Saturday, January 23, 2010

PATC TP Annual Dinner Truncated Patrol

High forties and the skies were mostly clear. Low on the mountain the Ridge Trail was clear of any ice or snow just muddy. About half way up the Ridge Trail switchbacks a small amount of snow started to appear. Near the top of the switchbacks the ground was covered by snow with a tenth of an inch of ice glaze over the top. Above around 2,400 feet the rain earlier in the week had frozen on contact with ground and trees. All of Skyline drive was closed because of the ice. For a better idea of the ice conditions above 2,400 check out the pictures on both the Shenandoah Mountain Guides' post and the Silver Spring Wanderer's post for this same time period. Between the closure of Skyline drive and the nice weather there were the most number of cars (about 60 in the lower lot and another 15 along the road or in the upper lot) that I had seen in the parking lot since Fall.

I got a late start and had to leave early in order to make the annual PATC Trail Patrol dinner in Harpers Ferry so I only did an up and back to the No-Camping sign on the Ridge Trail.

I was able to do lots of interpretation and answers lots of questions on this day. I had some pretty long conversation with downward bound parties who had planned on doing the circuit but had turned around at the first false summit due to black ice coating the rock scramble.

I did get a chance to talk to a couple of groups who had managed to complete the whole circuit and they reported that they had to be extremely cautious.


PLAN AHEAD BE PREPARED
During this time of year, some type of ice traction devices will be a big help. Also keep in mind that responses to non-ambulatory injuries are going to take many hours(3 to 10 minimum) until help arrives. Once a victim and their party have stop exerting themselves they are going to chill down quickly. Not having additional layers to put on will almost guarantee a case of hypothermia for the victim and any members of the party who are tending them.

Because Old Rag Granite is dark in color and most of the rock scramble is exposed to good daylight sun it will often become substantially clear of ice and snow after just a few days of bright sunshine and warm temperatures. The switchbacks on the Ridge Trail and especially the Saddle Trail below Byrd's Nest Shelter are more protected from the sun and will often stay icy long after the rock scramble has become clear of ice and snow.


The following picture shows the parking lot at about 16:30. This picture only shows about half of the cars that had been in the lot around noon.

A picture from the Old Rag lower lot showing some of the ice and snow higher on the mountain if you expand the picture and look closely you can see some vultures or ravens on the nearest high point.

One of the Old Rag neighborhood dogs hanging out near the fee station.

Trail Patrol's Annual Dinner at Glass House in Harpers Ferry West Virginia.

Monday January 18, 2010
Martin Luther King Day


I did an up and bag from the White Oak Canyon side of the mountain. The Saddle Trail between the two shelters was treacherous with ice but otherwise the snow and ice was mostly gone. Temperatures were in the low fifties.

Most pictures offer higher resolution if clicked on.

Five shots stitched together from Etlan.

Mt. Robertson from Saddle Trail just above CCC stairs.

Icy trail looking up the Saddle Trail.

Some snow was left on the summit.

Long shadows looking down Ridge Trail towards Warrenton and Washington.

A series of shots leading up and past sunset. First one is ten minutes before.

The next two are right at sunset.

Stitch of five shots 15 minutes after sunset.

Sunday, January 10, 2010 Cold Clear Icy

Sunday, January 10, 2010
COLD CLEAR AND ICY

Had a very late start at 13:20 so only went up to the first false summit waited for dark and then came back down under headlamp. Despite the late start it was an interesting trip.
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I was surprised to see a hearty group of climbers doing boulder problems low in the switch backs. Along with their crash pads they had very cold hands. It was in the low twenties and hard boulder problems require glove less hands to be placed on icy cold granite. Passionate mountaineers do funny things at times. I remember hearing about one fellow who in preparation for an upcoming mixed climbing mountaineering trip hiked holding snowballs in his bare hands so that he could acclimatize them for his upcoming trip.
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Met a young lady who said she volunteered for Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group. She said she hiked Old Rag a lot so I encouraged her to consider volunteering for ORMS and provided her information on how to get in touch with it.
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It was a good day to retrieve the garbage bag sized zip lock bag from near the last good camping spot on the Ridge Trail. With it being so cold there was no need to worry about the hornets/yellow jackets. The trail had very hard packed snow which in many places had transformed into ice.
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When I got back down to the upper lot there was a party waiting on two members of their party and another party of two whom they had befriended near the summit. The two groups of two came out about ten and fifteen minutes after I arrived. The last group out said they were probably going to be sore from bruises received after falling on the icy trail several times. When I asked if they had slipped on the really icy part of the Saddle Trail they said no because they had traveled that part of the trail sitting down.

Have you ever tried to walk on a sidewalk that was not cleared of its snow, had been packed down by pedestrians and had turned icy from several days of thawing and refreezing? That is what many parts of the trail were like.

When this trail is coated in ice you can make it without any form of ice traction on your feet but it will be a lot more fun, go a lot faster, and be tremendously safer if you wear something that will grip on the ice. Think Stabilizers, YakTrax or MicroSpikes.


Does not look like much snow or ice but there was plenty.


Very low on the Ridge Trail the sun was just sinking over the mountains shoulder at around 16:00.

Just before the first false summit a good idea of how the trail looked higher on the mountain.

The classic look up the rock scramble from the point where you get your first views of Etlan.

I hung out on the first false summit until it got pretty dark. I can see and hear all the way up the Rock Scramble to the top of the Chute so I waited in order to make sure there were no late parties coming down the Ridge who might need help because they got caught in the dark without lights. It was amazing how much colder I started to feel just hanging out around R22 for forty minutes. On the exposed ridge the wind was a fairly constant 10 miles an hour with gusts up to twenty. Once you were off the ridge the air was almost still.

Not really sunset since it is looking southeast but these colors are typical of Old Rags eastern horizon at twilight on clear weather days.

Happy New Year 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR
Friday January 1, 2010

It was above freezing during the day and below freezing once the sun was low. The trail was mostly five inch deep packed snow having the consistency of a snow cone. My micro spikes made the trip a pleasure. I encountered several parties without ice traction equipment on their feet proving that the hike could be done on this day without any special footwear. That said, if you are wearing the right footwear you will not need to constantly concentrate on not slipping. There was no need for breaking trail. Prior hikers had trampled down the snow to a fairly solid base of four to six inches of fine grained corn snow. With my micro-spikes providing firm grips I found the trail much easier to walk than it is during warm weather because it is smoother and slightly padded.

The fire roads were mostly covered in thin crunchy ice or snow. There were already bare sections but most of the distance could have been skied. That said, even when the fire roads were snow covered they were very icy and would not have been much fun to ski. I am sure there were a few very rare days just after the big snowstorm when the skiing conditions were terrific.

For the last hour of my hike I walked with my headlamp turned off. A wonderfully large bright moon had climbed low into the crisp black winter sky accompanied by brightly twinkling stars. There is a special magic that occurs when the snow is crunching under your feet and a clear winter sky has a bright winter moon bathing the leafless snow covered woods in a dim silvery illumination.

GREAT START OF A NEW YEAR!


I try to take this shot from the same spot of the road so as to provide a reference of change through the seasons. Most pictures have higher resolution if clicked on but you may need to use the slider bars.

Start of the Ridge Trail.
Looking up Rock Scramble from First False Summit.

Looking back at First False Summit from below the cave.

Whales Head with ice. This area ices up. On most days you can pick a path around the ice.

Looking towards Washington DC from slab just above the Chute.

From summit looking down the Ridge Trail.

Sunset looking towards Skyline Drive(closed this day) from the summit.

Saturday Dec. 12, 2009

Saturday December 12, 2009

When I arrived I was surprised to see lots of cars in the lower lot(around forty). I decided to change my routine a little and start my hike on the other end of the fire road. While I got to the Old Rag fee station to pick up my radio at around twelve thirty I did not go into service on the other side of the mountain until around 13:30.

Once again a photo from the same spot so that seasonal change comparisons can be made.

The shot above is stitched together from around six shots all taken just outside of Etlan. Double click and use slider bars for higher resolution. Hopefully this picture will be a help to rock climbers trying to plan trips on this side of the mountain.

Sorry that this is not such a good photo. It was taken from the Weakley Hollow Fire Road.

Bartenders Spring near the top of the switchbacks on the Ridge Trail.

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From this point up the trail was covered with hard packed icy snow until I got below Old Rag Shelter. This weekend was a good example of the trail becoming far more treacherous after the snow is packed down and has melted and refrozen several times. The rock scramble was easier and safer to negotiate than last week because a lot of what had been snow covered rock was bare and dry this week. That said, the non-rock scramble parts of the trail above 1,700 feet were far more difficult to walk than last week. Having my Kahtoola Micospikes made what could have been a scary experience pleasant.

Using my point and shoot this is the best photo I could get of the lights looking towards Etlan and Culpepper. The photo does not even come close to representing what you see with your eyes. In the winter when the air is crisp and clear and the leaves are off the trees the lights in the valley create a beautiful twinkling view.

Looking up at the Chute from the middle of the rock scramble.

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Several hikers reported they had seen large numbers of boy scouts on the mountain. I reached the first false summit as the daylight was fading. I had run into about five hiking parties that were returning down the Ridge Trail as I was going up. I did not see or hear anyone between the first false summit and Byrds Nest Shelter. When I got to Byrds Nest Shelter there was a camping party there who had a wonderful large fire going. Had fun visiting with them for about an hour.

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I saw another group of campers down by PO Junction but since it was already so late I decided not to visit them. It was nice having a short trip to my car from PO Junction.

I Signed out of service at 21:49.

Dec. 6, 2009 SNOW AND ICE

DECEMBER 6, 2009 REAL WINTER
I had a great trip on Old Rag the day after it received several inches of snow. It was the first time I got to use my Kahtoola MicroSpikes. Great product for icy trails. Most of the day was partially sunny in the low to mid thirties and I only saw about 20 fellow hikers on the mountain. Our paths did not cross but it turns out Emily and Michael some friends from ORMS were also on the mountain this day. Check out their trip report on their great new blog Silver Spring Wanderer located in my blog list.

I have taken a picture from this same spot once a week for several weeks. I cut out the silo and farm fields because they were all green and would have lessened the effect of the picture. The valleys just to the east of Old Rag were an anomaly in that they had no snow while for miles around them everything was snow covered.

Looking up the switchback at a couple of hikers.

The resting spot at the No Camping Sign just below R15.






Looking up the Rock Scramble from the top of the first false summit just before R22 which is at the slot beginning the Rock Scramble.

Looking up at Whale's Head Rock aka Atlas Rock R29. All pictures can be clicked for higher resolutions.

Looking down the Ridge Trail from the top of the Chute between R31 and R32.

A panorama stitched together from shots taken at the southeast corner of Old Rag's summit.

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ADVICE

Unless you are actually looking to bushwack off trail in order to find vertical ice routes you probably will never need an ice ax or crampons on Old Rag. That said, some type of ice traction devices may be a necessity even on the trails at times. Think Yaktrax, Microspikes, Stabilizers ect. They will not be as useful on the first day of any big snows since you will mostly be dealing with deep snow and not necessarily much ice. It is during the days just after big snow storms when the snow has been tromped down and then melted and re-frozen that a large majority of the trail may be very icy. There is one spot on the Saddle Trail just below the Byrds Nest shelter that is notorious for having ice build up. Often there is thick ice at this spot many days after the rest of the mountain has become clear of any ice. Check out this video to see the spot I am talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRYqEp2lnTI

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RISK

Please be extra careful in the winter folks. There have been injuries even on nice sunny dry days. During a winter weather response rescuers will be taking risks just driving to the mountain. Normally the park service can get four wheel drive vehicles right up to Old Rag Shelter via the fire roads. But the fire roads are never plowed and deep snow may mean rescuers will need to walk in from the park boundary. Since deep snow is rare in SNP I do not believe the park has any snowmobiles and helicopters are not an option in really bad weather. If you are non-ambulatory in the middle of the rock scramble in the middle of a white-out winter storm it might take more than 15 hours for first responders to reach you. Who knows how long an extraction may take? Are you or your group prepared to keep a non-ambulatory victim warm for fifteen hours? How about 24?

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I have actually seen solo trail runners in gym shorts, light wind breakers, running shoes (no sign of any kind of ice traction devices), and no pack containing extra layers or other self support stuff (see link above) on the trail in some pretty winter like conditions. At least they usually have a cap and maybe some gloves on. I hope they have someone at home who knows to go looking for them if they are not back home in a timely fashion.

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If you think like me, you know that your consummate skill and discerning judgement provide you a shield of invincibility. Because of this, hiking Old Rag even during a two foot white-out right after a record ice storm does not even come close to the risk of playing Russian Roulette with a half loaded two barrel shotgun.

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MY NOT WIDELY HELD OPINION

CERTAINLY NOT SUPPORTED
BY THE ORGS. I VOLUNTEER FOR

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Having libertarian tendencies and being a huge fan of outdoor adventures, my personal opinion is that as long as you have a group of friends pre-arranged to rescue or recover your body in a completely self-sufficient-low-impact way, GO-FOR-IT. Especially, if you have a good filming team like Teton Gravity Research ready to create films that can be shared afterwards.

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On the other hand, if as the result of an injury you will be anything less than fully self sufficient, please make your decisions fully cognizant of the fact that a non-ambulatory injury will cause responders significant hardship and risk.

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You should want any of your adventures to be judged as affirmations of a life robustly lived and not as death wishes. At least when considered by a jury of your crazy outdoor peers who do things like ski Everest or the Grand Teton.

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http://www.exumguides.com/?page_id=47

http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/200701/skiing-everest_1.html

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In the event you are one of those folks not sensitive about putting others at risk, you should realize that more and more organizations are charging for rescue services. Especially when it is determined that poor judgement or irresponsible behaviour was involved. Keep in mind the judgement about what is poor judgement or irresponsible will not be made by a jury of your outdoor adventure peers. The bill for these services can easily add up to $10,000-$20,000 per incident. In case you were worried about your inability to save for such a large cost, Global Rescue and Geos Alliance are two companies that offer World Wide Search and Rescue Insurance products.

Sunday After Thanksgiving

Sunday November 29, 2009

Warm clear weather changing to slight overcast with very light sprinkles.

I did not get back from my trip to my parents for Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family until a little after midnight on Saturday. I got a slow start Sunday morning and then I found that I had a flat from a nail induced slow leak. By the time I got the tire repaired it was around 1PM. My oldest daughter Sarah and I were still able to fit in an abbreviated Old Rag trip. We arrived at Old Rag around 3PM so we only hiked to the first false summit where we watched the sun set and then returned under headlamps. Even though not the whole circuit it was still a great trip.

As we were about to start our hike we met a multi-generational (4) family of about 40 folks who said it was their families 43rd annual Thanksgiving weekend family hike of Old Rag. Pretty impressive tradition which started around 1966 when Lyndon Johnson was president.

The moon was bright enough that you could actually walk slowly and carefully without your headlamp. Of course having the leaves off the trees helps a lot with the moonlight.





Sarah checking out one of the remaining charred trees from the forest fire.
A picture of me at the break spot just before the No Camping Beyond This Point sign.

Sarah enjoying the sunset from the first views of the eastern valley. (Double click then click once on the picture for highest resolution.)

A very late dusk picture looking up the Ridge Trail from the first false summit.

Sarah and I on the first false summit just before we started back to the car.