Pics for April 28th North America » United States » Virginia » Skyland By OD and CCs Long Walk May 10th 2007Rolling hills, tending to our toes, a stream crossing, and other more rock laden trails. [View Full Entry]

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OD's comments: First day since coming back on the trail we had a nice sunrise and no fog or rain. The trail was nice and we saw a number of northbounders. We also talked to one of the trail maintenance workers. These guys do one heck of a job. All the clean up work after this spring's ice storm will take a very long time. We only did 8.7 miles today and it is the first time in days my heels didn't get worse. I did a small modification to the heel of my boots and it worked. The band-aids stayed [View Full Entry]

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OD's comments: Rain all night with medium winds. Our record still holds, no real rain while walking. To date we have only had sprinkles during the day while walking. We started at Lewis Mountain Camp around 8AM in very thick fog around 3,300' heading south. We went over Bald Face Mountain, around Dean Mountain, Saddleback Mountain thru Swift Run Gap and off another map sheet. Lastly we climbed Hightop Mountain, 2.2miles up hill over the 3,587' summit. The day ended up with nice sun that allowed us to dry the wet tent. I am doing this a day after the fact [View Full Entry]

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OD’s comments: Beautiful. Today was another one for the good day book. The weather was just fine, not too hot or cold, a nice breeze when you needed it. The trail mileage for today was just over eight. We started at Skyland and finished at Big Meadows campground. The trail started on the south slope of Stony Man Mountain. Winding it's way around the 3,200 - 3,500 foot level to Timber Hollow, then up to Crescent Rock and Hawksbill Gap. We did not have to climb to the top of Hakwsbill Mountain thank God, but stayed around the 3,500' area. Hawksbill [View Full Entry]

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OD’s comments: Well the ride up to the trail was uneventful. We arrived at the Thorton Gap registration center before 7AM. There were no "Backcountry" permits in the box so I improvised my own. We opted not to return to Elkwallow and started in Thorton Gap. This was to save money on mileage for the shuttle and the park fee for his vehicle, a $20 savings. We have spent a bit much going home and back and need to save when we can. The 8 miles we skipped will be made up before we get done. The miles it will take [View Full Entry]

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