Due to a forecast of overnight and morning storms, we planned a short afternoon jaunt of just 3.9 miles for our third day of day hiking the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (AT) in Shenandoah National Park. We began at Sawmill Run Overlook and stopped at the Wildcat Ridge parking area. Besides the 3.9 miles on the AT, we hiked 0.1 mile from the trail junction up the Wildcat Ridge trail to the parking area on Skyline Drive for a total hike of 4.0 miles.
The hike from Sawmill Run Overlook to Turk Gap is only 1.6 miles and has an average grade of about 5%. The highest point on this part of the AT is near the junction with the Turk Mountain Trail about ¼ mile from the Turk Gap end of the trail segment. There were several trees down across the trail, but only one was high enough to impede our progress in mid-April 2016.
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| Topographic map with GPS route |
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| Elevation profile |
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| View from Sawmill Run Overlook |
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| The AT crosses Skyline Drive a few yards north of the overlook |
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| Deceptive descent from the roadside... |
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| ...leads to the first of several ascents |
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| First blooms we've seen other than wildflowers |
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| One of several downed trees on this section of the trail |
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| This one was too high to walk over and too low to walk under, so we straddled our way across |
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| Lots of leaf litter in the dense forest of small trees |
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| Another white blaze marks the trail |
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| Moss covered rocks line the trail |
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| Hand-made gravel reduces erosion on this hill |
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| Beautiful day for a hike |
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| This part of the forest has fewer, larger trees |
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| More open forest |
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| Post marks the junction with the Turk Mountain Trail to the left |
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| A level, wide, dry dirt surface makes a great trail |
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| Smaller trees abound as we descend to the gap |
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| The trail climbs up to the road at Turk Gap |
A Shenandoah National Park entry fee of $20 per vehicle, $15 per motorcycle or $10 per person is valid for seven consecutive days. Other fee payment options include the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands passes including the Annual Pass ($80), Senior Pass ($10 for lifetime), Access Pass (free with documented disability) and Military Annual Pass (free for active duty personnel).
The Shenandoah National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm.
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail website is https://www.nps.gov/appa/index.htm.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy website is http://www.appalachiantrail.org/.
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