This was an unusual hike because we had 5 YouTube channels all taking video during the trip. Please visit the other channels collaborating on this hike and see what they thought! I’ll fill in the details of the hike in this section in more detail toward the end of the week!
Also be sure to check out Micah Pexa's channel. We ran across him during the hike and he is an AT Thru Hiker who is raising awareness for the fight against human trafficking: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUe5DnPuJ_yekZaw3CHbOMw
Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to Like and Subscribe!
This ended up being an 18 mile hike to finally finish hiking all the segments of the AT in the Shenandoah National Park that I had missed. I did this in three phases: 1) I parked at McCormick Gap (poor parking) and hiked 6.5 miles round trip down to the South Kiosk and back. There were a couple interesting rock formations, a wimpy spring, and no real views along this section of trail. Once I completed this section, I drove up to Turk Gap and parked there to continue my hike. 2) 3:58 - Turk Gap to Calf Mountain Shelter and back is about 10.2 miles. There are a couple nice views and a ton of tent sites along this section of trail. There is very little water on this section and only one of the tent sites had a stream nearby. The power lines you walk under were very noisy, probably the noisiest ones I’ve ever heard. Saw some bears at 7:31 that were very close to the trail. I did not notice them until I was right on top of them. The tent sites are actually quite nice and there were a lot of through hikers using this as their stop. I was here in the winter and I moved on because things were a bit shabby and I was alone. This time was much better. That being said, the privy gets a D+. It is so over used it leaks a river of excrement juice out the bottom…kinda gross. 3) 11:07 - After hiking back to Turk the next day, I swung around to the dead Howard Johnson's parking lot at Rockfish Gap and hiked the short 0.5 miles to the Kiosk and back. Overall it was a good weekend!!
This was one of the Summer Distance races that Southern Maryland Sailing Association organizes on the middle Chesapeake Bay. This race was the Smith Point Race, a 42 mile out and back from the mouth of the Patuxent River to a channel marker South of the Potomac River, and back. The wind was light and variable much of the day with a number of nearby storm cells depleting the wind. Later in the day, the wind finally filled in from the South and we were able to make good time back to the finish. A storm cell came through right at the finish and we got very wet! All in all, it was a nice day of sailing! Results here: http://www.smsa.com/Race/2018/Results/SmithPoint2018.htm SMSA Website: http://www.smsa.com/
This is a pretty boring section of the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park in my opinion, offering few views, no water features, and no water other than at the hut. Starting at the Turk Gap parking at Skyline Drive mile post 94.1, I followed the AT North for approximately 8.8 miles, stayed at Blackrock hut and returned. Blackrock hut is nondescript and has an unreliable water source. Distance hiked this weekend was 17.8 miles. Approximately 4.1 miles North of Turk Gap, there are several nice tent sites (legal). There is no water at the tent sites.
I drove 6.5 hours down to the Appalachian Trail Days Festival in Damascus, VA again this year: http://www.traildays.us/
If you see yourself in the parade, drop a comment and time! Parade starts at 5:35 Odie’s speech is at 14:25
It was pretty rainy on Friday and the mood seemed on the somber side compared to other years. That being said, Saturday turned out to be a pretty good day weather wise and I was able to visit all the vendors and get to the parade without getting too wet. Finally ran into “Florida Girl Adventures” in the parade: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqL91M57UCsY1xHv_AFmXvw
Went fishing this morning at St. Mary's Lake in Southern Maryland and met up with RhinoFishing TV and RockEastwood Outdoors @5:45 in video. They were out on kayaks and I fished from shore. Rocky is moving out of the area soon and figured it would be fun to meet up and do some fishing before he left. If you have not checked out either of their great channels, please do so, leave a like, and subscribe! We'll miss you here Rocky and will continue to follow your adventures online.
