Old Rag Mountain Patrols or Hikes by RSL

Sunday 1/22/2012 Old Rag Conditions

2012-01-22T23:55:00.001-05:00

Seneca Rocks and Blackwater Falls WV

2012-01-22T10:49:00.003-05:00

Old Rag Under Moonlight

2012-01-10T08:26:00.003-05:00

Sorry folks I have not had time to get my blog post writings done. Hopefully next week...

In the meantime someone posted a comment asking for conditions. I usually will say something about conditions in my writing especially when there are winter conditions.

Always keep in mind that in the winter conditions can radically change in just a few hours. You can go from bare dry rock to everything being coated in a quarter inch of ice in just a few hours.

Last weekend there was almost no ice or snow on Old Rag. I always carry my micro-spikes at least in the car and often on my pack just in case. Just because the ground is devoid of any snow down in the parking lot does not mean there will not be significant ice up on the mountain.

Bearsfence and Old Rag

2012-01-10T08:20:00.000-05:00

Hawksbill and Stoneyman

2012-01-10T08:11:00.002-05:00

Sat&Sun Dec. 17&18 2011

2011-12-19T07:08:00.000-05:00

Sat. Dec. 10, 2011 Troop 8, Earliest Sunset, Full Moon

2011-12-12T07:44:00.005-05:00

PICTURES FOR NOW THEN TEXT LATER.

QUICK NOTES:

FOR THOSE NEEDING TO KNOW RECENT CONDITIONS

THE TRAIL OFFERED SOME ICY CHALLENGES IN A FEW SPOTS.

LAST WEEKEND HAD THE EARLIEST SUNSETS OF THE YEAR.

THE SUN IS LOW IN THE SKY AND MANY PARTS OF THE MOUNTAIN ARE IN SHADOW ALMOST FOR THE WHOLE DAY.

Dec 3&4 Old Rag Sunset A Feast For The Soul

2011-12-05T00:15:00.004-05:00

THE EARTH TURNS AND TRAVELS THROUGH THE COSMOS AND THE LIGHT CHANGES.

IN THIS CASE I THINK THE PICTURES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES!

I HAD A CHILDLIKE HOUR OF SIMPLE WONDEROUS GIDDY JOY!!

Sat&Sun Nov. 19&20

2011-11-21T07:28:00.019-05:00

SAT& SUN NOVEMBER 19, 2011

The parking lot was full to capacity and there were lots of groups of campers this weekend. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Not sure why but I actually enjoy seeing hundreds folks in posses enjoying their day's hike on Old Rag.

Both days were a little gray and with the leaves off the trees it awoke ancient moods of Fall days in the woods of Central NY during my youth.

On Sunday I had to give my sentinel rock buddy the Dumb As A Box Of Rocks Memorial Boulder a few pats and thanks for doing what he, she (it) does so well as he patiently balances on just a few contact points while keeping a watchful eye to the West of the Moon and East of the Sun.

OOPS NO FIRES ON OLD RAG!

I cleaned up this fire ring that someone built right off the trail so others would not think it was OK to have fires on Old Rag.
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By the way folks, the fire roads are called that because they provide access for firefighters to more easily fight forest fires NOT! because they are meant to have fires built in the middle of them as a recent group of very nice but clueless newbie outdoors people seemed to think.
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PSST let me whisper something.......

THE COMPENDIUM

In general campfires are not allowed in Shenandoah National Park but if you are good at detective work work you might be able to find the Compendium that lists the "special rules" informing you where and when you can enjoy that primal ancient human pleasure called a campfire within the park.
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There are a limited number of copies of the Compendium but many of the SNP Rangers have been entrusted with a copy. I have had the great pleasure of seeing the Old Rag Contact Station's worn copy of the Compendium.

More than once I have naively shaken my head in disagreement over words in the Compendium only to find myself in almost complete agreement with them after having a chance to be exposed to and understand the wide set of opinions and issues surrounding what I originally thought to be a much simpler matters. A huge amount of professional thought goes into trying to make the Compendium's words reflect the best answers for the changing times.
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The Compendium is not meant to be a secret text. Quite the contrary it is meant to be a widely used and understood public document. Since folks can not see something they do not look for it sometimes feels to me that the Compendium  is an ancient secret text.   Please see the comment to this post and you will understand just how publicly available the Compendium is meant to be.   Its well thought out wisdom is available for all those who make a point of looking for it.

It is well worth part of your Plan-And-Prepare(Leave No Trace) efforts to find and at least skim a copy!
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Keep in mind that the Compendium is a living changing document so please make sure you are reading the most recent copy.

It would be interesting to see somebody do a Parallel Compendium especially if one of the parallel texts was from long ago.

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A couple of crazy climbers(Charlie and Ben) I know from ORMS that had just finished a day of testing themselves (in a fun way if you like that kind of stuff) on the seemingly timeless rocks of the summit cliffs.

Climbing... challenging happy exploration, vertical dancing, a blend of mental and physical prolem solving, gravity games, style under duress, PURE FUN!

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I love folks. All kinds of folks. The more the merrier. That said, I also love it when I have long slow quiet (or musical) contemplative hours alone. It all comes back to one.

Some journeys are for reaching destinations and some destinations are for creating journeys.

LIKE ALL SPOTS ON A MAP.....

OLD RAG IS NOT JUST A SPOT ON THE MAP!

CATCH YOU ALL IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS I WILL BE ON TRAVEL FOR THANKSGIVING WEEKEND HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

Veterans Day Weekend 2011

2011-11-16T09:05:00.022-05:00

VETERANS' DAY WEEKEND 2011

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THANKS TO THE VETS AND SERVICE MEMBERS EVERYWHERE!

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ORMS'S END OF SEASON WEEKEND

Check out other ORMS related blogs for information about last weekend's ORMS end-of-year training exercise: It was an awesome season and an awesome end-of-year weekend. During its end-of-year weekend, ORMS practiced rappeling, ascending, and using a high line. All these activities are excellent ways to build high angle skills while having some backcountry fun. When the needs arise, these skills and practiced teamwork will and have allowed ORMS to safely and rapidly deliver Old Rag injured hikers and climbers to front country medical care.

The Official ORMS BLOG:

http://oldragmountainsteward.blogspot.com/

Silver Spring Wanderer's BLOG

http://silverspringwanderer.blogspot.com/

Horizontal Tread's BLOG

http://horizontaltread.blogspot.com/

Not much color left on the mountain but on the drive out some of the trees still exploded with color!

With 50 plus cars in the overflow lot Saturday proved to be another day with hundreds on the mountain.

* EARTH ROTATES.... LIGHT CHANGES. *
* CREATION AND NATURE ENDURE. *
* MAN'S STORY CONTINUES. *

If we could tie ourselves together............I could become something I’m not

Penguin Prison

PICTURE TIME!

PACK IT UP HEAD FOR RUDY'S

ONE FOR THE ROAD

Teton Gravity Research 2011

http://live.tetongravity.com/_One-For-The-Road-Trailer/video/1602239/75233.html

"Now I don't pretend to know all the answers .......but I think there's something to be said for that."

UNTIL WE SPEND TIME AGAIN... HAPPY TRAILS TO ALL!

Saturday November 11, 2011 Leaves and Snow Almost All Gone

2011-11-09T08:19:00.009-05:00

Saturday November 11, 2011

Leaves and Snow Almost All Gone

Looking towards Mount Robertson early Saturday morning.

Looking down the Ridge Trail from the summit early Saturday morning.

Looking down at the first false summit around 10AM Saturday morning notice that lines are already forming.

Later on Saturday morning and you can notice there are still lines down on the First False Summit. The line at the Chute had also formed and hikers were beginning to seek alternate routes in order to avoid the the delays caused by the lines.

Late on Saturday and the Old Rag Mountain Stewards had a chance to get in some rappeling and climbing practice.

Stewards packing at sunset getting ready to head for home after a day of coverage that greatly decreases response times in the event the need arose. Despite being unselfishly (selfishly for some genetically anomalous human sheepdogs) available and willing to serve, a Steward's day usually incorporates some fun (if learning backcountry knowledge and skills floats your boat) being trained by a highly qualified ORMS Lead Steward. ORMS periodically accepts new members, if you think you might be interested the ORMS website will have instructions. There is a link to this website in the right channel of this blog or:

http://www.oldragmountainsteward.blogspot.com/

Old Rag Trail Conditions Upcoming Weekend

2011-11-03T17:03:00.017-04:00

WARNING
PLEASE DO NOT BREAK YOURSELF!

Mid-Week Old Rag Trail Condition Report

Saddle Trail Conditions Mid Week

Wednesday November 2, 2011.
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Keep in mind that every year there are serious and even lethal falls(concussions) that take place on ice covered level parking lots or sidewalks.

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If you are not experienced with and equipped for icy trail conditions Old Rag may be ill advised this weekend.
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The Saddle Trail is coated in hard-packed snow and ice from Byrds Nest 1 Shelter, down about 3/4 mile north (between Byrds Nest 1 and Old Rag Shelter). Conditions are very slippery. Many hikers contacted were equipped with crampon-like, ice traction devices for boots. All blow-downs are clear from this trail.

The Ridge Trail was not inspected by the reporting party, however, reports from visitors on the summit indicate that there was some ice covered sections on the switchbacks, and some ice present in the boulder scramble.
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Saddle Trail Conditions Mid Week

Wednesday, November 2, 2011.

The Saddle Trail on Old Rag just below Byrds Nest Shelter stays shaded from the sun and takes quite a bit longer to clear of ice and or snow than other parts of Old Rag.
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Based on my experience and current weather reports there is a good chance the Ridge Trail switch-backs and rock scramble will mostly clear of ice and snow by this Saturday.
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The Saddle Trail just after Byrds Nest 1 has a probability of still having sections of ice and snow.
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Suggestions:

DO NOT BREAK YOURSELF!
USE GOOD JUDGEMENT STAY SAFE!
Give yourself permission to have a good time!
If you have them carry or wear your ice/snow traction devices (like Kahtoola Microspikes, YakTrax, Stabilizers) in you day pack if you are going to hike Old Rag.
Do not have your hands stuffed into your pockets where they can not be used to break your fall.
Hiking poles become even more useful for helping to keep your balance and or avoid falls.
Sometimes sitting down and sliding or scooting along on your bottom is a safer choice than risking a fall from a fully erect position.
If you do not have ice traction devices try and stay on dirt or bare rock parts of the trail.
If your related to the Ginger-Bread-Man, Phidippides or Hyper-Inflated-Ego-Person and are going to be doing something extreme like trail running or boulder hopping in snowy/icy conditions you should probably wear some type of traction device on your shoes and a helmet. While not as important elbow pads and wrist guards might help as well.
Be prepared to be able to stay warm for many hours in the event you sustain a non-ambulatory injury.
IF YUR GONNA BE DUMB U BETTA BE TUFF!
PLEASE USE GOOD JUDGEMENT STAY SAFE!

A Sunday Walk In The Woods

2011-10-31T07:00:00.007-04:00

Sunday, October 30, 2011

A Late Day Walk In The Woods

ORMS was on duty at the Old Rag Contact Station between 7AM and 2PM. After our duty time was over I took a personal (non-ORMS) hike up to what we call PO(Post Office) Junction because it is near the site of the former Old Rag Post Office. I would not normally find myself walking up the Weakley Fire Road at this time of day but it was stunning with the sun light shining through the trees with half their leaves off.

More Text Later Pictures For Now

There was still some very bright Fall colors to be enjoyed.

With a lot of leaves off the trees the views of the 4th Class Slabs on Old Rags western facing flanks were quite easy to see and the snow is a useful indicator of non-vertical rock.

Above the steel vehicle bridge the fire road still had snow cover.

I found the snow shadow caused by the roof of the Old Rag Interpretive Sign interesting.

FIRST SNOW

2011-10-30T04:14:00.004-04:00

FIRST SNOW

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

This Fall's first snow came with the added advantage that there was still lots of leaf color that could be highlighted against the white.

Note: If you double click on pictures you will get higher resolution. For even higher resolution click "Show Original" and then maximize the zoom.

The fire road leading up to the Old Rag upper lot.

The path through the snowy woods.

The Ridge Trail/Rock Scramble looked very menacing/dangerous. I chose to turn around at the first false summit myself on this day.

On the way down the skies turned blue.

The setting sun was awesome as it highlighted the snow and brightly colored leaves.

2011-10-25T07:33:00.009-04:00

Pictures For Now Text Later

WARNING

POTENTIAL SNOW

THIS SATURDAY

Great Butterfly Resource for Old Rag and SNP

2011-10-19T17:16:00.006-04:00

David Hamilton Cox is an amatuer naturalist who often focuses his camera lens on Shenandoah National Park(SNP) butterflies and moths. His web site of labeled photos is a great resource for identifying SNP moths and butterflies. Check out his great web site found at the following links:

http://www.nyx.net/~dhcox/

http://www.nyx.net/~dhcox/

Sat.&Sun. Oct.15&16, 2011 Peak Colors Peak Crowds

2011-10-17T08:19:00.006-04:00

Colors at mid-elevations were probably peak this weekend. On the Old Rag summit we already had some trees with all their leaves gone. Of course the rains early this week and the gusty winds of the weekend accelerated leaves dropping off their trees. My guess is that there is still one more week of what I would call peak colors at mid elevations.

Notice how on the valley floor the leaves have hardly turned at all.

With peak colors and nice Fall weather you can be guaranteed that Old Rag will have a crowd. Lines several hundred people long (sometimes as long as an hour wait) formed at choke points. Here you can see part of the line on the first false summit waiting to enter the rock scramble.

This next picture is of the line at the Chute in the middle of the rock scramble.

Below is a picture of a very young lady topping out on one of Old Rag's rock climbs. Maybe she will be an ORMSer some day.

Since there was not a cloud to be seen the Old Rag sunset was not all that spectacular but still nice.

Since I camped near Byrds Nest Shelter overnight on both Friday and Saturday it allowed me to be on the summit before 8AM both mornings. This gave me a couple hours of solitude before starting my duty near the chute a little after 10 AM.

The various contingents of Sunday's Old Rag Mountain Stewards met on the summit. After taking a short break from doing stewarding outreach we headed down for our days training on splinting. We were very fortunate not to have had any needs for medical response on either Saturday or Sunday. There were plenty of opportunities for providing outreach, and interpretation.

Make note of the trees with no leaves behind the Stewards in this picture.

Sunday & Monday October 9&10, 2011 Fall Colors Have Arrived

2011-10-12T07:40:00.004-04:00

Sunday and Monday October 9 and 10, 2011

FALL COLORS HAVE ARRIVED!

Folks on good weather Fall weekend days remember to bring a lot of patience, extra money for the parking fee at private parking lot you will need to use if the SNP's free lot is full, and an expectation to have to wait in lines at choke points in the rock scramble.

With good weather and the fall colors Old Rag becomes popular and crowded at times. Double click then click on the picture to get to its highest resolution and you will be able to make out hikers on the first false summit.

On Sunday I positioned myself at R40 which I sometimes call the Leap of Faith and for around two hours there was literally an unending stream of hikers.

Photostich does some strange things at times. In this next picture Photostitch added an extra false summit to the Ridge Trail. Some of my readers may have vivid memories of hiking over this extra feature! LOL

An Old Rag Sunset.

There was almost a full moon over the weekend and because it was still waxing it was coming up a few hours earlier than sunset so it was already high in the sky as soon as it was dark.

Just a quick video of the sunset. The summit is a couple of hours from the Old Rag parking lot please make sure you have good light sources (preferably hands free headlamps) if you are going to be hiking in the dark. Expect that if it is misty, foggy, raining, or snowing that your light is barely going to be effective at showing you the ground. About this time of year Copperheads and Timber Rattlesnakes start heading for their hibernaculums but they may still be out and you would not want to accidentally step on one in the dark. Night time temperatures can drop 20 to 30 degrees so come prepared for wide variations in air temperature.

patc trail patrol training

2011-10-12T07:33:00.000-04:00

oct 7

2011-10-12T07:31:00.000-04:00

OCT 1, 2011 Knots, Patient Packaging

2011-10-12T07:27:00.009-04:00

October 1, 2011

No fall colors yet.

No discernible fall colors yet.

Tie knots, knots, and more knots than tying them behind our back, or one handed or maybe even one handed behind our backs.

With all the late summer early fall rain the fungi are very happy!

Trebor Kool had asked me to help him come up with a boulder that could serve as the Memorial Dumb As Rocks Boulder. Well folks here it is! Trebor will be doing a blog posting in the future about how we all can be dumb as a box of rocks sometimes. Since all of us have at times shown the ability to be dumb as rocks or dumb as a pile of rocks and some of us manage to display this trait almost all of the time, Trebor felt that the condition deserved its on memorial. After careful consideration the candidate pictured below was selected to be the Dumb As Rock Memorial Boulder found around R37 on the Ridge Trail or just where the Ridge Trail first pops out onto the top of Skyline aka PATC Wall.

DUMB AS ROCK

MEMORIAL BOULDER

AKA

DUMB AS A BOX OF ROCKS

MEMORIAL BOULDER

I believe the Dumb As Rock Memorial Boulder is very photogenic. I would even say handsome or pretty. Of course being handsome or pretty does not exempt one from displaying a lack of intelligence.

In my opinion, this wonderful boulder is providing a public service of the highest order so I make sure to give it a couple of pats and thank it for its service every time I pass it.

A patient packaging exercise on the summit.

WEATHER ARTIC BLAST

2011-09-29T10:46:00.008-04:00

WEATHER HEADS UP

AND

OLD RAG SAFETY VIDEO
AND
FALL COLORS REPORT

UNLIKELY BUT MAY FLURRY SATURDAY NIGHT!

Hey folks it is always good to check the weather for SNP above 2,000 if planning on hiking Old Rag. Below is the link for the SNP page with this information.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/LWX/RECLWX

You can always find the link by going to the SNP website and followng the link to Plan Your Visit then follow the link Things To Know Before You Come then follow the link for Weather than click on the link for Park Weather Forecast, above 2000 ft (NOAA)

LOTS OF GOOD INFORMATION ON SNP WEBSITE FOR OLD RAG VISITORS TO KNOW ABOUT.

LIKE THIS GREAT OLD RAG SAFETY VIDEO:

http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/old_rag.htm

SNP'S FALL COLORS REPORT
PAGE USUALLY UPDATED WEEKLY:

http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/fall-color.htm

SNP's Fall Folliage Report via Phone
540-999-3500 option 6? (options change sometimes)

THE VIRIGINIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY'S
FALL COLOR PAGE:

http://www.dof.virginia.gov/fall/index.htm

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2011-09-26T04:39:00.006-04:00

Sat. & Sun. Sept. 24&25, 2011

Many of the pictures need to be viewed at their highest resolution.

Double click to expand than click than mangify for highest resolution.

A new ranger for the fall season Linda. If you click on the word ranger in the label list in the right hand channel it will bring up pictures of most of the ranger staff that has worked the Old Rag Contact Station over the last couple of years.

The weekend turned out to be mostly drizzly. If you enlarge the following pictures you will see the marvels of a dew soaked spider web.

Looking down on the Saddle Trail col and Byrds Nest Shelter.

Not all the color is going to be natural. Check out the brilliant fall reds of this patrol/jamboree of boy scouts.

A little bit of maroon.

The oranges and yellows of Chicken In The Woods. I like to jokingly call this Chicken And Eggs.

With all the recent percepitation the mosses are very green.

2011-09-19T08:32:00.009-04:00

SAT&SUN

Sept 17&18

PRAYING THE NEWS

This was the first weekend since Spring when I was glad that I packed my fleece. I also found I could crank up the exertion level with the air being on the coolish side.

The parking lot was at capacity on Saturday.

Some of the understory brush is just starting to turn. I spotted a road side farm market selling pumpkins and I have been noticing Walking Sticks down on the ground (another sign of Fall).

The following pictures are of late summer early fall wildflowers which can be found on Old Rag.

The following picture is stitched together from two shots that were taken around sunset on Saturday evening.

This picture is chronologically out of order but was taken a little earlier on Saturday from the part of Old Rag's summit that looks down over the Ridge Trail.

I only have a point and shoot digital camera but I try to capture the wonder of Culpepper's lights twinkling below Old Rag's Ridge Trail on Saturday evening.

The following video was taken late on Saturday afternoon on the summit.

SUNDAY

Heading up the Weakley Fire Road on a reverse circuit.

Leaves on the fire road and a continuous stream of hikers are sure signs of Fall.

PRAYING THE NEWS

The following video was taken late in the day on Sunday. The folks you see at the end of the video were from a church choir and it seemed appropriate that about fifteen minutes after I finished reading the last page of Praying The News on my Kindle they showed up and practiced one of their hymns .

Note: During the song I was the only other hiker on the summit. Out of respect for my potential desire for solitude they had asked me before singing if I would mind.

I am acquainted with one of the authors of Praying The News so I am going to give it a shameless plug:

Remote mountaintop, inner city, suburban home, country farm, professional office … deeply Christian or having absolutely no idea what you believe in…… Praying The News is an inspirational; introduction, testimonial, and field guide to intentional prayer. If you’re interested in; celebrating your life, actualizing your belief in good, preparing or equipping yourself against life’s storms, pushing back against evils, Praying The News is an invaluable tool.

The following link is to the Amazon page for Praying The News:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CG4QFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPraying-News-Your-Prayers-Powerful%2Fdp%2F0830759263&ei=4Ht3TsyXIMH30gH8tIS-DQ&usg=AFQjCNE9N4dOE3ksn2afoQsHSI2NnJ9Dp

The following short video was taken from near the top of the Chute.

The following short video is from the same location looking down at the first false summit.

2011-09-12T09:00:00.006-04:00

Sat.&Sun. September 10&11, 2011

Awesome days and wonderful night hike under the moon.

The following shows the Byrds Nest build out with the padlock in place.

This was one of those weekends where the clouds were big gorgeous broiling puffy white cummulus clouds which while pretty in static pictures can be mesmerizing to watch as they constently change.

Saturday night and I hiked down the Ridge Trail under a beutiful almost full moon.

On Sunday I was back at my reading/living room and it was another gorgeous day.

Got lots of reading and contemplation done. It may just be my imagination running away with me but I have a very strong sense that Old Rag is a nexus of spiritual energies.

On Sunday night my co-hiker came within two feet of stepping on this Copperhead as it crossed Weakley Fire Road. Pretty little guy who wanted only to go about his business but surely would bite and envenomate you if you happened to step on him.

Sat-Sun September 3-5, 2011 ORMS BACK BYRDS NEST BUILD OUT

2011-09-06T01:22:00.008-04:00

SAT., SUN., & MON. LABOR DAY WEEKEND

SEPT. 3, 4, & 5

BOY SCOUT EAGLE PROJECT TO PARTIALLY ENCLOSE BYRDS NEST

ORMS ON THE MOUNTAIN FOR JUST LABOR DAY WEEKEND

I was told this was a Fishing Spider which I assume made its way to the Contact Station from the nearby Hughes River. It is hard to tell from the picture but you would need a circle of about six inch diameter to encompass all the tips of his legs. A very impressive spider.

On the days when it is on the mountain ORMS tries to get in at least around 2 hours of training. In this picture we are reviewing spinal stabilization techniques.

On Saturday we had a to provide some help with a barely ambulatory ankle injury.

The following picture is of a fairly impressive Jack-O-Lantern fungi. These sometimes have a faint phosphoresence.

For his Eagle Project, Kevin of Boy Scout Troop 366 worked with SNP to enclose Byrds Nest Shelter for the purpose of holding rescue response equipment.   When there is a non-ambulatory injury on the mountain a substantial amount of the response time to that injury can involve just getting the 15-20 people and all the necessary response equipment to the patient.    Having required equipment cached high on the mountain allows for a much better response time.    This new resource will also allow volunteers to engage in higher quality training high on the mountain where they can quickly respond to requests for help.

While the quality of Old Rag emergency response is being improved keep in mind, Old Rag is still backcountry!   If you had a heart attack in your office you would not expect a specialized cardiac response team to jump out of a nearby closet complete with crash cart (well some might but come on really folks......)    While on Old Rag you should keep in mind that you are probably hours from help and 10-15 plus hours from being able to be loaded on an ambulance.    If you engage in your trip during a bad storm these times could be extended to over a day and in a blizzard possibly days.

Lots and lots of folks helped the Kevin on this weekend.    SNP employees donated volunteer time, ORMS volunteers donated time, and passing hikers spontaneously volunteered time.     One of the biggest tasks involved the logistics of moving all the lumber from Old Rag Shelter to Byrds Nest Shelter.

The following picture shows me alongside some of the hikers who had spontaneously volunteered to carry up wood.

ORMS volunteers training on patient assessment skills while the Scouts and volunteers work away on construction in the background.

For any of those of you who have ever built "structures" the sound of a hammer being used to nail up some framing may trigger memories of that purposeful and useful work.

False Foxglove one of the seasons pretty wild flowers. If you like wildflowers let this be a teaser to check out Silver Spring Wanderer's blog. I have a link to her blog over in the right channel of my blog.

Still lots of interior work to be done but by Monday morning the rough framing was done and the exterior walls were up.

Monday and the weather was RAINY but fun in its own way. ORMS trained more on patient assessment and flora identification.

For those with wilderness response training, think AMPLE, ABCDE, CRM, OPQRST, AVPU......

One of the pleasures of a hard rain is being able to experience the patter of falling rain and all the bubbling gurgling of miniature cascades.

Sunday August 28, 2011 Day After Irene Several After Earthquake

2011-08-29T08:11:00.022-04:00

Sunday August 28, 2011

Day After Irene Several Days After Earthquake

Summary

Wonderful weather, folks having fun, no sign of rock movement from earthquake, four blowdowns from hurricane Irene, some good interpretation done, two pieces of cut lumber moved to Byrds Nest, Sparkles my raccoon friend tried to sneak up behind me while I was pre-occupied shooting sunset pictures, a bat either counting coop or trying to dance with me near the Tree-With-Three-Trunks and the Twelve-Foot-Stump (Actually flew up and almost touched my face before making pass two where it lightly brushed my chin before flying away. I wonder if the music on my Beats headphones worn around my neck had anything to do with it, (Not on my ears so I can still hear voices and nature's sounds.), super wonderful solitary evening on the Ridge Trail/rock scrambles.

These delicate Spicebush Swallowtails made it through Irene.

How do they do that and how many did not make it?

The more I experience nature the more I wonder with awe.

ADDENDUM Wednesday September 21. 2011

If you check the comments section for this post you will find that a naturalist that lives near Old Rag (David C.) has corrected my identification of these butterflies. They are not Spicebush Swallowtails but rather Red-Spotted Purples one of several species that mimic Spicebush Swallowtails because Spicebush Swallowtails are toxic/distasteful to butterfly predators. It is awesome all the great stuff I keep learning about Old Rag and its denizens.

The following are some great links for learning more about Spicebush Swallowtails and species who mimic them.

about Spicebush Swallowtail:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Spicebush_Swallowtail

about Pipevine Swallowtail and both Batesian and Mullerian mimicry:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/412

about Red-Spotted Purples:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limenitis_arthemis

Sunset video not chronologically in order.

First two pieces of cut lumber muled from Old Rag Shelter to Byrds Nest Shelter. The biggest projects can start with the smallest steps.

Sparkles my raccoon friend visited on the summit but was disappointed that I never left my pack unguarded.

Another Old Rag Sunset

SOLITUDE

For me it was a wonderful solitary trip down the Ridge Trail and rock scramble under headlamp. There is something intoxicating about knowing you can comfortably and competently range deep in the back country, in all kinds of conditions, completely by yourself. For those who were not aware the NPS actually considers solitude a resource that needs to be protected for current and future generatiosns.

I just recently read a great article about how the cell phone and connectiveness is destroying many young adults opportunities to grow through solitude. The following is a link:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-30/cell-phone-burdens-backpack-of-self-discovery-commentary-by-dalton-conley.html

Even though the drive on a busy highway is far more dangerous for me than being alone in the backcountry... it is not as safe as having a friend who can help in the event of some random unlucky bad event. Mowing your lawn, reading a novel, first responding, swimming, driving your car, rock climbing they all have risk reward equations.

The air was warm and balmy low 70's. Breezes were blowing. The frogs and other night life were singing. The city and country lights in the valley looking towards Culpepper were twinkling wonderfully. Music that gives flight to the soul. Life is blessed.

The next picture was taken from the first false summit just before R22.

EARTHQUAKE AFTERMATH
All the tenuously perched rocks I examined (around 10) did not seem to have moved one iota. I even looked for small rock crumbles/rock dust around edges of large many multiple ton rocks that rest on small steeply sloped granite-to-granite contact zones. I did not see any new cracks or fissures and the old cracks and fissures all seemed to be of the same width.

BLOWDOWN PICS FOR MAINTAINERS
Double click pictures for higher resolution.

Blowdown one just 100 yards down from PO junction completely across Weakley Hollow fire road.

Blowdowns two and three just 400 yards up the Saddle Trail from Old Rag Shelter.

Blowdown four was the coolest one for me. At the end of the switchbacks on the Ridge Trail just before the location of the Trillium field there was a boulder and large widow maker that marked a little side trail to the last good camping spot on the Ridge Trail before the NO Camping zone.

THE LARGE WIDOW-MAKER CAME DOWN!

Plan Ahead and Prepare

2011-08-24T08:04:00.008-04:00

PLAN AHEAD

AND

PREPARE

EARTHQUAKE

Hey folks we just had an earthquake which was centered not too far from Old Rag Mountain.    There are a few(not many) large sized rock formations that are tenuously perched so be extra careful/vigilant over the next week or so.

UPCOMING HURRICANE
There is a hurricane coming at the end of this week and during the upcoming weekend.   Not a good time to be on the mountain but if you are going to be out than please be on the look out for large seemingly sturdy trees blowing down.    During a hurricane a few years ago I was amazed to see huge trees near my home have their crowns being blown around to and fro like they were stalks of grass.

Streams may get too high to safely cross and some roads may be underwater.    Helicopters will not be able to fly during the storm and SAR resources will very likely not be able to respond until some time after the storm passes. Even after the storm passes local roads and SNP fire roads will probably be blocked by tree debris.     Plan on needing to self-rescue or to shelter-in-place with the understanding it may takee a day or two for any help to arrive.

DAY AFTER THE STORM
The air is often its clearest the day after a hurricane but expect high streams and blow-downs across your trails.

PLEASE!!

BE SMART

BE SAFE

Sunday August 21, 2011 Smoke, Friends, Sunset, Wedding

2011-08-23T10:09:00.011-04:00

Sunday August 21, 2011

Bouldering, Sunset, Day After The Wedding

Remember clicking on pictures gives more resolution.

With the rain and warm weather the fungus are doing well.

Ben one of the lead ORMS Stewards was on a personal hike/bouldering day with a climbing friend. I saw ORMSer Craig T. with a friend also doing a personal hike earlier in the day.

I think that lots of folks have a soft spot in their heart for this gentle S turn in the trail so this picture is for them.

Campers with an illegal campfire down in Weakley Hollow. Taken from just below Atlas Rock looking towards the upper parking lot.

HEY FOLKS FIRES ARE GENERALLY NOT ALLOWED IN SNP. THERE ARE SOME EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE. PLEASE CHECK WITH A RANGER OR PARK ELECTRONIC OR HARDCOPY PUBLICATIONS IN ORDER TO CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THE RULES. MAKE SURE YOU ARE READING A CURRENT PUBLICATIONS BECAUSE THINGS CAN CHANGE WITH TIME. IF FOLKS CAN NOT OBEY THE RULES WE MAY LOSE THE RIGHT TO HAVE ANY FIRES ANYWHERE!

Below is a picture of a Blaze Number the R stands for Ridge Trail and the S's stand for Saddle Trail. The numbers have nothing to do with distances. They have meaning to search and rescue folks so if you are calling in an emergency it would be good to be able to tell the emergency response folks where you are in relation to the closest blaze numbers. Based on that information the SAR folks will know what types of equipment and human resources will need to be called out and sent up the mountain in response to your emergency.

RACCOON FRIEND ACT IV
(ACT V IF you count the report from my ORMS friend after he and his son's scout troop had an encounter with the raccoon being out on the summit begging for food on the one weekend I did not see her myself.)

I saw my raccoon friend on the ledge that over looks the first false summit just above the Chute. I said HI and started to get my camera out when she scooted off out of sight. Boy you would think she was a public figure and I was the paparazzi. Although I am glad that she looked very healthy and seems to be getting shy of humans.

ANOTHER WONDERFUL SUNSET EVOLVED THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS.

SPIRITUAL MAGIC!

THANKS!

Sat&Sun Aug 13&14, 2011 RAINBOW, RED VELVET ANT, COYOTE

2011-08-15T08:54:00.016-04:00

SATURDAY

On Saturday I was tired from long hours of work and personal reading. (I have about 30 books at various stages of completeness on my Kindle and I am not counting the approximate 15 to 30 minutes I am trying to get in of various spiritual books each day.) I have had a particular interest in some of the recent Noetic Science findings. As a result I slept late and then got asked to help with some household cleaning activities before heading out so I arrived at the contact station around 13:00. While touching base with the contact station rangers a group of three boys who looked fairly frazzled arrived and asked for directions as to the quickest way to get to Matthews Arm campground where their car was. They had been backpacking for 5 days and thought they were on the trail that would take them back to their car.

OOPS!

JUST TWENTY MILES OFF

They found out that cells phones did not work and you really could not call a cab unless you wanted to spend an awful lot of money. I agreed to shuttle one of them up to their car. This took over an hour, 52 miles of round trip driving and by the time I got back it was around 15:00.

Duke Research Project.

I had a LONG! talk with a Duke researcher who is going to try and take a quantitative look at Old Rag traffic. You may see him doing his hiker counts in the upper lot.

My discussion with the Duke researcher made me even later so I figured I would do an up and back on the fire road/Saddle Trail. It started to rain long before I got to PO Junction around 18:00. Since it seemed certain the rain would not clear before dark and all the hikers had been washed off Old Rag with the rain I decided to head on home and come back the next day.

SUNDAY

On the next day I did not get to the contact station until around 15:00 and decided to finish my prior days plan. I got all the way to Byrds Nest Shelter just in time to avoid the rain. It poured complete with very heavy thunder and lightning. Not being in any particular rush to get home I hung at Byrds Nest eating some food, reading my Kindle, and smoking my pipe. I was rewarded after a little over an hour with the sky clearing to the west. This happened just in time for me to hustle up to the summit and experience a beautiful sunset to the west and a rainbow to the east.

Enjoying the rain from a nice dry shelter.

A huge wonderful arching rainbow, (did I say huge?) to the east with a dark menacing thunderstorm providing a poignant background of angry swirling darkness behind a bright joyful rainbow.

Sound byte credit goes to, The Young Rascals Grovin'

Red Velvet Ant aka Cow Killer aka Dasymutilla occidentalis . Not an ant but a wingless wasp with the reputation of having a sting that will make you wish you were dead.

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/magazine/pubs/julyaug2009/redvelvetant.html

This young bear has been hanging aloud the area of PO Junction and Old Rag Shelter. I saw a coyote at Old Rag Shelter but could not get my camera out in time to get a picture.

With the recent rains the mushrooms are starting to pop up.

After the storm from the slab above Byrds Nest shelter. Spectacular sunset to the west and wonderful rainbow to the east. WOW!!!!

RACCON

I did not see my raccoon friend myself but I did get a report that she had come up to and was begging food from a group of Boy Scouts near the summit.

Sat&Sun August 6&7, 2011

2011-08-08T07:09:00.006-04:00

Saturday and Sunday August 6 and 7, 2011

Overcast and Rain Saturday

Weakley Hollow Sunday

I did a late day reverse circuit on Saturday and a late day short hike to where Brokenback crosses Weakley Hollow where I spent a couple hours at the gurgling stream side reading books on my Kindle and periodically speaking to hikers that went by.

The springs at Old Rag Shelter and Bartenders Spring are still flowing (but barely). Old Rag received a light soaking rain Saturday night. Just enough to form a few small puddles and get the top soil wet but not enough to add much flow to the streams.

Surreal Mist

I made it to the summit on Saturday just in time to see that a pretty good rainstorm was headed my way from the west. I scurried down the rock scramble on the Ridge Trail arriving at the first false summit just as the rain was starting in earnest and it got too dark to see without a headlamp. The hike down the Ridge Trail switchbacks was surreal because besides the rain there was a heavy mist of millions of tiny floating water droplets diffusing the light from my headlamp such that I could not see the ground very well. It was like looking through gauze. My visual depth perception was way off so I had to concentrate and overrule my visual ques and depend on the touch of my feet against rock, root, or ground. The mist was so blurring my vision that some roots could just as easily have been a snake on the trail so I often had to test with my hiking stick before stepping near the root. It was fascinating trying to develop a walking technique that allowed for both safety and speed.

While Brokenback Run was still flowing it was as low as I have ever seen it.

RACCOON III

I saw my little raccoon friend near the slab that looks over Byrds Nest Shelter. It was walking downhill parrallel to and five feet off the trail. When she got to within about ten feet of me I gently asked what are you up to at which point in time she stopped and stared at me. I then shoo'ld her off into the woods.

Hot, Bear, and Raccon2 Sat&Sun July 30&31, 2011

2011-08-01T07:27:00.022-04:00

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY JULY 30 and 31, 2011

Still very hot and no significant rain for quite a long time!

WATER

The spring at Old Rag Shelter was only trickling at about a quart per minute.

It would be good to take 100 to 128 ounces of water per person when the weather is hot!!

That means at least three litres or quarts per person!

The following juvenile bear cub was hanging out near the junction of Old Rag, Berryhollow and Weakley Hollow fire roads.

BEAR BAGS NEEDED

WARNING

RACCOON ENCOUNTER TWO

I have a strong suspicion that the raccoon in the next pictures is the same one I saw on the first false summit the week before. This time I encountered it on Old Rag's summit. I had taken my pack off and left it on top of a boulder on the summit and then walked away from it briefly in order to visit with a group of three hikers. When I came back the little rascal was ripping into my pack. Before I could chase it away it was able to grab an energy bar and run under a nearby boulder to eat.

BAD FOR THE RACCOON

While this incident was inadvertent it may have contributed to this animals eventual death. If a wild animal becomes a nuisance animal there is a good chance it will be put down. I will be keeping my pack close to me from now on! I will also make a point of hazing this animal if I see it being too familiar.

THE ENCOUNTER

At the time of this incident there were only 4 people on the summit and we were all initially about 150 feet from my pack. Returning to the area were I had left my pack I realized a raccoon was frantically ripping into it. I got within about three feet and actually on top of the boulder before the bandit would run away. She was able to score an energy bar before she ran under a boulder about ten feet away. After she finished her stolen snack she had the gall to come back to the boulder. I was standing directly over my pack on top of the boulder and the little gal came right up to the edge of the boulder and stood on her hind legs with her front feet grabbing holds on the side of the boulder just inches away from my toes. She was looking straight at me with a cute, quizzical, deploring, gotta luv and feed me expression. Despite how adorable she looked I yelled at her and stomped my foot at which point she decided to retreat not just from the boulder but totally off the summit. She did not seem crazed or mean but I suggest you keep a very tight watch on your equipment.

STERILE FIELD WARNING

Besides keeping a tight watch on your equipment do not do what I did just after chasing the raccoon away from my pack. I reached down to examine the hole the raccoon had just made in my pack and realized the fingers on my right hand were slimy with the raccoon's saliva. Bad move. While I did not have any visible cuts on my hand and the raccoon did not seem outwardly sick (just very bold) I will be discussing with my GP whether the smart thing to do is go through a series of rabies shots. The good news is I did not have any cuts or sores. The saliva was hardly visibly but being able to feel its wetness on my fingertips and knowing it was fresh from the raccoon's mouth caused me to go on alert and disinfect my fingers. The good news is rabies virus is very short lived outside of its host (not sure if this means seconds, minutes, or tens of minutes). While doing a little on-line research I found out that dead bodies can continue to harbor live virus for awhile. Surprisingly the cold weather can actually keep rabies virus viable in a dead host's body longer than it will remain viable in warm weather. The bottom line is that you should be very careful how you handle wild animals or any vectors/fomites that come in contact with them.

Not the best picture but you can see how close the raccoon (who is at the bottom left of my pack) was getting to humans in quest for food.

Double click picture for better view.

The raccoon is ravenously eating her energy bar in this picture. While she was clearly very hungry and willing to get very close to humans she never seemed crazed or angry.

I had a friend who raised and released a rescued/orphaned baby raccoon when I was in high school.  For those who think this might be fun be aware you need to be trained and licensed to do this both legally and in order to make sure you are doing what is best for the animal.

(See the following link about 11 year old fined $500 dolllars for saving woodpecker.)
http://wusa9.com/news/article/161065/158/Woodpecker-Saving-Daughter-Costs-Mom-500
While wild animal rescue can be rewarding it requires a very significant round the clock seven day a week level of commitment.

One of the funny games my friend would play with his juvenile raccoon was to give it a sugar cube and a bowl of water.   The youngster would instinctively wash the sugar cube which would promptly dissolve/disappear after which the coon would spend many funny antic filled minutes looking for it.   My friend would have liked to have kept his young raccoon but had to naturalize and release it before it became sexually mature.   Like humans, once raccoons become adults they can be very MOODY!

GOTTA LUV ME

OLD RAG NIGHT LIFE
I love Old Rag sunsets, dusk and twilight.     Make sure you have lights and backup lights if your going to enjoy these times of day on Old Rag.

NIGHT TIME CAUTIONS
During warm weather I almost never see Copperheads during the day but see one on the trail in the evening about every third trip.     Very pretty, fun to see, and not a worry unless you are trying to walk out without a light.   Of course it is always good advice to never place any part of your body (usually feet or hands) where you can not see. I heard of one person who while hiking up Old Rag grabbed around a small tree trunk only to jump back because he had inadvertently grabbed a black snake climbing up on the back side of the tree trunk.  Towards the end of the summer I have sometimes seen some humongous Wolf Spiders on tree trunks.   I had a friend who reached up on a high shelf in his backyard storage shed and was bitten by a Wolf Spider. Not life threatening but his arm swelled up and he felt really sick for awhile.    While under headlamp on really buggy nights it is good to keep your mouth shut or wear some kind of shield to prevent bugs from getting sucked down into you lungs.     I once ran into what are called European Hornets.   They look like super giant yellow jackets, are nocturnal and will attack lights.    It took me a few seconds to realize they were after my headlamp and that I needed to turn it off until I had walked past the area near their nest.

NIGHT TIME FUN
Fireflies, spider and animal eyes reflecting back at your headlamp light, bats flying almost right up to your face while chasing bugs attracted to your headlamp.  The wonders of shooting stars, moonlight, twinkling star fields, constellations, planets.   The beauty of distant city lights, cars, and planes.    Becoming much more aware of your senses of sound and smell.

I added the next short video clip more for the sound of the tree frogs. The audio in the clip does not do them justice. Between the tree frogs, cicadas and a nearby screech owl it was a marvelous symphony.

Air You Can Wear Sat.&Sun July 23&24, 2007 Raccoon

2011-07-25T08:46:00.002-04:00

Very hot humid and mostly still air. Not many folks hiking. Wonderful both days as usual. The raccon in the video walked past myself and a hiker with only about eight feet of clearance. We were on the first slab looking east just before the start of the rock scramble.

Sound Bite credit Michael Murphey Carolina In The Pines

Sunday July 17, 2011 Old Rag tunnel/cave Rattlesnake

2011-07-18T08:42:00.000-04:00

On Sunday July 17, 2011 there was a good sized Timber Rattlesnake Crotalus horridus located in what some call the cave and some call the tunnel. As you entered the cave from downhill there is a spot where you make a sharp right hand turn. The snake was located on the far left on a rock shelf and was being very good about issuing a warning rattle whenever folks got within about 20 feet. (I am not sure why there are funny alien sounding background noises with the video they did not exist in the wild.)

I started getting reports about this snake over an hour before I got to it. It stayed were it was for at least 2 to three hours and lots of hikers got the wonderful opportunity to see it and perhaps get some pictures. I am really happy to say that there was no hiker mis-behaviour in regards to this animal.

All of the Rattlesnakes I have seen close to the trails on Old Rag I have seen during the day and in every case they were good about alerting me to their presence with loud rattling. All of the Copperheads I have seen near the trail on Old Rag (except a dead one on the road near the parking lot) I have seen between 18:00 and 24:00. Copperheads can not warn you with a rattle.

WHAT TO DO IF BITTEN

While it is unlikely that an adult human who has been envenomed will die it would not be unheard of to lose a digit, hand, or major functionality of a limb for the rest of your life. Anti-venom is very expensive with a full course of treatment costing over $15K-$20K. It is possible to receive a dry bite. If one is bitten the best thing to do is move deliberately towards the closest emergency medical facility. Do not run. Try to keep your heart rate as low as possible while still minimizing your time to emergency medical facilities. If extra hikers are available you can send runners out to the nearest place where they can contact the Park's emergency dispatcher. Unless you have had specific training do not try "cutting and sucking" "tourniquets" or other first aid since there is a good chance anything you might do will cause more harm than good.

SNAKES AND GRACE

Sometimes you need to gracefully enjoy life's ironies. Like participating in a relationship with a wonderfully gifted person who also has tragic flaws, snakes are just the way they are by nature's, the universe's or God's design (depending on your leanings). My sense is the best thing to do is skillfully stylistically, artfully, ethically commit to the tumult, flirt, dance, conversation, amble, ride, meal, performance, ... taking advantage and appreciating the fun fascinating good things while avoiding the curiously bad. Witness, learn, play, celebrate what Nature, God, the Universe have provided.

SNAKES ARE YOUR FRIENDS

The most dangerous risk for visitors to the park are tick bites that transmit a disease. The natural reservoir from which ticks become infected are small mammals like mice, voles, chipmunks, squirrels. To the extent that snakes can keep the small mammal population down it will lower the number of ticks which are carrying human diseases. Except for the obvious situations where a snake is a clear danger to humans please do not hurt, harass, or bother them in anyway. They lead a very tenuous life and even disturbing them could potential lead to a cascade of events that would cause their death.

LEARN ABOUT SNAKES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crotalus_horridus

Just like the Catskills we have both Timber Rattlesnakes and Copperheads. The following link has a lot of useful information but expect that any of the date related entries to be potentially different for our area.

http://catskillmountaineer.com/animals-snakes.html

Viginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries:

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/?s=030012

2011-07-18T08:20:00.000-04:00

PATC Trail Patrol

New Member Training

Glass House

Friday Night thur Sunday morning

July 15-17, 2011

Class room on the porch great weather and a full moon.

Practice hike and scenario training,

Summertime Drifting

2011-07-10T09:47:00.001-04:00

Summertime Drifting

Saturday July 9, 2011

Yet another date with my good friends Old Rag and its denizens.

Just a long slow hazy summertime drift.

Had a very friendly Towhee fly inches past my left knee and land four feet ahead of me on a rock. It did not say anything but it did stay there looking at me for about 20 seconds. Reminded me of a Chickadee that followed me around one cold sub-zero winter day in my early teens in the State Forest near my parents except that my Chickadee friend would sometimes land as close as a foot from my head and sang to me a lot. I am sure it had something to do with the GORP I was sharing before I knew better.

My paternal grandfather had backyard birds that would feed out of his hands and on more than one cold winter he was willing to share his home, hearth, and some food with a field mouse of two.

A lazy drifting day on Old Rag is hard to beat.

Credit to The Carpenters and Muppets for the Rainbow Connection sound byte.

WATER

Hey folks it is hot and steamy out. Bring lots of water and it would not hurt to load up with electrolytes calcium, potassium, etc. before you start. I am beginning to run into lots of folks with cramping and no water. I can only carry so much extra water and maybe a banana or two. I do carry water treatment tablets but if you have already thrown away your one 16 once sports drink bottle (you should be carrying closer to 100 ounces not 16 ounces per person) then you will have nothing to fill and add my treatment tablet to when you get to an open water source. You have also been the most RUDE of hikers by trashing what should be a pristine natural area.

Start of Sarcasm:

By the way, blaming the Rangers(whom I think the world of) for not telling you how hard the hike would be or how much water you would need will probably only make me laugh, think you were not listening to the Ranger, or not telling the truth. I will probably ask if the Ranger forgot to put out matching socks or double tie your footware for you this morning?

End of Sarcasm:

Putting sarcasm to the side for a moment, no person or organization is perfect and I always carry complaints or suggestions back to the Rangers when I check in with them before my next hike day on the mountain.

PLAN AHEAD AND PREPARE

THERE ARE TONS OF GOOD INFO RESOURCES FOR THIS HIKE

YOUR BRAIN AND ETHICS

PLEASE USE BOTH

Fourth of July Weekend

2011-07-05T08:27:00.000-04:00

Fourth Of July 2011 Weekend

The view from the first false summit of Old Rag.

Hours and hours of just relaxation. Theme song for the day:

I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In, Kenny Rogers

Was able to watch some rappelling and ascending activities over the weekend.

This Silk Tree, Albizia julibrissin was really looking good.

One amazing thing that happened over the weekend was that in order to get a Sharpie out of a pack I use I had to take my camera out of the pack first. I set the camera down and then used the Sharpie and returned it to the pack but forgot to put the camera back in the pack. By the time I realized what I had done I was about a mile away. It was incredibly lucky for me that a hiking group had picked it up and we connected and they were able to return it to me. THANKS GUYS YOU WERE AWESOME!

Seneca, Spruce Knob, Dolly Sods June 25&26, 2011

2011-06-27T08:08:00.001-04:00

June 25&26, 2011

Seneca Rocks, Spruce Knob, Dolly Sods

The following picture is the classic shot of the west face of Seneca Rocks.

We took a climbers trail that runs to the Northern Summit on the east side of Seneca Rocks because the hiking trail on the west side is closed while it is being improved this summer. The last time I was here 25 years ago there was no hiking trail only climbers trails. This viewing platform did not exist either.

According to this sign one of the reasons for the viewing platform is to provide a safe view that is as good as the view from the North Summit. You can get to places on the North Summit that have great views while staying on what in my opinion is class III walking but the problem with it is that it very quickly blends into class IV and class V terrain with hundreds of feet of vertical exposure. Not the safest place for kids or even adults without a clear understanding of the risks versus their level of skill.

Since I was not hiking solo like I normally do Anita took the opportunity to take a lot of pictures of me.

If you blow up this picture of the Gunsight Notch looking south you can see several climbing parties on the rocks. The last time I was here the Gendarme stood like a big thumb about twenty five feet into the air right in the middle of Gunsight Notch. The other big change was the old suspension bridge which actually used to be considered the new bridge (replacement for a truly broken down suspension bridge) has been washed away. Changes, changes, changes.

We strolled over to the top of the under construction hikers trail and the work that appears to being done is awesome. It appears that there is going to be three to four inches of relatively fine gravel placed on the trail. They must be using ATV's or Bobcats to do this work. The gravel you see in this picture was moved up hundreds of vertical feet and miles of trail. Since it is three to four inches deep and around eight feet wide it represents tons and tons of weight. The utility road that was here in the 70's and passes within a couple hundred feet of the North Summit still exists. While we were getting ready to hike back to the valley a group of about 20 folks on horseback went by on the road. I believe that while it passes very close to the Northern Summit that it is privately owned and not on forest service land.

While the food was not as inexpensive as twenty five years ago when $5 could by you a meal the lunches pictured below including side salads and a big plate of home made bread only cost $7.

The hike did not take a huge amount of time so we took in both the new Discovery Center and spent about a half hour getting a very informative tour of an old homestead with its wonderful gardens. The Forest Service employee offering interpretation at this house is an amazing source of information about the building, lifestyles, history and garden plants of earlier times in the area. When last I was here the currently restored house was nothing but a broken down ramshackle all vine covered and buried deep in the woods.   It is located over near where the old Visitor Center used to be.

Evidently the old visitor center that I remember burnt down and the Forest Service built the Discovery Center to replace it.    The Discovery Center is several time larger than the old visitors center.    While we were there we took in an interesting interpretive displays a  movie about the history of area and enjoyed watching some locals making baskets and listening to pair of young ladies singing authentic old appalachian folk songs.
On Sunday we did several shorter circuit hikes that were all under a mile in length.   The first short hike was encompassed the summit of Spruce Knob.    We not only visited the summit platform but took a short circuit around the summit to several other view points.

This picture is actually a little out of order in that it was a roadside view point just before Spruce Knob summit.

The following picture is from within one of the Red Spruce thickets for which Spruce Knob is named.

The next two pictures were taken on a talus slope and from a bolder sitting in the middle of a high meadow.

Next stop was Spruce Knob Lake which reminded me of a twenty five acre man-made pond nestled in NY State Forest Lands a couple miles as the crow flies and eight miles by gravel roads from my parents home. As a young kid I and friends would bushwhack on as straight a line as possible through the wilds of the state forest for about a couple miles in order to go fishing or hang out and skip rocks at Stony Pond. Spruce Knob was so similar to Stony Pond I just had to take the time to skip a few rocks.

The next stops involved a couple of one mile or less out and back hikes off of Dolly Sods fire roads. Dolly Sods has the additional danger of having unexploded ordinance.

We walked through this huge meadow that had tons and tons of blueberry bushes. Not ripe yet but it must be awesome eating when they are.

Hey look at all those windmills off in the distance. This picture was actually taken from Nature Conservancy land that adjoins Dolly Sods.

Looking back at a large part of the northern end of Dolly Sods.

Happy Rededication For SNP

2011-06-25T06:22:00.000-04:00

Saturday June 25, 2011

Happy 75th Rededication SNP

I had never driven the complete Skyline Drive in one continuous trip so on a partially rainy Sunday June 19, 2011 I started at the northern terminus, mile 0 and spent a good part of the day driving to the southern terminus at mile 105. A southbound thru-drive with a zero-hour at the Dickey's Ridge Visitor Center. I usually like to see the park from my hiking boots and not my car seat but it was worth doing this drive at least once. It provided a type of gestault feel for the totality of the park and a little bit of an insight into how a vast majority of visitors experience the park.

Dickey's Ridge Visitor Center where I spent some time in the store, looking at visitor displays and watching an interpretive show in the small theatre.

The tunnel just south of Thorton Gap.

The iconic view point not far south of the tunnel.

Old Rag from a viewpoint on the drive just north of Pinnacles. I took my time for this trip. Ambling along in the car stopping at many viewpoints and taking the time to cruise through every picnic ground or camp ground I came to. I think it took between 5 and 6 hours.

One of many interpretive signs along the way.

Skyland and the highest point on the drive.

An example of one of the more verbose interpretive signs. History is never very kind to losers of wars but while crushed by the empire like north the rebels of the south seemed to often overcome impossible odds with the use of superior military skills.

Two more of the many wonderful interpretive signs.

The southern terminus.

I thought about returning on the drive but wanted to get home before midnight so I returned on roads that traveled up the Shenandoah River valley just to the west of the Shenandoah National Park.

Lavender Farm and Food Saturday June18, 2011

2011-06-19T01:28:00.000-04:00

Lavendar Smells Like Camphor With Many Earthy Overtones and Undertones.

There are some smells that have the simple clarity of a single instrument but not freshly cut lavender, its fragrance is like that of a symphony orchestra. A harmonious blend of many smells.

Originally I had a day planned with ORMS but what with my on-going program to explore different parts of the geosphere I decided that a day with my friend Anita at the Seven Oaks Lavender Farm taking a lavender wreath making class followed by a wonderful gourmet lunch at a country inn which included lavender creme brulee and lavender ice cream was in order.

http://www.sevenoakslavenderfarm.com/

Entering the lavender fields where we picked the lavender for our wreaths.

Let the wreath making begin.

Two wreaths complete. One for my sister and one for the Old Rag Contact Station.

Off we went to lunch at the Popular Springs Inn.

http://www.poplarspringsinn.com/

The following is a picture of our main entrees NY Strip and Salmon.

AHH......the wonderful deserts. Both the Creme Brulee and Ice Creame Puffs featured deep spicy overtones of intense and very robust lavendar flavoring.

Old Rag Withdrawal Advice

2011-06-15T11:16:00.000-04:00

OLD RAG WITHDRAWAL ADVICE

If you should ever find yourself in the need to withdraw from an addiction to some adventurous sport or activity then be prepared to suddenly need to sleep all the time. Even some cups of specially brewed extra extra strong coffee did not seem to help much.

This was in the afternoon at our Greenbrier campsite.

This was at our PATC booth in front of the Greenbrier beach. Notice I was totally oblivious of the Coral snake. For the Coral snake picture I was non-responsiveX4. .

At least for the Rattlesnake picture some smelling salts had brought me around enough to be smiling about my new found spooning partner.

June 11&12, 2011 Leave No Trace at Greenbriar State Park Maryland

2011-06-13T08:15:00.000-04:00

Leave No Trace e-tour at Greenbrier State Park Maryland

The Leave No Trace e-tour and Big Foot were able to help with PATC's annual picnic. Mark and Tara arrived Friday afternoon in the Suburu pictured below. Big Foot arrived a little later. Their Suburu is a mobile message board and home on wheels for many months of continuous road travel. During their journey they will be going from one venue to the next tracing a big figure eight on the map of the USA. With a focus on youth outreach they will be providing hundreds of Leave No Trace outreach/education sessions almost right up through the end of 2011.

They have a blog which allows you to follow their travels check it out:

http://www.leavenotraceetour.blogspot.com/

What is the Leave No Trace e- tour?:

The Leave No Trace e-tour overview page which has lots of information and can be found at the following link:

http://www.lnt.org/programs/etour.php

On this page you can find the following:

What is the Leave No Trace e-tour?

The Leave No Trace e-tour, sponsored by the Coleman Company and The North Face, brings hands-on Leave No Trace demonstrations, interactive activities and general Leave No Trace education to schools, camps and youth-serving organizations from May through August. The team also travels to select retailers specializing in Coleman outdoor products in order to promote Leave No Trace information to kids and families. The e-tour provides basic Leave No Trace education programs that inspire youth to get outside while promoting responsible enjoyment of the outdoors.

Big Foot finally caught up to the Leave No Trace e-tour team at Maryland's Greenbrier State Park.

PATC, PATC Trail Patrol, Emergency Response Training, LLC, and Leave No Trace e-tour pop up tents were set up on the Greenbrier beach providing information, outreach, and education until the PATC picnic got started with all its great food.

PATC Trail Patrol had the honor of hosting Big Foot and the 2011 Leave No Trace e-tour team of Mark Ardagna and Tara McCarthy. The next picture shows the hosts and Big Foot clustered around an Appalachian Trail(AT) interpretive sign outside Greenbrier's Visitor Center. The AT passes through the park and it is a relatively easy hike from the park to Annapolis Rocks. The PATC Mountaineering section offered folks a chance to do some top roping.

Besides Saturday's outreach the Leave No Trace e-tour team provided a wonderful multi-media presentation for all park visitors in the park's amphitheater on Friday night. I did not get to talk much to Big Foot over the weekend but I got the sense that he struggles a little with his huge passion for spreading the Leave No Trace word and his natural shyness. Big Foot's natural habitat usually involves colder temperatures and perhaps even snow. I believe it was the Greenbrier Visitor's Center's air conditioning and ice cream social that helped over come Big Foot's shyness such that he decided to visit with some delighted children. Ice Creme, Big Foot and really cool interpretive wildlife displays at the interpretive center a formula for fun and a little learning.

Right after the ice creme social Randy and Georgia Motz (trail names Windtalker and Mom) provided a short flute recital and a multi-media presentation about their 2006 AT Thru-hike. Award winning authors of two books, "Solemates - Lessons on Life, Love & Marriage from the Appalachian Trail" and "The Walk - Reflections on Life &; Faith from the Appalachian Trail" they are members of PATC and have a passion for communicating about their AT experience. For more details about them and their presentation the following link takes you to the press release for the Greenbrier presentation:

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-award-winning-authors-to-speak-about-hiking-the-appalachian-trail-at-greenbrier-state-park-as-part-of-potomac-appalachian-trail-club-day-festivi-1307462565.htm

Home sweet home for Friday and Saturday nights.

Of course on Sunday afternoon the whole crew was off without leaving a trace we had been there.

One of those great weekends spent with great folks who share a passion for wild places and outdoor adventure.

Helicopter Evacuation Skyline AKA PATC Wall

2011-06-06T05:47:00.001-04:00

HELICOPTER RESCUE VIDEOS
Sunday June 5, 2011
Fifty (50) Foot Grounder
Climber On Skyline AKA PATC Wall

Fairly late on Sunday afternoon ORMS staff was getting ready to start some scenario training when a call came into the park that a 50 plus year old climber had taken a fifty foot fall on Skyline AKA PATC wall. Once again our planed for scenario training was replaced with a real response.

A fifty foot grounder is a very serious fall which can produce relatively instant death. I am told by a medical professional friend that the LD50(point where statistically 50% die) is a fall from 48 feet. Even if the patient does not die from the immediate impact injuries that can result from the fall will be substantial. There will be a high probability that the patient will be in for a serious fight for life. Rapid delivery to modern medical facilities with top notch emergency trauma and surgical teams may make the difference between the patient's living and dieing.

It was very fortunate for this patient that ORMS had highly trained responders high on the mountain and that the weather conditions were such that they were not stressing the patient. Most importantly the weather and time of day meant that a National Park helicopter could respond and rapidly evacuate the patient to a modern hospital.

Based on the comment provided by the patient's wife he has survived and is on the path to recovery.

Our hopes and prayers go out to the patient and all the follow-on medical personal that will be involved with the efforts to restore the patient to hopefully full health.

Events Leading To Fall
There were some initial reports but like many initial reports they probably have some inaccuracies. Suffice it to say that a very experienced climber somehow thought they were on a secure line that was not secure. When they went to put their weight on the line they fell fifty feet to the ground. Please see the 9th comment below supplied by one of the patient's friends.

REMINDER TO ALL OLD RAG VISITORS
While Old Rag is within an easy day trip's driving distance from a lot of metropolitan areas, it is not a city or suburban park! It is back country! Cell phone's generally only have service high on the Ridge. The fastest means of requesting emergency help may be to send a runner out to the trail head. Emergency Response teams will need to drive tens of minutes to trail heads and then spend 10s of minutes if not hours hiking themselves and equipment to the patient.

On this day the patient was lucky both that ORMS had trained responders high on the mountain and one of the park's helicopter Eagle (one or two?) was available to respond. Considering the location of the accident an incredibly fast extraction was accomplished and the patient was on their way to a hospital via helicopter not to many hours after his accident.

Visitors to Old Rag should understand and act with the knowledge that there is a very high probability that the stars, planets and moon will not be as aligned as they were for this patient. In the event of a serious accident or onset of a serious medical condition most patients will be facing two to three hours wait before the first help will reach them. Placement in an ambulance for transport to a hospital may take an additional five to ten hours. From time a non-ambulatory accident occurs on Old Rag until the patient arrives at the hospital it can take up to fifteen hours.

Sorry about the quality of the following videos.

WOW GREAT VIDEOS FROM
Dan Nichols one of the
Good Samaritans That Helped

The following two links have video footage supplied by Dan Nichols that is way better than mine.
See Dan's comments to this post. He his friends and others mounted initial good Samaritan efforts before ORMS resources arrived.

Dan, huge thanks to you and your friends for all the response help and for sharing these great videos.

BRAVO ZULU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE_kfuxfWkg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCHWcy_wPts

This first video is just a shot of some helicopter lift equipment being delivered to the ground personnel. Not very exiting unless you are a responder looking at it for training purposes. Best to just watch the second video.

http://www.youtube.com/user/robertlook1?feature=mhee#p/a/u/1/odsSk942m_A

The second video shows the patient being lifted with tag lines being manned by ground personnel.

http://www.youtube.com/user/robertlook1?feature=mhee#p/a/u/1/SkHFHkANl_E

THANKS TO ALL THAT HELP
The next pictures show some of the end of incident activities. Even when it is felt that a successful helicopter extraction has a high probability the Incident Commanders will generally rally resources assuming the helicopter extraction will not succeed. With hiking times measured in hours they can not wait for one option to fail before initiating preparations for the contingencies. Thankfully the contingency plans did not need to be exercised. That said, right around the time the helicopter got the patient airborne, teams of park employees were arriving on Skyline Wall with hundreds and hundreds of pounds of equipment. Had the helicopter extraction failed the response team was prepared for a rapid and smooth transition to a long manual carryout.

The next three pictures show many of the tens of folks who were directly involved in the robust flexible response for this patient.

Good Samaritans
Some with formal training for emergency response and some without. Like Border Collies who just have an intense desire to help with the flock there are some who respond because it is in their genetics and they can not abide not to if they see someone in need.
Note: While not exactly the same the SheepDog reference is an improve off of a concept of Sheep Dogs first espoused by an old retired Vietnam era Colonel and used by William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997 and also used by author LTC (RET) Dave Grossman and also by video self help Internet author NutNFancy.

Both behind and before any response like this there are hundreds of man hours spent planning and preparing to make sure that the equipment and highly trained human resources will be available when needed.

Park management has to obtain budgets for equipment, training, and response pay.
Government and volunteer organizations prepare and train, prepare and train, then prepare and train some more.
Other government and non-government organizations donate equipment.
Not too be forgotten, families and friends selflessly give up anticipated plans when their loved ones participate in these often long and arduous responses.

National Trails Day

2011-06-06T04:34:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 Revenge Of The Nerds

2011-05-31T09:12:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Sat. & Sun. & Mon

Camping near Byrds Nest Sat.& Sun.

GOLDEN WEEKEND

Sorry folks but the following comment is an insiders comment.

I am told that when I rank lead steward weekends that I make them self conscious, hmmmm I wonder if that is good or bad? Not sure but just in case:

All lead stewards training days are now ranked equally with the exception that the last one I attended will always be just slightly ahead. You guys will just have to learn to enjoy riding the bubble of ever higher training excellence expectations. For outsiders just understand that this is already truly top level outdoors training. Think as good and better than NOLS and Outward Bound.

I will affectionately remember this weekend as the revenge of the nerds weekend. From delightful conversations concerning the philosophy of science and nature of intelligence to hiking public who could as a group spontaneously recite the value of PI out past five places Old Rag was swarming with funny, friendly, effervescent, sparkling, nerds.

A line from our intellectually challenging conversations that will always make me laugh (at least internally) was:

"Well I am no expert but I have had some dining table education from my dad who......"

GAME SET MATCH! HAHA

Without giving too much away I have just added the dad's most recent New York Times reviewed book to my Kindle.

Next video is sideways turn your head or computer. At some point I will have the time to figure out how to turn the video right side up.

The Stewards took some time late on Memorial Day to enjoy a Shenandoah swimming hole.

Memorial day weekend and it was a festival of learning Tech Rescue One and Tech Rescue Two skills.

While inspected by the Lead Steward anchors at the end of Tech Rescue Two are the creation of the students who then use their own anchors to rappel.

Stellar weather , the company of Stewards, learning new skills.

LIFE IS SWEET!

Ho hum yet another day in paradise!

Sunrise over Old Rag from near Byrds Nest Shelter.

Looking down at the First False Summit in the late afternoon from near the Chute.

Looking down the Ridge from the summit in the very early morning.

More shots of the swimming hole.

Transitioning between worlds.

Home is where the heart is .

The 2011 Mountain Laurel blossoms have arrived. Come and bask in their ephemeral glories.

A flutter or is it a kaleidoscope of Spice Bush and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails.

Knots, knots, and more knots. Tying the knot for life takes on a different meaning.

More swimming hole fun.

Hey come on Bob snap that picture so I can drop in already.

Speaking of Nerds, Trebor Kool ask that I include the following:

On a personal level I have been told by two people that if I can find the Trinity that they will be forever grateful. Well I do not think I have ever had the opportunity to have someone forever grateful. Especially from good folks whom I suspect forever will be longer than just a lifetime. So another new addition to my Kindle is C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. I already had Einsteins God, and Homo Evolutis in my reading Que. I suspect that finding a deep belief in the Trinity is a spiritual and not an intellectual study. Like listening to the wind talk to me there will be no words I can use to describe it but like learning to listen to the wind talk to me I think my time in nature will be critical to learning to just believe in the Trinity.

SAT&SUN May 21&22 2011 Navigation Climbing

2011-05-24T09:23:00.001-04:00

Saturday and Sunday

May 21&22, 2011

Navigation and Rappelling and Climbing

SATURDAY

A termite swarm exiting a trail side blow down. Besides termites these blow downs are also home to massive colonies of carpenter ants. When there are sawed ends near the trail look just below and sometimes you will see three to six inch conical mounds of sawdust from where the Carpenter Ants have dropped pieces of wood removed during tunnel making and if your really lucky you will be there at a time when the pile is in the process of being made.

On Saturday we did a lot of work with various elements of navigation.

The Mountain Laurel were just on the verge of exploding with blossoms.

It was a wonderful day with record crowds of around 2,500.

SUNDAY
A vision quest lands in Rio.

It was an absolutely awesome 10++ Day. The weather was supposed to be rainy all day and yet turned out pretty nice. The threat of rain meant there were not many visitors on the mountain. We were able to spend a lot of time practicing anchors, rappelling, and yes climbing in the warm air on sun kissed granite.

There seemed to be a conspiracy to get a lot of shots of me on my camera. Here is one of me just before dropping in on rappel.

That's Liz high on her return climb after having rappelled in.

Here is new ORMSer Don on rappel. If my back of the envelope calculation is correct as one of his life's accomplishments he potentially has well in excess of 10 Hours of free fall time.

Here is a shot of me climbing and Chad belaying way up on the right. I did the three quarters of this route that was very easy (for Old Rag) slab climbing. None-the less it made me think and required some shifting balance movements. It felt like vertical dancing on sun warmed rock. One of those days that leaves you understanding why some drop out to do nothing but climb for days, weeks, months, years, maybe even decades. Gravity games.

This is a shot of Don climbing up. I always love it when you can look up at the boundary of the blue sky and rock to see bright white clouds floating by.

We came across a King Snake on the way out from our day on the mountain

Here I am doing some outreach and providing some information to inbound hiker/campers that were new to the area.

Sat. & Sun. April 14&15, 2011

2011-05-16T01:33:00.000-04:00

SATURDAY & SUNDAY

MAY14 & 15, 2011

SOMETIMES RAIN, SOMETIMES FOG

SATURDAY

Lead Steward Ben discussing patient preparation, packaging and litter tie in. Looks like this was one of our more somber moments. Perhaps some day we will learn how to relax and enjoy each others company a little.

Rope em, tie em, brand em. Well maybe we can do without the last item.

Where are Emily or Ann when you need them?

On Sunday I learned from Emily that this was Corydalis semipervirens or Pink Corydalis.   By the time I wrote the blog I had already forgotten the name but Emily must have sensed one of the Stewards needed a little identification help.    Before I could even get to my second edit rewrite (my writing process is more like sculpting where I slap up a big blob of ugly writing and then sculpt away with multiple rewrites) of this post she left a wonderful comment as to its name.    It would be cool if we could make super miniature clones of Emily to carry on our packs.   Maybe she will write a book some day.

Okay I got this next one Pink Lady Slippers.   Quite a cluster and I thought they were supposed to be rare.

LEAVE WHAT YOU FIND FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
I have heard that the Smokies used to have a lot of Lady Slippers which could be seen from the hiking trails but now the ones near the trails are practically completely gone.    Hikers picked or dug them up.

The following is from the:

The New England Birdhouse Blog

It contains a lot of neat wildlife information and feeds.

http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/feed/

Pink lady’s slipper is a wildflower in the orchid family. It grows 6 – 15″ tall with two large basal leaves at the base of the plant. It is easily identifiable because of its bulbous flower hanging at the top of a tall leafless stalk. It generally flowers between May and July, is pink to whitish-pink, and sometimes all white. Another common name for this plant is moccasin flower.

Like most orchids, the lady’s slipper is symbiotic as it has a mutually beneficial relationship with a fungus. The pink lady’s slipper uses a fungus in the soil to break open their seeds and to draw food and nutrients to its seed. When the lady’s slipper plant is older, the fungus draws nutrients from the orchid’s roots. Pink lady’s slippers also require bees for pollination, luring them into the flower pouch through the front opening.

Pink lady’s slipper takes many years to mature, living twenty or more years. Pink lady’s slipper usually grows on a wet, acidic forest floor with mixed shade in the eastern United States. The plants should not be removed from the wild because of their rarity and the near impossibility of successfully transplanting and maintaining the plant. New plants are difficult to start because of the need for the symbiotic fungi and their particular growing conditions.

SUNDAY
Indian Squaw Root (Conopholis americana)

One of the Red Efts that grace Old Rag's woods.   The black circled red dots are very decorative.    These guys do not move very fast so be careful not to step on them.

A Painted Box Turtle who turned out to be very gregarious. Quite a character.

We placed a lot of brush on a social trail that was really starting to get cut into the soil.

My consummate skill as a photographer LOL involves pointing and shooting a LOT then hoping that I get lucky once in a while.

This next one was a very lucky catch.

Enlarge it so you can see the expressions. Priceless!

NON-OLD RAG CARRY OUT

As we were leaving the summit we could hear that there might be a carryout response being considered for another part of the park (NOT OLD RAG) Old Rag was quiet and we were ending our day so we figured if we hustled out we might be of assistance.

While not every one's cup of tea the ORMS folks love a chance to participate in a wilderness injury response. Exhausting work, tick and poison ivy filled woods, spider webs, obstacles like swift running mountain rivers, streams, steep rocky trails, brush, nettles, rocks, blow downs, a possible snake or bees nest, nasty weather, darkness ....What could be more fun then to get intimately close with nature and bunch of other sweaty grimy folks all working closely together for the purpose of getting a non-ambulatory patient out and on their way to modern medical facilities. Serious rewarding work.

Sure enough it turned out the response could use our help. The litter was being carried downhill moving the patient to an ambulance waiting on the eastern boundary of the park. It was relatively quick for us to get there and hike upward towards the downward travelling litter team. As we hiked up to meet the downward bound team we were able to scout out and start planning for the stream crossings.

We met up with the downward bound litter team not too far from their first stream crossing and we were able to rig a taut static line across the stream to help folks either cross the stream or quickly set up for their next position in the stream in order to caterpillar the patient across.

After rigging several more stream crossings we arrived at the ambulance which was able to take the patient to a medical facility for treatment. While not life threatening the injuries were very serious.

Hoping, praying, wishing for the patient's successful speedy treatment and recovery.

Sunday May 9, 2011

2011-05-09T09:24:00.001-04:00

Sunday May 9, 2011
Mother's Day

Pictures now text to come.

Sat. & Sun April 30 & May 1, 2011

2011-05-02T05:41:00.000-04:00

Pictures for now text later. Oh man, my writing backlog keeps building. I will try and knock it all out this week.

Sat&Sun April 23&24, 2011 Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T08:03:00.000-04:00

Saturday and Sunday

April 23&24, 2011

Easter Weekend

The following picture is from the location near the winery that I have chosen to take pictures for the purposes of watching for the seasonal changes. If you double click and enlarge this picture you will notice that the tree leaves are out in some places and not out in others. Some of this is driven by elevation, exposure or soil conditions differences and some of it is driven by species differences.

The following is a picture of a lesson concerning early morning procedures. Jeremy, Glen, Lizandra, Dwayne and myself were on this day.

The days lessons included training and practice on putting up various types of tarps as well as building fires.

EPIC FAIL
I find that I have often learned best from my outdoor failures. I failed miserably at making a fire but learned a heck of a lot and after making some minor equipment adjustments, practicing some more with my existing equipment and then with my new equipment I will be far more savvy at making a fire and will probably qualify as a strong intermediate fire maker. The real experts can start with literally nothing in the way of matches, lighters, or carried tinder and still get a fire started by doing something like rubbing sticks together. Getting to this expert level can take days of training and practice though. For now I will settle for making sure I take good fire making supplies and train enough to be a strong intermediate fire starter.

On a personal development level it is sometimes healthy to have an ego crushing epic fail. Reminds you that you always have a lot more to learn. Builds character and you can never have too much of that.

The picture below is selfishly mostly for me. It is a reminder of what will always be a very cherished memory of a fellow steward holding this object in front of their face, staring at it while turning it around in the air in order to see all its angles and then looking at me and with the most honest open mind quizzical look asking what is this? Of course I could not see my own face but I know inside my brain I was reeling from an equally total sense of befuddlement over the meaning of the question. A visual koan. Seconds after this fest of mutual befuddlement, the light went on in the other stewards brain that it was a pen. My befuddlement over what the steward meant asking "Whats this?" turned to a conceptual understanding that they really had not realized it was a pen. One of those random but very special moments that happens in life.

I was thinking later that it is a shame that there was not a way to purposely cause and exploit that state of truly seeing an object with no prior preconceptions. Once we surround an object with definitions we lose an ability to really see it. I do not draw much but I have always been amazed that when I have had to draw something I "see" all kinds of things that I had looked at but not recognized.

SUNDAY

Easter Sunday and the weather was wonderful. Anita and I had originally been interested in a day on Old Rag but then realized we both needed additional rest. Before either of us lost cell phone reception we were able to reach each other by cell phone to let each other know that we were both running really late but would meet at the Old Rag Contact Station AKA Old Rag International Parking and then decide what to do with the rest of the day. I arrived there at around 11AM and got to visit with the Contact Station staff and help direct traffic for a couple of hours until Anita arrived at around 1PM. For me it was a very pleasant two hours.

WHY TWO HOURS IN THE PARKING LOT CAN BE FUN FOR ME

I spend a lot of time on Old Rag. Out of 104 annual weekend days a year I spend over 70 on the mountain. In the distant future when our society is so productive that we can afford to have 20% of our population working as full time research psychologists, I am sure my mental condition will be some sub-classification of a sub-classification of a sub-classification the definition of which will have earned someone their doctorate. The good news is that I have no question that my Old Rag relationship is healthy. I am old enough to have had my share of unhealthy crushes, limerances and obsessive love experiences and know that my relationship with my Old Rag mistress is not like any of those.

If my strong feelings had a theme song it might be Glen Campbell's Gentle On My Mind. Metaphorically I definitely keep my sleeping bag rolled up behind Old Rag's couch.

It was not always this way. When I was first exposed to the mountain it felt like a remote dangerous place full of adventure. It almost felt like you might meet the Nazgul or Gandalf and Strider around the next corner.

Now it is my weekend back yard complete with neighbors that I have known for years. A comfortable relaxed place. A place for fun, exercise, listening to the wind, enjoying nature and being a member of a small country community. Even when totally alone at night in the worst of winter weather with wind blown ice crystals stinging my face Old Rag still feels like home. But I digress.....

One of the benefits of having this level of familiarity is that the goal of doing "the hike" or seeing the summit is no longer first priority. Oh do not get me wrong the summit area is still a favorite place (especially at sunset) but I can spend two hours in the parking lot helping with parking, visitor instructions, and visiting with friends and do nothing more than that and life is still good, really good.

Anita arrived and we decided we did not have time for even a hike to Old Rag's first false summit. I had wanted to check out the cliffs at Little Stony Man mountain so we decided to head up to Skyline Drive. On Skyline we got to see a young bear just off the road sleeping in a tree.

SKYLINE BEAR JAM

(If there was a song it would be probably be both a little upbeat and a little bluesy)

We finally got to the Little Stony Man parking lot and actually scored a parking space. Up the trail we headed. We had thoughts of doing Little Stony Man, Bear Fence, Big Stony Man and then getting some good eats in Warrenton on our way home.

Well when your a Good Samaritan your plans often happily get changed. About half way up Little Stony Man we ran into two wonderful women just a few days into an Appalachian Trail flip-flop hike. Their trail names were Spicy and G. G. (Granola Girl). They had dreamed and planed for years followed by several months of serious preparation and training and they left their northern mid-western homes to start what was planned to be several months on the trail together. They had left Waynesboro a week or two earlier. Unfortunately that impish little devil name Chaos that you see on the insurance commercials had jumped into their lives. Spicy had very badly strained her knee near Big Meadows. She was moving, (ambulating as we like to say in the response world) but every other step was very painful and required immense amounts of will power to take. I was wearing my Leave No Trace LNT trainers shirt and still had my name tag with the Red Cross, my name and information identifying me as a volunteer for NPS, PATC and ORMS. I asked if she (Spicy) was all right? Spicy immediately explained that she had badly twisted her knee and asked if I knew how she might connect up with a ride to Luray.

Sorry folks got to get to work. Next writing installment to come and yes believe me I know I have a huge backlog of writing. Not an excuse but just an explanation, lots of personal stuff requiring my attention lately.

April 16&17, 2011 Spring Showers&Flowers RockFest2

2011-04-18T08:24:00.000-04:00

Saturday and Sunday

April 16&17, 2011

RockFest 2 Spring Deluge

Spring Flowers

SATURDAY

ROCKFEST 2

The Mid-Atlantic Climbers hosted their second service day in the park.

It was unfortunate but the weather was not cooperative with torrential rains and tornado warning on the day set aside for cleaning up litter. None-the-less a few intrepid folks put on their rain gear and spent the day cleaning up litter.

An early morning meeting as the teams prepare.

Since the photographers do not get in many pictures I thought I would get a couple of them.

Awesome zip-lock baggy rain gear MacGyver'ld over the camera.

Old Rag Mountain Stewards (ORMS)
I ran down to my day with the ORMS which was all about plants.

A partial list of the plants we were taught to identify included; Sarsaparilla, Sassafras, Wild Geranium, May Apple, Trillium, Blood Root, Yellow Birch, Tulip Popular, White Oak, Sycamore, Fiddlehead Fern, Frasier Magnolia, Hickory.

The park called us and asked us to shelter in place while some weather with the potential to generate tornadoes passed over.

The CCC stairs on the Saddle Trail were a delightful miniature waterfall.

The amount of rain that had come down over the afternoon was second only to a day in 1996 and all of the brooks and streams were full to capacity and overflowing in many spots.

At a spot just past the Sharp Rock Road and VA 601 was under about three feet of fast moving water so you had to use Sharp Rock Road to get out to VA 231.   For a sense of the volume and force of the water check out this short video on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/robertlook1

SUNDAY
Personal Hikes With RockFest 2 Volunteers and then by myself on Old Rag.

Old Rag as seen from Skyline drive early on Sunday morning.   After taking this 6:30 AM shot I went back to Pinnacles Research Station and helped the RockFest 2 folks with breakfast, take down and clean up.

After we finished at Pinnacle Research Station I joined a group that were doing a circuit hike of Little Stonyman, Stonyman, and back on the Passamaquody Trail.   I wanted to get to the Old Rag Contact Station before the Rangers left for the day so I only did an up and back to the top of the Little Stonyman cliffs and then headed down to the Old Rag Contact Station.

The Redbuds are blossoming. This is a good indicator that snakes will be exiting their hibernaculums.

The Swallowtails are out. This one was feeding on a newly blossoming Lilac blossom.

The Trillium have started to bloom.

Violets are blooming.

Red Dogwood blossoms.

Fiddlehead Fern

White Dogwood blossoms

Bluets

Bloodroot

This hiker kept me company for awhile. Because of an illness he expects his remaining life is measured in months not years and he was making the most of his remaining time taking advantage of a wonderful spring day.

The view towards Culpepper andEtlan from the first false summit.

Looking up the rock scramble from the first false summit.

The view of the SNP Northern District from the First False Summit.

As I was driving out on Peola Mills Road the full moon was rising.