End Of July

Sunday June 3, 2012 Old Rag Patrol

Sunday, June 3, 2012 

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR NATIONAL TRAILS DAYS PHOTOS AND VIDEOS SCROLL DOWN TO THE POST BEFORE THIS ONE>

The followig picture was take early Sunday morning.   Later on Sudnay I would be doing one of my typical weekend volunteer patrols on Old Rag which can be seen way in the distance.

Sunday morning sunrise at a Skyline Drive pull off.

A shot of Old Rag late afternoon the day before from a pull off on Skyline Drive.

Two shots looking back at Skyline Drive on the horizon from near Whale AKA Atlas rock part way up the rock scramble on Old Rag's Ridge Trail.

The next three shots were taken at various points on or near the Ridge Trail.

The next two shots are my SCOLDING SHOTS.    The first one involves a bunch of trash(wrapper and egg shells) left right on the Ridge Trail.   YUCK!!    

Not sure how to address this one other than there is no excuse and it is just wrong!!!

Come on folks. this is a designated National Wilderness Area not a ghetto, city alley or subway!!!    Please do not waste your time defacing natural wonders.    Your indiscretion will be quickly removed and only manage to make a lot of people upset about the fact that the you defaced this rock!

The following  seven pictures are just random pictures along the Old Rag Ridge Trail.    For those interested in Mt. Laurel blossums be aware that it is quickly passing and it will only be a matter of days before you will need to wait until 2013 to have the next chance to see them.

The next four pictures feature sunset on the summit of Old Rag.

The following four pictures were taken from a night time Sunday evening hike on the Old Rag Ridge Trail under the light of the Strawberry Moon and a headlamp.

Old Rag Under Moonlight

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.

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

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.

Saturday, February 7, 2009 SUNNY, 60, MOONLIGHT, ICE, & MUD

Great day on the mountain. The temperatures were around 60 and skies clear even up until 10PM. The Ridge Trail had a little bit of ice but it was fairly easy to avoid. I got to the top of the rock scramble as it was getting dark. The moon was almost full and very bright. Hearing voices entering the rock scramble and seeing a periodic flash of light I decided to wait to make sure the party got through the scramble. With the very bright moonlight they made it with no problem. It turned out they were enjoying purposely doing a moonlit hike. The Saddle Trail was much icier and more trecherous than the Ridge Trail. Starting just below Byrds Nest Shelter you had to carefully pick your way from rock top to rock top for close to a half mile. As you got lower on the Ridge Trail and onto the segment of the Old Rag Fire Road between Old Rag Shelter and the fire roads' intersection you had to deal with deep squishy mud. Weakley Hollow Fire Road was fine though. Ambling through the rest of my hike a second party of moonlight hikers arrived in the upper lot just behind me.