Saturday, March 4, 2017

Appalachian Trail VA - Ashby Gap to Manassas Gap - Dick's Dome and Whiskey Hollow Shelters

Continuing my section hike of the Appalachian Trail Southbound, I decided to pick up where I left off at the parking at 601 near I50 and continue through Sky Meadows State Park to Dick’s Dome Shelter, the new Whiskey Hollow Shelter at the same location, and through to Manassas Gap Shelter. This leaves a small section between Jim and Molly Denton and the roadside parking at US 522 left for me to complete in this area. The trail up to Sky Meadows, although not rough, is a constant ascent for 2.8 miles with an elevation gain of almost 1000’. Once up top, the rest of the trail to Manassas Gap is fairly mild. Sky Meadows State Park has wonderful smooth trails that are easy to hike. There are some views up top in the meadows before getting back into the woods. Once past Dick’s Dome, the trail gets pretty dull. Dick’s Dome shelter was really cool. I kind of like it even though it gets a bad rap online. The new Whiskey Hollow Shelter just uphill is super nice, although tent spots are sparse. I would have hiked back to stay there once I hit Manassas Gap, except it was really crowded and did not want to risk a bad after dark arrival. There appears to be ample water from the nearby brook and there is a little bridge that crosses the water. North a little way is a tent site in the southern section of Sky Meadows. Although a nice site, there does not appear to be a privy nearby and the spring on the trail is just a trickle. The trail between Dick’s Dome and Manassas gap is non-eventful. There is great water a Manassas Gap shelter and the tent sites, although few, are nice. I used my larger winter White Cloud 6500 for this hike and it was way too big. I need to use my smaller 3400 for these hikes. This hike was about 11 miles each way (in and out) making my distance hikes for the weekend 22 miles. 😊

This is the video from when I hiked north to Manassas Gap Shelter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHusL...

Watch my other hiking videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

Check out these other great channels by Smell-N-Roses and RidgeWalker:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmP-...
https://www.youtube.com/user/Peakbagg...

No comments:

Post a Comment