New Years Day in Minnesota was quite relaxing. I went to see the new movie Valkyrie, which was very good. Then we went back to the Luce Line trail for a 5 mile hike. This evening I re-strung the banjo and watched some TV. This was a good trip, lots of snow, lots to do. Below is our truck parked on Lake Minnetonka with all our ice fishing gear sprawled about.
Today we took the dog hiking on the Luce Line Trail. We walked about 5 miles on the trail. The greatest obstacle of this undertaking was the temperature. The temperature was zero when we got started. (FYI:Minnesota tends to be cold in the winter) The temperature eventually warmed up to two degrees. The below pic was taken at the conclusion of the hike, and yes that is ice on my head and face.
Monday I spent the day ice fishing on Lake Minnetonka. It was cold and windy but we spent most of our time inside our ice house. We caught our limit of croppies today and have a fish fry planned for tomorrow. The snow has started to fall here, 6 inches is forecast for the overnight. The snow just seems to pile up around here. I’m sure we will get back out on the lake later in the week.
I was back on the trail Saturday. We started at West Virginia Route 7 and moved North down through the valley, crossing the Shenandoah River, through Harper’s Ferry, and crossing the Potomac River into Maryland. We also hiked 3 miles down the C&O Canal. We finished section 1 of West Virginia and Section 7 of Maryland. We did 9.6 miles today in 3 hours 12 minutes. Re will resume the trail after New Year’s when the weather is expected to be much colder.
Saturday we continued our trek North on the Appalachian Trail. As always we started where we left off, Virginia Route 7. Today’s hike was 13.5 miles through a very rugged section of the trail. Most of this section is along the ridge separating the Eastern panhandle of West Virginia from Virginia. The weather was clear and cool and provided great views of these mountains. Next week we arrive in Harper’s Ferry, WV.
Saturday morning I hiked Virginia Section 3 of the Appalachian Trail. This section of the Trail seesaws in and out of a succession of hollows and over numerous side ridges, making this probably the most difficult section that I plan to hike this winter. This section is often referred to as “The Roller Coaster.” The distance of this hike was 14.1 miles with elevation changes of greater than 600 feet 6 different times. I started at U.S. 50 and hiked North to Va Rt. 7. Next Saturday we make it to West Virginia RT. 9.
Saturday morning I hiked The Appalachian Train from I-66 near Linden North to U.S. Rt. 50. The hike was more than twelve miles and took over 4 hours. The toughest part was the first section, which took us up 800 feet. No time to warm up on this hike. It took an hour and a half to reach the top. The remainder was quite tame in comparison. This section of the trail took us through Sky Meadows State Park. I can imagine how nice this park can be in the summer months. Today is was cold and very windy in Big Meadows. Next weekend we are back on the trail, we will resume where we left off and finish at Route 7. 25 miles down of our 175 mile trek to Duncannon Pennsylvania.
Saturday afternoon I spent some quality time on the Appalachian Trail. We started south of Front Royal, Virginia and marched nearly 12 miles north to Linden, Virginia. The mountains of Western Virginia are beautiful this time of year. The temperatures were about 20 degrees at the start and never warmed up much. The climb up the first hill was over 1000 feet. (This why I’m sitting on a downed tree) The second hill was merely 500 feet and seemed easy. The Shenandoah Mountains lie just to the west of the trail and are truly something to see.
I spent last weekend camping, canoeing and fishing around Elk Neck State Park Maryland. The weather was so-so and the fishing was slow but it’s always good to get out there.
The keg of Spaten and the watermellon really finish off this picture nicely.
