Spring at Jim and Molly Denton Shelter - Appalachian Trail VA

Missed this on my last overnight. I approached the shelter from the north in frigid cold and dwindling light with light snow. Previous footprints led me to the shelter a bit early on a "shortcut trail". 100' more and there is good signage and the spring!

Manassas Gap to Jim and Molly Denton Shelter - Winter Hike

This time, on the way back from WVU after the winter break, I decided to try out some of my gear and techniques for cold weather hiking. The temps were forecast to be in the teens and did not disappoint! Once again, I parked at the I-66 trail-head parking at Manassas Gap but this time decided to hike south an easy 3 miles to the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter. Thank you Smell-N-Roses for the video of this area a couple weeks ago! The I-66 parking is very nice with a great trail head on the AT. I brought 2 sleeping pads with me. One is the closed cell foam Therm-a-Rest Z Lite (R 2.6) and another is a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm inflatable (R 5.7). It is suggested that 2 pads are carried for very cold weather. An inflatable, although comfortable with high R value, can deflate and leave you in a risky situation, so a closed cell foam backup is also needed. Combined, they provided very good insulation (R 8.3) from the cold ground. My sleeping bag was a BOG Standard Kelty Cosmic Down 21. My tent is a 2 person North Face Talus 2. With temps outside around 9F overnight, the tent held temp around 18F with me inside. Between the pads and the sleeping bag, it was just barely enough to stay warm. The addition of my Sea to Summit Aeros Premium inflatable pillow, cheap base layers, mid layer, and a hat kept me warm/comfortable. Problems I encountered were cooking after stopping hiking and setting up the tent. These were difficult because I had to remove my gloves for those tasks and it was wicked cold! I’m glad a brought a Zippo hand warmer, as that made for quick recovery after those tasks. All my water froze. I knew this would happen ahead of time, so I filled my cook pot the night before to make it easier to cook in the AM. Butane Canister Stoves have difficulty in cold weather. See my canister stove hack video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HiTr...
Because it was so cold, I did not explore the site as much as I normally do and did not locate the spring. The guide says it was a little ways (few hundred yards) south. I’ll find out when I continue south on the AT…

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Butane Canister Stove Winter Hack - Running Below 20°F

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.
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Manassas Gap Shelter and Parking at I-66

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.
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Appalachian Trail Roller Coaster

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.

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Dark Hollow Falls - Shenandoah National Park

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).

A free permit is required to overnight in the park. More information can be found here: https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisi...

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Lewis Falls Loop Hike - Shenandoah National Park - Appalachian Trail

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).

A free permit is required to overnight in the park. More information can be found here: https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisi...

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