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This trail is the Applachian Trail. It goes from Springer Mountain, GA to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. This section is in Shenandoah National Park and is called Blackrocks. Massanutten Mtn. is seen in the distance.
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This is more or less the same view as pic00001. The Applachian Trail is normally marked with white rectangles painted on trees. Here there are no trees so the trail mark is painted on a rock. I have seen a few places like open meadows where posts have been errected and had the marks painted on them. A single mark like this one means the trail goes more or less straight. If the mark is a double mark then it means that trail has a turn ahead.
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Anyone who has lived at high altitude or in the desert west knows what wind can do. This tree has been shaped by its somewhat harsh location on the edge of a mountain.
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This is another view of the previous tree. Although now dead this tree forced itself up between these rocks and based on the trunk size was once a good size tree in spite of the harsh location that finally killed it.
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When hiking one usually needs to watch their footing, especially in the mountains. Some may say you miss stuff being careful like that but had I not been looking down I'd have missed these Bluets.
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Wow! Although this hike was beautiful the cause of this unusually lush growth of Mountain Laurel may have come from the additional light coming through the forest roof because of moth damage to the hardwoods.
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This is a variation of other trail markers. The black symbol is the Appalachian Trail symbol and means that at this intersection of another park trail the AT goes straight.
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This hike was beautiful. Not good for my allergies but beautiful :-) I was hiking most of the day in a tunnel of Mountain Laurel.
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What is this? I've never identified it. It appeared to look a little like snap dragons but it was growing in a tree like a vine and the blossoms were clustered.
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This Mountain Laurel has a grasshopper on it. I marked it for easy viewing. Look at the next image. Do you think you would have see it as you walked by?
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The grasshopper is still on the same blossom. There is a single dot of red on the right side of the image. I guess I did that during the processing of this image. It is not meant to mark anything.
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In one of the Muppet movies Kermit and Fossy Bear are driving along following written directions that call for a turn at a "fork in the road" and there is a huge fork standing up in the intersection. This was a trail intersection with one smaller trail going down to the Blackrock Hut shown in images 14 through 19. And, there was a FORK laying in the intersection :-)))
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This is the exterior of an Appalachian Trail Hut. These huts have been built about a day's hike apart all along the trail and open for use of "thru-hikers". Thru-hikers means several days or more.
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This is the interior of Black Rock Hut. Hikers must furnish their own bedding. They sleep either on the floor or the raised shelf. It is normal to be visited by mice and other small animals at night. They can damage stuff like a nice sleeping bag and do keep some people awake running aroung. Snorring can be another problem. I snore and have had other hikers complain during the night to point that I moved out onto the lawn if it wasn't raining.
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This is the hut record book. Each hiker is supposed to make an entry about almost anything but mostly trail and hut conditions. This book was interesting because of the signature, "Patch". I met a tall man with a beard who was in his 50s or 60s earlier in the day. He was obviously a special guest because he was being shown around by a Park Ranger, a Nat. Park Service big shot, and the A.T. club's "Ridge Runner", a sort of security guard that travels back and forth over a short segment of the trail during the season. These guys appeared to be impressed by there charge. Patch... adams, M.D. maybe? The guy looked a little like pictures I seen of him on his web site.
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This is a "bear pole". They are installed at all huts. Hikers put their food in a bag and hang it on the pole which is well away from the sleeping area. This helps to prevent bear/hiker disagreements over food. Black Bears, which do live in the park can under the right circumstances be dangerous. Food is one of those circumstances.
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Deer were EVERYWHERE around this hut. This one is eating next to the side trail that goes to the outhouse.
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This is an area near the hut where hikers have camped. Camping outside the hut is against the rules. It happens, as I mentioned about my snorring, but it is discouraged. Note the deer eating in the shadows.
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This hike was not an overnight hike. I camped at the Loft Mountain Campground. This is my campsite.
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More deer. This is the same animal as shown in the next image. He is a young buck. He was along the road leading from Skyline Drive into Loft Mountain Campground
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