgiving Weekend. I parked at the I-66 parking at Manassas Gap (the SR 55 parking is smaller and on the other side of 66). The I-66 parking is very nice with a great trail head on the AT. I did a quick hike up to the Manassas Gap Shelter to eat dinner and check out the spring. The spring was flowing great. It was dark by the time I finished dinner and hiked back in the dark using my Zebralight H52W headlamp. Please subscribe to my channel and thanks for watching! Watch my other hiking videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa
Continuing my
section hike of the Appalachian Trail Southbound, I decided to conquer the
Roller Coaster this weekend. I started at the great commuter parking lot on VA7
at the intersection with 601. The AT is just west of the parking area along the
highway and clearly marked.There is a
Blue Blaze trail that also cuts down toward it, as well as a side trail to the
Bear’s Den Shelter. The goal was to hike
south to the Sam Moore Shelter and stay overnight there. It is approximately
3.8 miles from the VA7 commuter lot to Sam Moore.Sam Moore is a nice little shelter with a
separate covered picnic table area. The Spring is a small stone boxed area with
a sandy bottom under a tree right before the shelter. It was flowing OK and had
nice cold clean water. There is a nearby stream that I would not get water
from, as it looked a little spoogy. There are also nice flat sandy tent sites around.
The next day I continued south. Along the way I passed a neat campsite at
Buzzard Hill (no water), and an interesting spring near an old foundation
further south. At approximately 6.8
miles is a pretty big stream crossing that I could hear falling water off to
the left/SE from. I hiked up an unmarked, but well traveled, side trail to find
a pretty nice waterfall!It was a surprise
gift that was worth the very short walk to see. At 7.8 miles, the AT crosses Morgan’s
Mill Road (605). This is a dirt road with room for a few cars to park on.
People obviously use this to park and walk to the falls. The 1000 mile marker (NOBO
Sign) is at about 10.8 miles from the parking and the Roller Coaster ends (sign
posted) at 11.1 miles from the VA7 parking. Rod Hollow Shelter is nearby the
end of the Roller Coaster (~11.7 miles from VA7 parking). This is also a nice
shelter, but the spring was dry. I finished up the trip (13.8 miles total) at
the parking at 601 near I50. There is good parking for a few cars there as
well.
Continuing
our journey south on the Appalachian Trail through Shenandoah National
Park, we hiked between Big Meadows Campground and Rock Spring Hut and
also extended a little south on a loop of the AT that went to Lewis
Falls. Total distance was about 10 miles until we realized that right
across Skyland Drive was Dark Hollow Falls! This trail is a fairly steep
1.4 mile round trip but definitely worth the walk. Dark Hollow Falls is
listed as a 70’ waterfall with a couple nice cascades and intermediate
pools. The parking for this trail is just north of the Big Meadows
Wayside and the Byrd Visitor Center at mile post 51. The parking,
although pretty big, fills up quick for this very busy trail. The top
part of the trail follows alongside a small stream with little deviation
from views of the water and plenty of areas to walk down to the stream.
There were many small children that seemed to make it up and back
without much problem. At the lower portion of the falls it is possible
to climb (walk/hop) up to the upper cascade and pool for a fantastic
view up and down the falls. This is a very nice waterfall and I highly
recommend making the hike if you have a couple hours and are already in
the area.
We entered the park at Thornton Gap ($20 vehicle
fee), quickly filled out a Backcountry Camping Permit, and were on our
way to the parking area at Big Meadows Campground. We ate a nice
breakfast at the Big Meadows Lodge prior to our overnight AT hike and
then ate lunch at the Big Meadows Wayside which had a similar menu but
more of a quick eat and run atmosphere. There were a couple straggling
SOBO hikers making resupply at the wayside (although pickins were pretty
slim, it was the last day the campground was open).
Continuing our journey south on the Appalachian Trail through Shenandoah
National Park, we hiked between Big Meadows Campground and Rock Spring
Hut and also extended a little south on a loop of the AT that went to
Lewis Falls. This trail is a fairly steep 3.3 mile loop with just under
half of it on the Appalachian Trail. This loop is definitely worth the
walk. Lewis Falls is listed as an 81’ waterfall. It has a nice
observation point that is not obvious to get to. When you get to the
top of the falls, there is a large sign warning not to play on the
falls. Follow the trail clockwise (to the left) around the top of the
falls. The trail crosses the water in a safe area above the falls and
continues around clockwise to an area with a metal railing that descends
down to a stone walled viewing area. Be careful, the rocks are slippery
where the railing is.
The parking for this trail is at the
Amphitheater parking toward the back of the Big Meadows Campground
behind the Byrd Visitor Center at mile post 51. The top part of the
trail splits and you have a choice to follow the Appalachian Trail South
or to take the Lewis Falls Trail. The AT route to the falls is much
steeper, so if you plan to do a loop, I’d suggest starting on the AT and
returning on the Lewis Falls Trail. One could also just follow the
Lewis Falls Trail out and back.
We entered the park at Thornton
Gap ($20 vehicle fee), quickly filled out a Backcountry Camping Permit,
and were on our way to the parking area at Big Meadows Campground. We
ate a nice breakfast at the Big Meadows Lodge prior to our overnight AT
hike and then ate lunch at the Big Meadows Wayside which had a similar
menu but more of a quick eat and run atmosphere. There were a couple
straggling SOBO hikers making resupply at the wayside (although pickins
were pretty slim, it was the last day the campground was open).
After completing the Maryland portion of the Appalachian Trail, I decided to go ahead and finish off West Virginia. I thought I was going to do it over three days, staying at the David Lesser Shelter and then further South at one of the campsites on the way to Snickers Gap. I got a very late start on Saturday, starting the hike after a great dinner at Harpers Ferry. I left at 6:15 PM from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. It was dank and misty from the edge of Hurricane Mathew that had been pushing in from the South. It was dusk by the time I crossed the bridge, and spooky dark and misty throughout the hike to David Lesser. My Zebralight headlamp provided a good enough amount of light on the high end of its lowest setting. I could hardly see through the reflective fog and the rocks were slippery making the going very slow. It was 10:30PM by the time I reached the shelter. Fortunately there was room inside for me to flop down, which I did on my mattress with bag tossed on top. I had underestimated the distance of this section (misread the guide)…at almost 9 miles, I should have known it would be a long night hike. I took a quick trip down to the spring the next morning (0.25 miles) to get water. The spring was very good and easy to get water from. There are tent sites a short ways down the hill from the shelter and the shelter has a cool pavilion to cook at with a swing. The hike south from the shelter had a couple nice views. I decided to visit the Blackburn Trail Center on the way south and it was a VERY STEEP rock staircase down 0.2 miles to get there. The center is very nice, has picnic tables, water, privy, shower, and a hiker cabin. There is also a pay telephone (for those that use them these days) and an outlet to charge your electronics. The caretaker was not around when I stopped by…it was very quiet…a great place to eat lunch. I had planned on stopping near the beginning of the roller coaster, but could not find a camp I liked near water…so I pressed on, and on, and on, and I finally just decided to finish the section out to VA7 where my car was parked in the commuter parking lot (very good parking). I ate dinner at the Horseshoe Curve Restaurant, which was a real throwback and a nice change of pace. The burgers were great. All in all, I hiked 20.3 miles in 24 hours (and slept 8 hours). I’ve never hiked that long a leg before and my legs and feet were sore from the rocks. That being said, I want to keep going.
I’m planning on posting some videos showing shelters and more importantly (to me) the springs. It’s September 24th, National Public Lands Day AND Family Hiking Day. We decided to go to Shenandoah National Park to complete another tiny section of the Appalachian Trail. We entered the park at Thornton Gap and found that park entrance was FREE for this excellent day!! That saved us $20 for the vehicle. We quickly filled out a Backcountry Camping Permit and were on our way to the parking area at Little Stony Man, right next to Skyland. We ate a not-so-quick breakfast at the restaurant and then started hiking the AT north. It was our plan to hike north along the AT to see the overlook at Little Stony Man along with an interesting small body of water up on the cliffs. From there, we planned the loop trail around the Stony Man summit and to bag the peak at that location. The trails are heavily used on this section and very easy. This first section is great for visitors as a day hike that takes just a few hours. The distance from the parking lot to Little Stony Man is 1.0 miles, with the side trail to Stony Man, another 0.5 Miles, for a total of 3 miles out and back. There were a bunch of rock climbers rappelling at Little Stony Man that were interesting to watch. After this section, we proceeded to backtrack south and continue past Skyland to Rock Spring Hut. On the way, you pass some cool horse stables, where there is a soda machine ($2), a garbage can, and as odd as it seems, a smoking area with chairs and a buttmaster. The stables are 0.8 miles south of Skyland. Rock Spring Hut is 5.2 Miles from Skyland. The Rock Spring Hut area is excellent, with at least 5 tent sites in addition to the shelter. There is also a cabin there right down the hill for PATC member use. The spring, although flowing, was a little sad. The PVC pipe had been dislodged and one needs to scoop to get any water. I put the diverter pipe back in and it was flowing pretty slowly, but usable. Fortunately, we refilled our water near the lower Hawksbill parking where the AT intersects a blue blaze to a very nice spring. This spring is 3.6 miles from Skyland. Of particular note on this hike was our first encounter with a wild bear. There were a couple of them, one small and one larger, right at the blue blaze trail from the AT to Rock Spring Hut. They were very shy and bounded off while I filmed them. Right at the hut were large deer that congregated there in the evening. There were at least five that seemed to just hang out with the hikers. By nightfall, there were 4 people in the shelter and 4 of the 5 tent sites filed. There was also a family that wandered down to the PATC cabin. On the way out, we summited Hawksbill, the highest point in the park, which is adorned with a stone lookout area. Too bad it was foggy, the view must be amazing, as the view from Little Stony Man was excellent the day before. Overall distance hiked on this trip was 12.5 miles.
I’m planning on
posting some videos showing shelters and more importantly (to me) the springs.
I visited the Byrds
Nest 3 Hut in the Northern end of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia this
past weekend as part of a planning trip for a longer section hike. This
shelter is located 3.2 miles south of the Thornton Gap parking lot on the Blue
Ridge Parkway where US 211 crosses. There is a restroom and water at the
parking lot.The Byrds Nest 3 Hut is a
non-standard 3 sided stone structure with an internal platform that can sleep
approximately 8. There is a privy nearby at this location and a pole to hang
food bags from. The spring is 0.3 miles down a moderate grade grassy service
road and most of the way down to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The spring is very
nice, concrete boxed with a pipe coming out. It was still running nicely with
cold clear water despite recent drought conditions. Mary’s Rock is a moderate
1.7 mile hike south of the Thornton Gap parking lot. The trail is not too
steep, but is a constant upward slope for the entire distance. This is a very
nice overlook at the top of the mountain with great views for 180 degrees
toward the north. You can see the Thornton Gap entrance gate from Mary’s Rock.
The view is worth the hike.
I’m planning on
posting some videos showing shelters and more importantly (to me) the springs.
I visited the Pass
Mountain Hut in the Northern end of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia this
past weekend as part of a planning trip for a longer section hike. This
shelter is located 1.7 miles north of the Thornton Gap parking lot on the Blue
Ridge Parkway where US 211 crosses. There is a restroom and water at the
parking lot.The Pass Mountain Hut is a
fairly standard 3 sided structure with an internal mezzanine and can sleep
approximately 10. There are two privies at this location, a pole to hang food
bags from, AND a very cool (and large) bear locker to place food in. The spring
was still running nicely with cold clear water despite recent drought
conditions. There are also tent sites nearby.
My daughter tricked me into taking the family down to Solomon’s Island
in Southern Maryland to get an ice cream cone from a little place called
Cone Island. Little did I know that on a hot, sweaty, 90 degree, 90%
humidity, Wednesday night that there would be hundreds, possibly a
thousand people sweating it out playing Pokemon Go. Needless to say,
that was her master plan to catch a bunch of Pokemon….I was only the
‘enabler’ along for the ride. Here is a little video of what it looks
like when everyone is consumed by a virtual game on a phone…
This is our hike up Mount Fuji (富士山 Fujisan). We did this on July 5th, just after the official hiking season opened and used the Yoshida Trail starting at the Fuji-Subaru 5th station. We traveled from Tokyo on a JR train (Chūō Main Line Rapid Service) to Ōtsuki Station, and then to Kawaguchiko on the Fujikyu Railway service. This website provided particularly good instructions on how to do this and it was easy. http://chasingplaces.com/how-to-get-from-tokyo-to-kawaguchiko-mount-fuji-by-train-using-the-japan-rail-pass/
We actually got off a couple stops before Kawaguchiko Station, at Fuji Station, where the bus to the Fuji-Subaru Line 5th station originates. If you wait until Kawaguchiko, the buses are crowded! http://www.japan-guide.com/bus/fuji.html
We started from the 5th station at about noon. The length of Yoshida trail is approximately 3.6 miles on the way up (4824’ gain) and 4.3 miles on the route down. Deceptively short!! The trail starts off very easy and is a wide volcanic ash path with bits of shade along the way. By the time you get to the 6th station, about .9mi in, the trees have disappeared and the trail starts to ascend more steeply. DO NOT FORGET YOUR SUNSCREEN LIKE WE DID! Bring a lot of 100JPY coins, restroom use is 200JPY at each station. If you have a touristy Fuji walking stick, bring even more, as it takes 200-400JPY to get it branded at each station. Also, drinks get more expensive the higher you go, from 200JPY at the bottom to 500JPY near the top. As you approach the 7th station .6mi further, the trail starts to get very steep. We stayed at the Kamaiwa-kan hut at the 7th station (http://kamaiwakan.jpn.org/english/). It was easy to make a reservation online and was not too high up the trail. We got there late afternoon and rested until dinner at 6PM, then went to sleep until midnight when we continued our journey. A good headlamp is necessary and I’m glad I had my Zebralight with me. The trail is just relentless on the way up from the 7th station. By the time we got to the 8.5 station, it was time to watch the sun rise (4:20AM). The sun rises very early on Fuji! I was also glad for the rest because my lungs could not get enough air for me to move very quickly. After sunrise, we continued to the summit. This was the most difficult part of the hike for me and I needed rest every few minutes. My legs were fine, I just could not get enough air, which caused dizziness and short periods of nausea. The Yoshida Trail summit (12267') was a welcome sight! Because we hiked so early in the season, the summit shops were still closed, as were portions of the crater circumference trail. I was told these open up after the 15th of July. NO RESTROOM and NO WATER this time of year at the summit. I hiked around to the crater side of the buildings to see the crater, which was a spectacular sight. I’d never seen the crater of a volcano before. The wind was howling at around 40mph and the temps were in the mid 30s…with the clouds blowing through, it was wicked cold. The trail back down is different from the way up and consists of mostly soft ash, which is hard to walk on…kind of like hiking on the beach. My legs were dead by the time we got back to the 5th station bus 24hrs later. This hike was definitely worth it for me, has spectacular views, and was the 1st time I’d hiked at any real altitude, let alone 12K feet. One day I plan to get to Everest base station…I need to do more cardio if I’m even going to step foot near that place!
