We hiked this section on July 8, 2011 during the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s 2011 Biennial conference.
Our hike leader was Kent from TEHCC and Python was the sweep today. We were joined by the Baltimore trio (Dave, Mary, Henry), Nancy, Melody, Joyce, Aneda, Lanier, George, Holt, and a nice guy from Gaithersburg.
Kent said there was a 60 percent chance of rain today and that we would stop every so often to make everyone was okay.
We drove all the cars to the South Fork of the Houlston and left three cars there (very small parking area). Then we all drove to Mt. Rogers Headquarters and parked outside the park because they close the gate at 4 pm.
We started hiking just before 10 am and stopped for a group shot at the Partnership shelter. The shower is very roomy and has lots of headroom.
The trail was very gentle and we made great time for the first hour – I think we hiked almost 3 miles.
We took a break after ascending and people got to sit down for a bit. Python offered chocolate to everyone – something she learned from the Allentown hiking club.
We crossed 601 about 11:45 am and decided to hike further to look for a good lunch spot. Kent found a campsite for lunch as we were ascending up a mountain. We had a leisurely lunch and once again Python offered up the chocolate to the group.
After lunch we had a couple of short ups but the rest was either downhill or flat. We saw lots of black cohosh which were white.
We passed a large and a small campsite to the west of the trail before going over an intermittent stream.
We were amazed that some of the rhododendrons were still in bloom.
We have officially hiked 700 miles of the AT! Woo hoo!
