AT bits plus Crusher Ridge

Last week I couldn't hike due to a trip to visit my dad in Florida and other demands.

Yesterday I hiked in Central District (at last Skyline Drive opened up!).  Several chunks of the AT plus the wonderful Crusher Ridge Trail.  It was a sunny cold day (well below freezing at 9 AM) with a steady wind blowing.  The trails were a combination of bare dirt, crusty snow, and patches of ice where prior footsteps had filled in with water and frozen.  Some parts of the trail were a bit treacherous but it was mostly good walking. 

I got an early start at Jewell Hollow Overlook and hiked north on the AT, stopping for a pitstop at the very nice Byrd's Nest 3 facility. Then hiked on ostensibly as far as Meadow Spring Trail.  I'm not sure how I did it, but I missed the trail junction.  A short while later I said, "wow, that looks like Mary's Rock ... that must be a common geological formation along here."  Wrong.  There's only one Mary's Rock.  I didn't believe it until I saw the post marking the side trail to Mary's Rock. 

Trail between Meadow Spring and Mary's Rock frozen solid

The trail was really icy, especially on the section I didn't need to hike (natch!).  Because I was pressed for time, I didn't go out to the rock but the views to the west were plenty spectacular anyway.

I stopped briefly at the Byrd's Nest 3 hut to sign the log book and skedaddle.

Then I drove down to the parking lot for Corbin Cabin Cutoff and hiked south on the AT to the Crusher Ridge Trail.  There was a fair amount of snow on the AT at this point (its being in the shade and on the western side of the ridge) but once I hit the Crusher Ridge Trail, there was little snow.  While the leaves were icy, there were no traction problems.  The Crusher Ridge Trail was a pleasant surprise.  It gently descends into the valley with lots of views west to a lovely lake (Lake Arrowhead Park?) and farms.

Tulip Tree Cabin

When I got to the SNP boundary there was a sign for the Tulip Tree Cabin.  I was curious about the cabin because I'd read in the Potomac Appalachian that is was built in a traditional design using traditional tools (by traditional volunteers) so I walked the 0.3 miles over to check it out.  It is, in fact, a lovely 2-room cabin with an outdoor fireplace and picnic table.  Nearby the cabin were a few discards that might have been used in construction.

After rejoining the trail, I sauntered back up the trail which is never steep because it used to be a road.
When I returned to the car, I had just a little bit of time left so I filled in another short blank in my AT sections.  I parked at Stony Man parking lot and hiked through the Skyland Complex down to the stables and back.

At this point in my SNAP 500 quest I have no loops left.  Every time I hike a trail or section, I have to hike back and forth, except for one 17 mile section of AT for which I'll do a car shuttle with a hiking partner. 

I discovered an error in my mileage due to a decimal point placement so my total mileage to date is only 439.  Yesterday's total mileage was 15.2 of which only 6.7 miles and one additional trail counts toward the SNAP500.