Sunday March 4, 2012
PATC Trail Patrol
One-On-One Training
Partially cloudy, high 30's to low 40's, virtually no ice or snow on the trail. Heard tree frogs(not peepers) croaking up in the trees along Weakley Hollow Fire Road.
OLD RAG NEWS/CONCERNS FOR VISITORS
- There is new local dog which likes to go walk-about. It is a young border collie please do not try to take it home or bring it down off the mountain unless it is clearly hurt(not just sleeping). It will make its way back home before sunset. While SNP(Shenandoah National Park) has a leash law and dogs are not allowed at all on Old Rag,....Madison County does not have a leash law.
- There are no longer portable bathrooms located in the old Old Rag upper lot. There are still portable bathrooms located in the Old Rag parking lot and there is a mouldering privy located near Old Rag Shelter. If you use the woods please make sure you know how to make appropriate cat-holes.
- How to poop in the woods http://amountaintophigh.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-poop-in-woods.html
- I am seeing a lot more jury-rigged fire rings. These and the fires in them are not allowed in SNP! Backcountry fires are not allowed in SNP unless they are in fireplaces constructed by SNP!
- Daylight saving time happens this next weekend.
Sunset from the last view point just above CCC Stairs
That dog and it's twin went with us most of the way up Old Rag about a month ago. Then one left and the other one finished the trip AND then did Robertson Mountain with us. I think that dog is named Lucy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input. I am always getting introduced to new local dogs. I do not recognize Lucy by sight yet but I will try to make a point of getting to know her. The one the Rangers asked me to be ready to watch for or do outreach with hikers about was named Doc but there a whole bunch of local dogs who like to do the walk-about thing and will hook up with various hiking parties. Many of them have pretty good message tags on their collars which explain that they know how to find their way home. That said, owners have often had to drive to various shelters to pick them up sometimes as far away as DC. The dogs favorite times to do the mountian tends to be on weekends when large number of hikers are there so their owners try to get them penned crated up or tied-up before Saturday morning rolls around but are not always succcessfull especially when the dogs start getting smart enough to sense when the weekend is coming and decide to avoid getting penned crated or tied-up.
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