Thanksgiving in Shenandoah

[wnderer]

I was thinking about hiking in Shenandoah over the Thanksgiving weekend. It looks like the mountains will get snow Tuesday and Wednesday and be cold the rest of the weekend. Where is a good place to hike and camp that won't have a lot of water crossings?

Thanks

[Furlough]

No issues with water crossings on the AT in SNP. Camp at the shelters.

[Coffee]

Rose River is a nice loop and there is a bridge over the main crossing. Added advantage of being near Big Meadows where the wayside is still open (although I believe the campground is closed). There is good camping at the confluence of the Rose River and Hogcamp Branch. SNP has a number of sample trip plans in the park:

http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisi..._all_entry.htm

[johnnybgood]

If you camp at Byrd Nest #3 just south of Mary's Rock along the AT,this shelter has it's own fireplace. This in itself makes this shelter an enticing option, plus the fact there's a nice mile and half ridgeline walk to Mary's Rock to view the stars. Bring a camp saw to cut the surrounding deadwood to start a fire . Looking to do a short loop hike, then I do like the suggestion by RamblingHiker.

[wnderer]

Thanks for the replies.
@Furlough
I've hiked the AT through the Shenandoah, though it's getting to be a long time ago. I don't like a lot of it, especially up north where a lot of it is a sidewalk for Skyline drive and a connector route between parking lots. It does have some nice mountains in there and this might be the time of year when it's not crowded to do them.

@RamblingHiker
Great Resource! I didn't know that was on the NPS website, but johnnybgood is right. The Rose River Loop in the trip guide is short, Day One 1.8 miles, Day two 2.3 miles. I guess I could center my hike around there though.
@johnnybgood
Is camping at Byrd Nest #3 and making a fire legal? I thought there were no fires allowed in Shenandoah.

How do the road closures affect parking and overnight camping?

Night Closures of Skyline Drive

Portions of Skyline Drive will be closed at night (5:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m.) during hunting season. Starting November 11 the north and south sections will be closed at night. The entire Drive will be closed at night starting December 9.

I'll send an email to SNP.

Thanks

[Coffee]

The Rose River Loop in the trip guide is short, Day One 1.8 miles, Day two 2.3 miles. I guess I could center my hike around there though.

Rose River loop itself is quite short but can be combined with some longer hikes around the Big Meadows area. There's also a possibility of a longer loop between Skyland and Big Meadows using the Big Meadows-Skyland Horse Trail (despite the name I didn't see any horses when I was there in June) and the AT.

I've never been to Byrds Nest #3... the fireplace does sound attractive given how cold it has been lately.

[Scooter2]

Rose River is a nice loop and there is a bridge over the main crossing. Added advantage of being near Big Meadows where the wayside is still open (although I believe the campground is closed). There is good camping at the confluence of the Rose River and Hogcamp Branch. SNP has a number of sample trip plans in the park:

http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisi..._all_entry.htm

Was at Big Meadows yesterday. Campground is closed, but wayside (store and restaurant) were open...believe website said until 3 Dec.


And "no fire" signs were posted...

[MDSection12]

Hey, from right up the road in Fredneck!

If you haven't been before, I'd highly recommend incorporating Old Rag into your loop. A few years back we did White Oak Canyon to Old Rag then over to Robertson and back as a weekend hike. It was a great loop, about 25 miles as I recall.

[Furlough]

Attachment shows one of my favorites.

[wnderer]

Hey, from right up the road in Fredneck! If you haven't been before, I'd highly recommend incorporating Old Rag into your loop. A few years back we did White Oak Canyon to Old Rag then over to Robertson and back as a weekend hike. It was a great loop, about 25 miles as I recall.

I haven't done Old Rag or White Oak Canyon. Do you think they will be crowded over the holiday?

[rustmd]

i hiked old rag last Saturday 11-23. . .trails were all dry, rock scrambles all dry. very windy & cold at summit. best to check the upcoming weather--old rag is a challenging hike, made more so w/ snow & ice. there are other trails/hikes that are circumvent old rag and offer some protection from the wind. .com

[wnderer]

i hiked old rag last Saturday 11-23. . .trails were all dry, rock scrambles all dry. very windy & cold at summit. best to check the upcoming weather--old rag is a challenging hike, made more so w/ snow & ice. there are other trails/hikes that are circumvent old rag and offer some protection from the wind. .com

I'm thinking of cancelling the hike. Conditions look like they will be more extreme than previous Thanksgivings. Big storm coming in and I don't know what they will dump on the Mountains. Really not into post holing.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/25/us/wea...html?hpt=hp_t1

[Namtrag]

It's supposed to rain/sleet/snow. I can't imagine it being a massive dump. WV is a different story though!

We are planning to hike Friday-Sunday down in the James River Face area, and from what I can see, they are calling for 1" of snow on Wednesday.

[wnderer]

sjylinedrive.jpg

They've opened skyline drive again!

[wnderer]

Ended up at Byrd's Nest #3 mostly by accident. They didn't open Skyline drive until about 3pm on Thanksgiving, so that day was shot. On Friday, Skyline drive was only open from Thornton Gap to Skyland. I started too late and hit long lines at the gate and then ran into traffic on Skyline drive. I got fed up with the traffic and turned around and parked at Panorama. The trail over Mary's Rock was packed. I must of seen a hundred day hikers. The trail had patches of snow and ice. Parts were covered with inches deep ice floes. At night I was all alone. It got very cold but my 15F bag kept me warm enough inside my bivy. There were only a handful of people on the trail the next morning.

Thanks for the help.