#optoutside - Appalachian Trail - Shenandoah National Park

Enjoying a day away from Black Friday shopping crowds...
Filmed with my iPhone 6

Hike to Blackrock Summit, Hut, and Spring - Appalachian Trail - Shenandoah National Park

This is one of the better hikes along the Appalachian Trail I've had in Shenandoah National Park (at least everywhere North of here). Starting at the Doyles River Trail parking lot at Skyline Drive mile post 81.1, I followed the Doyles River Falls Trail south past the upper and lower Doyles Falls and via the Jones Run Trail to see the falls on that leg. It is 6 miles to the Jones Run trail parking at mile post 84.1 from the Doyles River parking if you follow this route. The trail also descends 1400 feet and ascends 1200 feet along the way. The return to Doyles parking via the Appalachian Trail is another 3.7 miles and relatively flat, only changing 150' or so along the way. The total loop distance is 9.7 miles. What I ended up doing is hiking 2.1 miles further south from the Jones Run Parking on the Appalachian Trail over Blackrock summit and staying overnight at Blackrock Hut and then returning via the AT the next morning. The hike over Blackrock is just amazing! Blackrock hut is nondescript and has an unreliable water source. Oh, and I lost my selfie stick somewhere on the blue blaze down to the hut… Distance hiked this weekend was 14.2 miles.

Maps of the area can be found here:

https://www.nps.gov/shen/blackrock-summit.htm

https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/upload/2017_LoftMountain_RoadTrail-508.pdf

https://www.nps.gov/shen/upload/Black-Rock-Summit.pdf

Loop Hike of Doyles River Falls and Jones Run Falls - Shenandoah National Park

This is one of the better hikes along the Appalachian Trail I've had in Shenandoah National Park (at least everywhere North of here). Starting at the Doyles River Trail parking lot at Skyline Drive mile post 81.1, I followed the Doyles River Falls Trail south past the upper and lower Doyles Falls and via the Jones Run Trail to see the falls on that leg. It is 6 miles to the Jones Run trail parking at mile post 84.1 from the Doyles River parking if you follow this route. The trail also descends 1400 feet and ascends 1200 feet along the way. The return to Doyles parking via the Appalachian Trail is another 3.7 miles and relatively flat, only changing 150' or so along the way. The total loop distance is 9.7 miles. What I ended up doing is hiking 2.1 miles further south from the Jones Run Parking on the Appalachian Trail over Blackrock summit and staying overnight at Blackrock hut and then returning via the AT the next morning. I'll post the Blackrock Summit and Hut as a separate video. Distance hiked this weekend was 14.2 miles.

A map of the area can be found here:
https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/upload/2017_LoftMountain_RoadTrail-508.pdf

Mount Rogers and the Fat Man’s Squeeze – Appalachian Trail Grayson Highlands

We did this hike back in October 2015, but never posted the video of the Mount Rogers summit, the spring behind the Thomas Knob Shelter, and the ever popular Fat Man’s Squeeze. We’ve come so far since then. It’s interesting to watch our older videos and see how we’ve improved. This is an awesome area to hike! We need to go back when the Rhododendrons are in bloom.

https://www.hikingupward.com/JNF/MtRogersGraysonHighlands/

See the pesky ponies in our 1st video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gosN5k00jqQ

Watch my other hiking videos and gear reviews:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa

My final cook kit: Modified Toaks 550 by Zelph with Trail Designs Ti Sidewinder Cone and Starlyte Burner

I posted a video a while back on an ultralight cook kit that Zelph at Zelph’s Stoveworks put together based around a specially modified Toaks 550 titanium cup. I liked it a lot and have continued to tweak it to what I think is my final configuration. This is my ‘go to’ cook set for quick weekends and provides enough capacity and fuel for me to boil enough water for a couple cups coffee, oatmeal, tea, and rehydrating a meal or two. Want to go longer, just add more fuel. In a pinch this can also be used with Esbit to drop a few more grams off the weight or with a small twig fire in an emergency. I have a bunch of other stoves and kits and really don’t use them much anymore. The one exception is winter hiking and I’m still tweaking my winter setup. Expect a video on that some time in the future as well as a “What’s in AlphaGal’s Pack” video.

My current setup comes in at 185 grams – this includes enough fuel for a weekend. I do not have any other pot and just use this Toaks 550 cup for everything. Not included in the weight is 3g for a cheezy Wendy’s long plastic spoon. I’ve been using the same one for over a year now and it serves me just fine.  😊

Cook kit total weight - 185 grams (6.5 oz)

The basis of the kit is the modified Toaks 550 with handles (54g) and Trail Designs Titanium Sidewinder Cone (18g).  I’ve ditched the heavy stuff sack and went with a small Zpacks Cuben Fiber stuff sack (5g). I also replaced the lid with a lightweight carbon fiber lid from Ruta Locura (9g). I find the modified Starlyte burner (15g) works very well in this application but can be replaced with a BGET Esbit burner to save a few grams.  I use the foil lid from a can of nuts (1g) as a ground reflector for the burner and it fits perfectly inside the pot without bending. In there I also have a tiny ShamWow and scrubbie as well as Snow Peak Hotlips, neither of which is necessary and I’ve not used (the cup rim does not get too hot to drink from with this setup)…so you can save 6 more grams if you want. The fuel squeeze bottle (66g) fits inside the rolled cone for storage. The whole thing packs nicely into the pot and there is plenty of room in the stuff sack for another ‘travel size’ bottle of fuel if you want.   

Zpacks Ultralight Stuff Sack - Small: http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/stuff_sacks.shtml

Weight: 5 grams

The Toaks Ti 550 light version with handles: https://www.toaksoutdoor.com/products/pot-550-l?variant=31412326534

Weight: 54 grams

Ruta Locura Carbon fiber lid: http://www.rutalocura.com/Carbon_Lids.html

Lid Size: Lid #2

Weight: 9 grams

The Trail Designs Titanium Sidewinder Cone for the 550: https://www.traildesigns.com/

Weight: 18 grams

The modified Starlyte burner and lid: http://www.woodgaz-stove.com/

Weight: 15 grams (13 gram burner + 2 gram lid)

ShamWow  trimmed to 3” square and Scrubbie trimmed to 1” x 3”

Weight: 3 grams

Peanut can foil

Weight: 1 gram

Snow Peak Hot Lips: https://snowpeak.com/products/hotlips-2-piece-set-mgh-001?variant=671143453

Weight: 3 grams

Mini Bic Lighter:

Weight:  11 grams

Small squeeze bottle for fuel

Weight: 66 grams (14 grams empty + 52 grams fuel)

I originally saw this being discussed over at https://backpackinglight.com forums. Zelph has produced a clever mod to the Toaks titanium pots that allows them to cleanly mate with a Trail Designs titanium Sidewinder Caldera Cone. It’s a pretty nifty setup.  The titanium pot is machined to put a bead around the perimeter to hold the pot on the cone at the correct height to work with the Starlyte burner. The cone rolls up and fits sideways in the pot, along with room for the modified Starlyte burner and a fuel bottle inside the cone.  The Starlyte burner has been modified with a smaller aperture so it works well in an enclosed space like under a Caldera Cone.

I did a performance test outdoors in 55F breezy weather and 2 cups of water comes to a full boil with 16g of fuel in about 16 minutes. The burner burns about a gram a minute.

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/92988/page/10/#post-3399039

http://briangreen.net/2011/11/titanium-foil-esbit-tray-stove.html

Watch my other hiking videos and gear reviews:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa

My Zelph Toaks 550 kit box opening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAx_GDvHqh8

Bird Hits my Window Every Day - Female Cardinal

This funny little bird visits us every day. I think it is after our Fall decorations on the window sill. It tries and tries...  Now I know what cats do all day looking out the window.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-xcgjwMcwo&list=PLdxYynz7DmRoLfGNWYRI5wsvPi-WJ_OIa