Three Ridges Loop
Three Ridges Peak, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.
I went ahead and backpacked the 13-mile loop in the Three Ridges Wilderness this weekend. Erin couldn't join me, so instead I took Shadow, and she had a blast. Saturday, I left Hagerstown for a two and a half hour drive down to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Parking at the trailhead was overflowing, so I drove a half mile up the AT and parked at one of the overlooks. The trail was much more crowded than I expected it to be, even for a holiday weekend.
My first checkpoint was the Maupin Fields Shelter, two miles into the hike after hopping over a (relatively) small peak. I made it to the shelter around 3:00 and took off my pack for a snack, a water re-fill, and a pack adjustment. We hung out at the shelter for about an hour debating whether or not to continue. In the end, I decided to go ahead and make the 5.8 mile trek up and over the mountain to the next shelter. There would be about 1000 feet of elevation gain followed by 2000 feet of descent. About 3/4 of the way up, the trail opened up onto a rocky overlook with the most gorgeous view over the valley and across the way looking upon The Priest. It was a magnificent place to snack and hydrate.
The summit of the mountain, just shy of 4000 feet, is flat and wooded. There are several nice campsites, but no water up there, and I had planned this trip around carrying minimal water, so down we went to get to the next shelter. On the way down, we stopped at Chimney Rock for another view from a different perspective. This time, it was reaching 7:00, but with no clouds in the sky, the sunset wasn't going to be vivid and spectacular, so our stop was short enough to photograph the view and get a snack. We made it into camp by 9:00, just as it was getting too dark to see without a headlamp. All the tent sites were taken up, but I managed to find a place to set up camp.
Harpers Creek Shelter is nestled into a little mountain hollow with a nice cascading stream flowing by. The sound of the water was as refreshing as it tasted. Unfortunately, I managed to lose my two nalgene water bottles the next morning while everyone was packing up. After breakfast, I brought all my dishes back to my tent, leaving my bottles at the picnic table in front of the shelter. I should have gone back for them, but instead Shadow and I crawled into the tent and took a morning nap. When I awoke, they were gone as I had feared. Incidentally, they were not stolen. Another hiker thought they were left behind by a couple staying in the shelter, and took the bottles to bring to them as he caught up with them on the trail. I was hoping to see the couple at the next shelter, but they did not stop and stay. So Sunday's hike, being only 4 miles, I drank from Shadow's bladders and filled up my Dromedary bag once we got to camp. Its a minor inconvenience, but one of those bottles was ready for retirement, and I have two unused bottles still ready to be broken in. Luckily I had my new bladder with me.
Speaking of Sunday's hike, it was going to be a nice easy 4-mile stroll up 1000 feet back to the Maupin Fields Shelter. The mountain said otherwise. The trail started off going upward when the Mau-Har trail broke off from the AT. It continued to climb another half mile or so, before sharply plummeting with steep switchbacks toward the creek. Down below were a series of waterfalls, the largest of which didn't have access to the bottom. The upper falls were still nice and a few of the pools looked like a good place to swim if the water were a bit warmer. We stopped and ate lunch and I photographed the falls.
From there, the trail and the stream rose up the steep slopes of the mountain, and then I found out that the falls I had stopped at weren't the "official" falls on the map. Indeed, as I kept climbing, there was another waterfall with a swimming hole below it. So we stopped for a second lunch and a photo shoot. The climb, for all its hard work, was well worth the beauty. The bank of the stream was covered in blooming Rhododendrons. I managed to catch some pink Trillium in bloom along with many a Spiderwort and Fire Pink.
Once we got above the falls, the trail flattened out considerably and our pace quickened. There was one last hurrah in the last half mile before the shelter, but even that hill was on smooth trail. We reached the shelter at 3:00, and I debated just heading back to the car, but the experience was not about how far we hiked, but how much time we spent in the woods.
The shelter was crowded once again, but I claimed a tent spot before all were full. Most of the sites were full of large groups. I hung out with a group of through hikers who slept in the shelter itself. They were all northbounders except for a group of college kids doing a southbound section hike. They were in for the horrendous climb up The Priest today. Its always nice to run into through hikers, but I do wish there weren't so many weekenders up there.
It felt good to have the afternoon to just relax at camp and enjoy life. Shadow was exhausted and even too tired to play frisbee with me. We slept hard last night and woke up rather early. For a through hiker, you're usually up and on the trail again by 6 or 6:30. For me, its usually by 10:30 or 11. This morning, we were packed up and hiking out before 9:00. It was only two miles back to the car with that little bit of uphill followed by the same amount of down, but I wanted to beat the heat and I wanted to get back to Hagerstown before Erin left for work.
And so we made it home with time to spare. Had today not been so hazy, I may have spent some time shooting the last 6 frames on my roll of film at some of the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks. I'll try and finish them off before we head to Zion.
Go here for a detailed analysis and map of the hike.