Sláinte to Snakes

6/13-14/09
Sláinte is Gaelic for "to your health" and I just wanted to toast my hikers (one of which was Irish) as well as the mellow, good- tempered snakes we watched along the trail. The Black Rat snake pictured above put on quite a show climbing this slippery metal sign post as we watched in awe. An incredible weekend all around!

Almost Alpine

Yesterday (June 9) Jeremy and I (Chad) finished a climb we began June 1. We were off the wall three days in the middle due to rain and work but spent the other six days in unbroken climbing. The climb begins in the valley roughly three quarters of a mile and maybe 13 hundred vertical feet from where the above picture was taken. The climb starts where the river cuts through the rock band which ascends the mountains on its flanks. We traversed up and over more than a mile of rock to complete what we believe to be the first ascent of the longer rock band. Located less than two hours from home in West VA, we figured, "Why go to Pakistan to climb a giant choss pile, when we've got a great one in our own back yard?"


Staying as close as possible to the middle of the wall we climbed the route "free" (without the aid of using our gear to hold our weight, except in the case of a fall) and rate it at around 5.9+. In 46 pitches (rope lengths between belays) we climbed from the start until the cliff band broke down in the woods near the mountain top and finished with one additional pitch up the mountain's highest pinnacle. With a very long average pitch length of around 150 ft we clocked in around 6900 diagonal feet of climbing. Despite a massive amount of loose rock, neither of us took the ever present, ever looming, huge swinging fall.


Mountain Laurel was in full bloom and we enjoyed it immensely except for the many times we had to climb through it. Mountain Laurel has a sweet, mellow fragrance, but you don't want your face buried in the stuff, it grows thick, sharp and creates a heck of a lot of rope drag. Seems to sort of want to push you off, or snap at inopportune moments as well, beautiful stuff really though.


The diciest of pitches were more akin to climbing a Jenga tower than rock with precariously stacked blocks and sharp rope cutter edges. On one such pitch I had three separate instances where a hold dislodged just as I began to trust it. Once, when I was very young and climbing trees at Grandpa's he praised how I almost always had three limbs firmly placed before moving the fourth; I've always remembered that.



I find that after my favorite vacations I most often come home tired, sore, and content with life. Join SMG for rock climbing or any of our other trips and I can just about guarantee two out of three of those, and that ain't bad!

The Long Way Round

Through a sea of lichen we tiptoe. Weaknesses in the rock put our strengths to the test and we pick our way through the choss, brush, and impeccable rock. Dull constant stress flares with the sharp crack of a hold breaking, puffs of smoke mark its ricochet path downward to the trees followed by the snapping branches, long rolling and finally the silence of rest, while from sunrise to set we move slowly, steadily over rock.

We hunker hanging anchored to the wall as fierce winds, thunder, hail, rain and lightning rage past our tiny shelter. We had just enough time to make it here for this temporary relief, but the background noise stress never abates. I guess this is what guides do for fun; it doesn't always feel like that.

Hungry for Life

The days are longer and we're packing them full. We have been out, about and keeping busy with hikes, climbs, and teaching. Still we thirst for more. Today Jeremy and I (Chad) embark on a huge climbing venture. The mountains have called, wish us luck, we will see you soon.

Great Flower

Lousy name

Lousewort

Go West Young Matt

There comes a time in many a Shenandoah Mountain Guides life where the we feel the the call of the west. Our beloved Shenandoahs begin to feel a tad small and a foray into the unknown beckons. Inevitably we must answer this call, to find, that on returning the fondness for home has grown stronger. Mountain guide Matt (pictured above yesterday, 5-17-09, atop Seneca Rocks) must now answer his call as he heads to Wyoming's Tetons for the summer. Be safe Matt, you will be missed.

Pinxter lined

Under a cloak of fog or in a light rain the trail is slick and you find yourself head down, focused on the footwork ahead. Then you are overcome by it. Like walking into your favorite bakery early in the morning, the smell envelopes you. Taking a deep breath and filling your lungs with the pleasing fragrance you coast to a stop. There you are, deep in the woods surrounded by a shrub tunnel of Pinxter Flower as the trail winds through. The bright and delicate pinks pop all around. You take a moment to capture the feeling and fragrance. For a time you pause to wonder why one of these Pink Azalea shrubs gets to wear so many corsages. Leaving the flower the smell lingers with you and the moment is saved for sometime later.

Unfurling

Spring is in the air and with much rain comes much mushrooms, mountain climbs and memories. This spring we've seen everything from Lady slipper Orchids to the elusive medicinal Birch Chaga hiding in the neon greens of the new forest, and as always the more you're out, the more you see.

On a Boat

Three days on a boat rain or shine, always a good time. Late night paddles in the fog by the full moon leave you with life time memories. Dodging storms and exploring shorelines is always a learning experience.

Wet Wonders

Witchhazel's spring yellow pops against the grey fog and boulders of upper Old Rag.


Showy Orchis blooms are just one of the many spring flowers loving these rains.


Just the basal leaves of a Wood Sorrel are picture worthy.


Many kinds of fungus are soaking up the rain along with the flowers. These ones have a fleshy skin that seems to hold a jello jigglier trapped inside.


I had the opportunity to go Morel hunting with dad and grandpa. Above, dad jukes his way across another high water stream crossing before the search can continue.

Now it's your turn to go on a hunt, we will start with a warm up then move on to the real thing.
Pictured below is a Scarlet Tanager, see how quick you can find the bright bird.


Too easy right.

Now on to the real thing.
Morel hunt.
The little picture is what you are looking for, time yourself and see how your hunt skills compare.



Find those culinary delights, 3, 2, 1, GO!



How did you do?
>10 seconds = Ouch, If it was a snake you'd be dead. There is a bright side though, no one will mind if you know about their secret Morel hunting spots. Although you won't be coming home with much you will be privy to the best patches around.

5 - 9 seconds = You might still come home with more ticks than tasty treats, but keep practicing, your on the trail.

2 - 4 seconds = Alright, alright, if you fry em up with a lot of butter you could break even on the calories expenditure v reward scale. Nice Job.

1 second or less = It's a Mericle! You should be hunting with the Big Fish himself, giving spare mushrooms to the needy and frying those things with breakfast, lunch, dinner, corn dogs, oreos and whatever else. Give us a call when you need a job!

High Angle Rescue

This year the Eastern High Angle Rescue Training (EHART) was held on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC from April 20 to 24. It was a great success! Here at SMG our full time staff were given the opportunity to be a part of the 09 training Cadre and to help instruct the 36 student class. We were happy to oblige, and proud to join this highly professional and exceptional group.



From the moment we arrived Sunday the 19th till the moment we departed Friday the 24th the days were packed with training, planning, teaching and evaluating. Breakfast usually began at 6:30 am and many days did not draw to a close until the finish of planning meetings or night operations post midnight! The above picture was taken during a night evolution on top of Grandfather Mtn where one of the stations was a rappel off the swinging bridge by headlamp. The wind gust were in the fifties, and this student can be seen to have spun several times in the few seconds it took to reach the ground.



Several nights there was a short window of free time after dinner and before evening meetings. While during the day it was purely training at beautiful climbing areas like the above pictured Table Rock, in the backs of minds there was plotting. Several instructors and students could not ignore the fact that if one was to just skip dinner the free time window could be expanded just long enough for some incredible rock climbs to fall beneath our feet!

In the end, we were all proud to see the extremely competent group of rescuers head back to their home parks. Lives will be saved, and we look forward to the rescue stories brought back next year.

As Good As It Gets

Three days in the incredible Shenandoah backcountry, wildflowers in bloom, snows followed by swims and just the right amount of grunt to make you sleep sound and wake a bit sore.

A raven swoops the Old Rag summit and as with most of nature, we watch in awe.

An Early Saxifrage blooming out of what appears to be pure rock next to a waterfall/slide.

Egrets and Easter

From a canoe or kayak slipping silent through a stream, river, or lake you never now what you will see. One week ago we watched as a fish flapped violently fifty feet above our heads, clutched in the talons of an Osprey and headed towards the chirping nest on the Thorton river. Then on Good Friday there was the treat of watching Egrets from the water of a local lake. The spring rains make local streams runable an who knows what we will see on the next trip.

The Egret standing in the tree on the top left corner is hard to see unless you click on the pic and blow it up.


Sunrise Easter morning on top of Red Oak Mtn.


A Yellow Adder's Tongue bloom seen on last Thursdays hike.

and More Training

Today two helicopters zipped in from Delaware and D.C. for some training with the Shenandoah High angle rescue crew. The weather was clear and cold, ice hung on the sides on the Skyline Drive and the wind whipped even before the aircraft arrived. Park service personnel and volunteers alike were battered by the cold wind chop throughout the training evolutions. Watching a loaded litter, basket, or jungle penetrator ascend into the hovering craft inspires confidence in the rescuers who deftly control them.

Spring has Sprung

Watch your step, there's some little guys out there!

Forecast

Sometimes a rainy day forecast is dead wrong!
I love those days.
So do the snails.

So does the Bloodroot.

Be careful with Lassie though, he's not so good at the rain swollen stream crossings and occasionally needs a rescue!

A Walk in the Fog

When it's so foggy you don't know if you're looking off a twenty foot cliff or a two hundred foot cliff... be careful, it might be a two hundred foot cliff! But if you've seen the boulders and had the urge to become a bird, well then you know you've been to the top of the world. Keep vigilant. It's a long slippery walk down.

Training, Training

This year we will again be working diligently with the Old Rag Mountain Steward program and the park service, to help out, educate, and keep folks safe on a place we hold dear.

Over the weekend this years ORMS volunteers gathered at the Pinnacles research station for some pre-season training. The high intensity teaching was lead by SOLO's school of wilderness medicine along with the NPS and quick words now and again from us. Saturday was misty, with likely accident weather on Old Rag. Sunday we basked in the intermittent sun and when it was all over and the lights dimmed, a few SMG guides worked high angle rescue scenarios till the light was no more.

Old Rag, as seen from the Skyline Drive.

If they are blooming, they will come.

The round-lobed Liverleaf is up! It's spring, and soon the people will come, but they don't seem to be out much yet.  Yesterday, 3-26, was a rainy day for a hike with a travel writer for the San Francisco Chronicle and we didn't see another hiker.  It was yet another great day which felt nothing like work but rather a walk in the woods with an old climbing buddy.  We did notice some of these spring bloomers alongside the trail, but it was too wet to pull out the camera. This picture was taken a few days ago on Sunday the 22nd's guided hike. 

?

If your first time rock climbing looked like this, and the weather was perfect, would you choose to go again? Where do you go when you start at the top? Do you just call it quits, or do you dig a little deeper, and risk getting buried? 

Falling Waters

It's amazing how much ice a few cold days can bring to Whiteoak Canyon. Dad, the dog and I took the opportunity to check it out and were not disappointed. Here, the water hits an ice speed bump on its cascading path.

Hardy Mountain Life

Another rainy winter day on Old Rag leaves me with wet feet and sore from carrying a pack full of useless climbing gear. Warming up for the coming season I guess. It was good to see Jr. the dog, guardian of the mountain, high at his summit. I think he, like many animals before will care about this mountain far more than any of us ever will. Jr. must be out for his morning constitutional from his home at the mountain base or maybe he's up for the day waiting for some hikers to walk down in the dark. I know I appreciated his company the last time he accompanied me down the dark trail.



Had to take notice of some pretty diverse mountain moss while looking for a little dry rock to climb.

On the Lookout

With the leaves down we are out, about, and on the lookout. Lately we've been looking for fresh ice and boulders to climb but mostly we are looking for crazy trees. Recently there's been a few neat new spots, far off the trail we found another old overgrown cemetery on Old Rag, and a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) camp near Hawksbill gap. Can't seem to get lucky and find any crazy trees though. Oh well, maybe next time.

Toppin the T-bird

SMG guide Jeremy looks on, as his wife Christina takes to the challenge of the last vertical step of the Thunderbird smear.