Rose River FR circuit

I have to admit that I failed in my quest to hike all "500" miles of "trails" in Shenandoah National Park in 2012.  I intend to finish them up just as soon as I can in 2013.  It looks, though, as if we might actually get a winter this year so this may take awhile.

I now have a greater affection for hiking fire roads in the winter.  Because Skyline Drive was closed due to snow and ice, yesterday I drove to Syria, VA, parked at the end of VA 670, and hiked up the Rose River Fire Road.  I got a fairly late start (10:20) because I wasn't sure I wanted to go out hiking so I didn't get up at the crack of dawn.  The day was quite cold.  I'd say it was just about freezing when I started and maybe mid- to upper-thirties when I finished.  As the day went on the sun came out more and more.  There was little wind, luckily.  I used my new overboots (Neos) over my trail runners which kept my feet warmer and dryer.  I forgot my orthotics but my feet were fine anyway. 

The Rose River is really lovely, especially in winter. 

Rose River from RR Fire Road

Although there had been little snow on the ground approaching the trailhead, it started accumulating on the dirt road that began just outside Syria.  The Rose River Fire Road goes gently uphill.  There was about 2-3 inches of snow with a crust on top and some icy patches.  Another party (or two) had walked my route in the snow (probably on New Years Day) and it was clear that their footsteps had melted and refrozen, at least at the bottom of the road.  I love hiking in winter where you can see where other hikers have gone.   It makes me feel as if they're along on my hike too. 

As the road rose, the temperature dipped (even though the sun peeked out from behind the clouds occasionally) and by the top of the FR, where I took the Stony Mt. Trail, I was walking on top of the snowpack and hardly leaving footprints.  The Stony Mt. Trail continues going up but my predecessors had broken up the snowpack some so that I could get a good footing.

I stopped to eat a sandwich at around 12:50 when I reached the Rapidan Fire Road.  The RFR was absolutely gorgeous!  Perfect for XC skiing or sledding.

There were no icy spots and I only rarely broke through the crust.  It was delightful to walk on top of the grainy surface.  I rapidly made it to the junction with the Upper Dark Hollow Trail and toyed with going out and back 2 miles on the Rapidan Fire Road to the Park Boundary.  But I decided against it because I figured it would get me back to the car after 5 pm.  As it turned out, it was probably a good decision because the Upper Dark Hollow Trail was treacherous.  No sooner had I started down the trail than I slipped and fell.  The surface was a slick and it was hard to break through the crust.  Using a combination of stamping and sliding on my rear end I slowly made my way along the trail.  At one point the trail becomes more like a road and some giant vehicle had come in as far as a downed tree, digging up mud and snow (which subsequently froze).

It was pretty hard finding a sure footing for that stretch.  Then, when the trail left the road to descend  steeply, there were large stretches of hard icy crust and I had to slide down but I was worried about sliding off the trail into the woods.  As it was, I had only my convertible pants on without any long winter underwear underneath.  So my rear end was getting frozen.  Note to file:  bring crampons/creepers/microspikes plus rain pants on winter hikes.  It was a pretty nerve wracking stretch.  Finally, after a few stream crossings, I made it back to the Rose River Fire Road which by now was fairly soft and slippery.  It had taken me 1:20 to go just 2.2 miles!  The Fire Road was dotted with wet icy spots which made the walk out adventuresome.  Plus there were a number of downed trees along the way.  I made it to the car by 3:20.

Total mileage for the day:  10 (8.7 unique miles); 2 new trails completed.