.August 29, 2006 Lynn started today's hike with me and took this picture.
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We went by the Conservation and Research Center of National Zoological Park. It was fenced off. Lynn says that this is where they are breeding the dinosaurs for the next Jurassic Park movie. (As if this little fence would keep a dinasour in.)
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After this, Lynn turned back. I made the long hike up to High Knob although the trail doesn't go over the summit of the mountain. The trail had excellent footing. Here's a picture of a section of the smooth trail.
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This is the furthest south I have been on the AT so far. The southern half isn't supposed to be as rocky as the northern half. I would guess I had about 75% smooth trails today. I hope I get many more miles of smooth trails. We'll see.
The Denton Shelter was only a hundred feet or so off the trail so I checked it out. It was a very nice shelter with a deck and seating. It also had a picnic table with a roof over it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's a close up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Up and over a stile.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Across an open field.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Being somewhat of a Civil War buff I enjoyed reading this sign. Mosby kept his force small and mobile giving him the name "The Gray Ghost".
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I entered the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Area. I saw several deer again today. Lots of spiderwebs. I was hoping to find a hiker coming from the other directions so that they cleared the cobwebs.
Over the bridge...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ... and under the overpass. (Route 66)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ After the overpass there was an AT parking lot. It had an RV parked in it. The RV was running. My guess is the air conditioner was running. On this extremely hot day I was tempted to invite myself in. I had to settle for sitting in the shade at this picnic table.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Most of the creeks are dried up in Virginia right now. The creek under this bridge was the only water source that I saw today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The Manassas Gap shelter was only a minute or two off the trail.
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There wasn't much to see until another 5 miles when I came to the side trail for Dicks Dome Shelter. This looked a little further off the trail than the other two that I checked out today so I skipped it.
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I have seen dozens of these little creatures today. They look like worms but have about 100 legs like a centepede. Anybody know?
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I entered the edge of Sky Meadows State Park where I found this bench to take a rest.
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My 3-liter water bladder ran dry so I emptied one of my two 16 ounce reserve bottles into it. I drank nearly a gallon of water while on the trail today. Did I mention it was hot today? I only caught the corner of this park but it looks like there are plenty of hiking trails in the area. Closing in on Ashby Gap, my destination for today.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I imagine this section of trail has to get mowed regularly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The next mile or so was the best part of the trail today.
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I met Lynn coming from the other direction. I hadn't seen any hikers since she dropped me off. In fact the 55 miles between Route 522 near Front Royal and Harpers Ferry, I only saw 4 hikers. It has been really, really hot. My guess is that many in this area would rather hike just south of here at Shenandoah National Park. That is where I head tomorrow. We reached the busy highway at Ashby Gap. There were some beautiful flowers in the median. I took this peaceful picture of Lynn as cars zoomed by ahead of us and behind us at 65 mph.
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This was a long, long day and I wasn't quite done yet. The parking lot is still a few minutes away. We crossed the highway and headed back into the woods. It was only about a 5 minute climb but it was steep and I was tired. The trail forked and I took the short blue blazed trail back to the parking lot.
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