Another AT Bear Day Despite the Fools: Jones Run to Rip Rap

Saturday September 19, 2015                                                                   Most Recent Post:
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Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

 

 

There’s always a danger doing any hike on a week-end day that the trails and the parking will be packed.  When we get to the Rip Rap Parking area here’s what we found.   But someone must have thought the last spot near the handicapped one was also handicapped and left it open just for Ruby.  Amazing given the cars parked everywhere including up and down the road.  The Rip Rap trail is popular because it has several ways to do it from short, to long, to overnight backpack.  But we won’t be doing the Rip Rap at all.   We are dropping off Ruby, going up to the Jones Run access to the AT and hiking back. 

 We’ve already done the Jones Falls trail on another loop hike which included the Doyles River Falls.  It’s a water fall lovers dream.  Well worth doing (see post here).  This time we set out headed south on the AT.

 

 

Few things are prettier than a leafy trail in the fall.   What a wonderful season of warm days and cool nights.

 

We haven’t gone very far down the trail and I’m looking down at the lovely leafy path when I spy bear scat at my feet.   Well this gets my hopes up. A lot of seeds in there.  How do those bears put on so much weight eating berries that are mostly seed?

 

 

 

 

Then I spy what I think is a turkey feather. This reminds me of how surprised I am that we have seen no turkeys in all the months we have been in the park.  I think this is very unusual since I know they must be on these mountains and in these woods.   You can see how my mind just flits from one thing to another as I walk along. 

 

 

And THEN I spot a black thing ahead on the trail.  I stop dead, pull up my camera and start shooting as I hear a voice from the other direction yelling “Bear in the trail”.   Well DUH!   Why don’t you just stop, shut up and enjoy him?

 

 

But no these two just keep on walking in the direction of the poor bear who now sees us in front at a distance and the other two foolish ones closing in from the year shouting “HEY BEAR”.  

 

I get a few nice pictures just before he takes off into the woods.  Needless to say I’m not very pleased with the attitude of the AT hikers who don’t have a minute to let the bear decide what he wants to do.   You can see them clearly in the picture above.

 

 

Really wish I could have just stood on the trail and watched to see what he would do all on his own without any interference from the anthropocentric species pushing him out of the way in their hurry.  These were not thru hikers, just day trippers.  What IS your hurry?  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

 

 That was the excitement for the day so if you want to quit reading now I’ll understand but it is a lovely 6 mile walk on the trail.  UP and down, UP and down, UP and down over 3 knobs and a peak with interesting people and stops.

We picked the AT for today as we always do for week-end days since usually there have been fewer people hiking it.  But today there were an unusual number.  We’ve found that since Labor Day, the numbers of people at the trailheads and on the trails has not decreased at all.  In fact we see more people on this section of the AT today than on any other one we’ve done.  

One of them is this rock scrambling dog that we met just before reaching Black Rock Summit which we have previously climbed (Black Rock Post Link).

 

 

The AT passes around the north, west and south sides of the summit and the views are lovely today.   We’ve already done the scramble so we just hike on stopping for these pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much of the AT is up, down, repeat on a narrow path through green tunnels.  The fall wildflowers of the day are

 

Clasping Heart-Leaved Aster (aka Wavy Leaf Aster)

 

One of the 7 species of Goldenrod found in the park. 
The pollen of goldenrod is too heavy to cause allergies. 
It’s ragweed that is the villain.

 

White Snakeroot.  Very toxic. 
When cows eat it their milk is contaminated. 
Abraham Lincoln’s mother died from drinking tainted milk

 

Common Mullein. So Soft. 

 

 

 

Color is just beginning on the hillsides although up close we can see many red, yellow and orange leaves.

 

 

 

Not sure we have visited every PATC (Potomac Appalachian Trail Club) hut so far along our hikes but I think so.  In that spirit, we walk the steep 2/10th of a mile down to visit the Black Rocks Hut where we find 3 section hikers on their way to Harper’s Ferry from Springer have just come in for the day. 

 

 

 

I chat with them for a while about their plan to finish next year starting from Harper’s Ferry and going to Katahdin.  They tell me they are from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. 

I check out the trail log and we leave them to get set up before the later comers arrive.  We see at least 6 of those further on the trail.  It will be a cozy night here. 

Sorry about cutting off the right hand side of the page for those of you who, like me, enjoy reading the log entries.  Looks like one thru hikers parents are doing the trail too.    One entry talks about over 25 miles in a day and another about over 30.   WOW is all I can say.  10 miles a day is more than enough for me.  But of course I don’t have their conditioning, still………….

 

 

 

 

 

More up

more rocky trail

 

 

one of 4 road crossings today

more lovely CCC rock walls along the drive and overlooks

 

More fellow hikers

Wonder what they’d do if they saw a bear?

 

 

 

We’ve seen bear scat all along the trail with and without berries.  Based on the amounts, we keep hoping we’ll see another bear. 

 

Sadly there are no big hemlocks or chestnuts to hug but we do find some big oaks.  Most of them are Northern Red Oaks and I am wondering where all the white oaks are since I have seen very few of them in the park which is unusual for this habitat.  And then I find one.  It’s my favorite tree and I love giving it a big hug.

 

White Oak                                                            Red Oak

 

White Oak Leaf                                                 Red Oak Leaf

 

 

We aren’t too far from the end of the hike when we come upon this ground bee nest notice.  I wonder how the person noticed them without danger in putting the note up. 

 

 

And there’s Ruby waiting for us in the not quite so full parking lot.  We’ve done 6.59 miles and 16,750 steps today.  Another good bear day.  I have only one hike remaining to complete all 101 miles of the AT through Shenandoah National Park.  It’s been a good way to spend our confined summer.