That which keeps you "young"...

13 mile bike ride in Rockbridge County on back country roads with hills I would not have been able to climb 6 months ago, 40 miles from home, 11:30pm and have to leave for work next morning by 5am, invited to go check out a cave across the river and up a 60 foot 45+ degree hill by two "20-something friends, walk back at least 90 feet into cave then climb up 10 feet to second level, back another 50-60 feet before the headroom gets below 2 feet high, back out and across the river back to the truck.

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These are the things that keep you young...

. Thank you Walter, Suzanna, and Chris...

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"Hite Hollow" Augusta Springs Fire...

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I was headed out to the shooting range in Augusta Springs located in the area "Hite Hollow" at which time we came along units from the Dept of Forestry and local fire fighting units headed the same way...

Upon arrival to the "Rifle Range" we found the above units fighting a brush fire on the hill behind the range. Estimated the wind at 5 to 10 knts at times resulting in several flare-ups and increased activity. Rifle and Pistol ranges were closed due to the activity of fighting the fire but we were allowed to watch the fire fighting efforts...

After stopping in Craigsville to observe some of the local color there we noted the use of at least one helicoptor dropping water on the active "Hot-Spots"...

Devil's Marbleyard VA...

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Hiked up to Devil's Marbleyard to have a look around for the first time this year. It is a great hike before the trees block your view from the trail. Once you get there you will find an eight acre field of large boulders and no trees or vegetation....

Directions and great write up available at Hiking Upwards...

William H. Howard, Company F, 44th VA. INF, C.S.A.

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Back during the Spring I did a hike up in Shenandoah National Park at Jones Run Falls \ Doyles Falls and came upon a grave marker for a Confederate soldier in the area. I did a original post about this hike and mentioned this marker in the description. Since then a friend who is obviously a fan and student of history has provided this information...

William Howard and Browns Gap. For many years Browns Gap was one of the principal routes for taking farm produce from the Shenandoah Valley to Richmond. Browns Gap and the turnpike were used briefly during the Civil War. On May 2, 1862, at the beginning of his Valley Campaign, Stonewall Jackson marched his entire army through Browns Gap. From June 9 to June 12, after the Battle of Port Republic at the end of the Valley Campaign, Jackson's army camped in and near Browns Gap. On September 25, 1864, General Jubal Early and his army, after their defeat at Winchester, fortified themselves here and fought off Sheridan's attacks for two days while awaiting reinforcements. Today Browns Gap Turnpike is a SNP fire road.

The grave marker along Browns Gap fire road notes William H. Howard, Company F, 44th VA. INF, C.S.A. One of the two Fluvanna infantry companies which enlisted in the spring of 1861, the "Fluvanna Hornets", had formed at Kent's Store on May 20 under Captain Thomas K. Wiesinger.The Fluvanna Hornets would be the name of Company F. Of the 88 men which enlisted in Company F, 28 would die before the war ended.

The roster shows that there were three Howard brothers in company F:

Howard, John T.; Private *

Howard, Napoleon B.;

PrivateHoward, William W.; Private *

*= died during war.

According to the White House of the Confederacy, both William and John both suffered from Typhoid fever in the camp. Typhoid is a bacterial dysentery, Salmonella thyphosa, which from poor sanitary conditions can lead to dehydration and death. It is unclear why William is buried along the Browns Gap fire trail. Records shown that he enlisted June 12, by August he was sick at camp, and died at Camp Allegheny on Oct 1, 1861. Possibly he was being transported home to Fluvanna and was buried along the way. The middle initial “H” is likely an error from poor records, as a sloppy “W” may look like a sloppy “H”. The grave headstone does not have a date, but lists only Company F, 44th Infantry, CSA. His brother John died 1 Aug 1861 at Monterey, but his other brother Napoleon survived and was promoted to Sergeant, only to be later taken as a prisoner of war at Gettysburg.

Sharp Top Mountain ~ B-25 Bomber Wrecksite ~

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A few weeks back I read about a plane wreck on the mountain located near my house and just off an Appalachian Trail section that I hike often. A little internet research and numerous e-mails later I was trusted with the location of the wreck and posted photos and description of the incident and wreck site…

While conducting research on this wreck site I found information about another airplane wreck located on Sharp Top Mountain near Bedford Virginia. I have also hiked this area several times and was able to pinpoint the wreck site this week and took these photos…

This plane was a B-25 Bomber and went down in 1943 during a training mission. Following are pieces of information taken from numerous articles I have found on this incident with links provided...

"On Feb. 2, 1943, a B-25 bomber on a training mission out of South Carolina crashed into the southeast flank of Sharp Top Mountain, killing all five servicemen aboard. The cause of the crash is still somewhat of an enigma, as a war-stressed military could not devote many resources to solving the mystery of the crash. Nor, did it have the time or inclination to remove the wreckage from the steep mountainside at 3,000 feet elevation. Most of it remains to this day, a true-to-life memorial to World War II sacrifice amid the Blue Ridge grandeur."

"The Mitchell bomber (the B-25 design was called the Mitchell in honor of a once maverick Air Force General) looked sleek and deadly. It was a versatile design which served in every front of the war. No stranger to action, the B-25 was personally selected by Jimmy Doolittle for his famed raid on Tokyo, Japan from the pitching deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet. It flew as if on rails and was fairly forgiving, but just like any big warbird, it had to be flown precisely. From nose to tail, it measured out just under 53 feet. It stood an imposing 16 feet and four inches high. Each wing held a powerful wright R-2600 engine. Perhaps its most distinctive feature was its twin boom tail. Grossing out at 35,000 pounds, the B-25 could hit 272 miles per hour when called upon to do so."

"On the evening of February 2, 1943 the war landed rudely on our doorstep. At approximately 9 p.m. Lt. Pitt's B-25 pierced the darkness over Bedford. Heading from the south, the distinctive silhouette of his bomber filled the sky. It was illuminated by its exterior marking beacons, and landing lights imaging forward from the wings. The interior lights were also all on. The greenhouse nose canopy was a radiant ball of light in the surrounding darkness. To witnesses on the ground, the massive wright engines sounded out of synchronization. The plane was in trouble. The pilots wheeled their long bomber over our town at a low altitude just skirting over the trees. Visibility in the higher elevations, the Peaks of Otter, was obscured by dense fog. The plane continued to circle and flew onward in a northeasterly direction. Altitude was everything. An extra 500 feet would have meant a safe passage across the Blue Ridge Mountains, but it was not to be. The plane did not clear the mountain. Tree tops were severed by the propellers. A violent impact followed. Unyielding, Sharp Top claimed its first casualties from the air. "

Both of these articles are very good and describe the incident in detail. This piece of history has been written about numerous times over the past 65 years and in fact one of the articles tells how there was no monument to the fallen at the time of writing. Below is the memorial that I found at the wrecksite...

As described in one of the articles the exact location of the wrecksite is not provided due to the damage and scavenging that has taken place over the years. Below is an example of some of this damage to the wrecksite and resting place...

Northern Walkingstick ~Diapheromera femorata~

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From one of the better movies released over the past few years, remember the turning point of the movie and what it involved?

While hiking the Appalachian trail the other day I came upon a sign near the Humpback area parking lot and noticed the object above located near the arrow in the sign...

If you know the movie you know what this is...

Northern Walkingstick Diapheromera femorata

Stick insects of the order Phasmida (= Phasmatodea) are
intriguing for a variety of reasons. Most obviously, their uncanny
resemblance to the vegetation upon which they live as
adults is among the most impressive examples of mimicry
in the animal kingdom. In some species (e.g., Extatosoma
tiaratum) the eggs resemble plant seeds that ants carry into
their nests (where they are afforded protection from predators),
and which then hatch into nymphs that are mimics of
their hymenopteran hosts. The Phasmida also contains the
largest (or at least the longest, at over 36 cm) insect in the
world, Pharnacia kirbyi. Many species undergo parthenogenetic
reproduction, which makes them interesting from the
standpoint of reproductive and developmental biology.

St. Mary's Wilderness "Fire Effect" Recovery...

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Hiked up to Big Spy Mountain to check on the recovery of the area after the St. Mary's Wilderness Fire back on March 25th~30th...

It is obvious that there will be no leaves on the trees in this "fire effect" area and this results in more sunlight reaching the forest floor promoting the growth of new cover.

In prior posts about this area I referred to the results from this fire as "Damage" and since have received email from a biologist who suggested that this "damage" be viewed to as "Fire Effect" instead. It is obvious that the forest eco-system is already at work in repairing the effects of the fire...

The Table Mountain Pine Pinus pungens Lamb is found along the steep rocky slopes and ridges of both Big Spy and Little Spy mountain and is pretty much only found in this mountain range all the way down to and including North Carolina.

Plane Wreck on Humpback Mountain... T-28 Trainer...

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Last week, while talking politics with friends & eating shrimp at the local pub, I picked up a copy of the Nelson County Life magazine and read an article about a lost T-28 Trainer on Humpback Mountain. As I read the article I found it interesting where the wreck is located and so close to the Appalachian Trail that I have hiked numerous times in that area.




The article described information researched by Henri Weems of Nellysford where he found that the plane wreck occurred in 1964 during a training flight. It appears it was a training flight with two Marine colonels flying from Andrews Air Force base to Memphis, Tennessee and the T-28 developed engine problems. Both Colonels bailed out when the engine began to fail and lost oil pressure 15 minutes east of their checkpoint in Montebello. Both Colonels survived while the plane crashed on the eastern side of Humpback mountain. The article also described confusion with another plane wreck in the area of Humpback Rocks which I have already done a post here on Rightside at Dobie Mountain Wreck. It turns out that these wreck near Dobie Mountain was also in 1963 but was a civilian Beechcraft Bonanza where the three men aboard perished.


After corresponding with Mr. Weems by email he provided me with a website that provides information on both military and civilian wrecks. http://wreckchasing.com/ This site also provides information on several other plane wrecks along our mountain range and future hikes are already in the planning.

Upon approaching the wrecksite area I came along members of Scout Troop #735 out of Glen Allen Virginia who were hiking the Appalachian Trail. Knowing that I was in the general area and after talking with the Troop leader, it was decided to turn the "Scouts" loose on a search pattern. It took little time for the Scouts to locate the wreckage on the side of the mountain....

Before hiking up to the T-28 site I asked around the county here for information from any of the “Old-timers” at the local 7-Eleven and heard stories of several other wrecks over the years.

T-28 Trainer

Max Range 1,706 km / 1,060 miles

Dimensions: span 12.22 m / 40 ft 1 inlength 10.06 m / 33ft 0 inheight 3.86 m / 12 ft 8 in

Weight: empty 2,914 kg / 6,424 lbmaximum take-off 3,856 kg / 8,500 lb

Powerplant: one 1063-kW (1,425-hp) Wright R-1820-86 Cyclone radial piston engine

Armament: none; the T-28D features provision for up to 544 kg (1,200 Ib) of disposable stores, including Minigun pods, rocket-launcher pods and light bombs, carried on six external hardpoints.

Update   Unfortunately this site has been PICKED over by people who have taken instead of preserved the site. I hiked it a few weeks ago and sad how some people have taken items and left graffiti in their place.... Almost sorry I posted this.....

Do we really need concealed weapons in State Parks?... YES!!!

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The Department of the Interior has opened a 60 day comment period for people to comment on allowing persons with valid Concealed Weapons Permits to carry concealed weapons within National Parks and wildlife refuges... The vast majority of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia runs through National Forest areas and some areas designated as Wilderness....

Interior Department Opens Public Comment Period on Proposed Park and Refuge Firearm Regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced the beginning of a 60-day public comment period on updates to regulations regarding the carrying of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. The proposed update to existing regulations would allow an individual to carry a concealed weapon in national parks and wildlife refuges if, and only if, the individual is permitted to carry a concealed weapon and is authorized to do so on similar state lands in the state in which the national park or refuge is located. The proposed update is available in the Federal Register and on http://www.doi.gov/

I have almost completed the entire Virginia section of the Appalachian Trail and have met many different people along the trail and in shelters. The vast majority have been day hikers and thru-hikers and interested in enjoying the natural resources provided and protected by the Department of the Interior. I have also assisted on mountain rescue\first aid assists on the trail and have had the opportunity to talk with several Rangers and National Forest personnel. While the majority of incidents discussed were of positive nature, they have been reports of unfortunate incidents along the trail as well. Following is a report of a incident that just took place this past weekend.

Randall Lee Smith, who pleaded guilty to the 1981 murders of two hikers on the Appalachian Trail, is in custody after a double shooting Tuesday night just a few miles from the site of the previous crime.

The shooting occurred between Giles and Bland counties around the Dismal Creek area, authorities said.Virginia State Police apprehended Randall Lee Smith after he crashed a black 2000 Ford Ranger pickup truck that matched the description of one possibly involved in the shooting, said Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Conroy.
Sheila and Melissa Miller, sisters who helped the injured fishermen call 911, identified the victims as Sean Farmer of Tazewell, who was shot in the chest and face, and Scott Johnston of Bluefield, Va., who was shot three times in the neck. Johnston is in serious but stable condition, said Carilion hospital spokesman Eric Earnhart.

Some people have commented against allowing persons with valid Concealed Weapons Permits to carry concealed firearms within the parks. They feel this will contribute to incidents and the parks are not an appropriate place for guns to be carried. The fact is that by allowing valid CWP holders to carry "Concealed" weapons they will not be seen by the general public and will also put that doubt in the mind of the shooter described above. The simple fact of allowing Concealed weapons within the parks will deter criminals like the above from taking action without knowing who else in the crowd might be armed. Imagine if valid concealed weapon permit holders were allowed to carry at Virginia Tech last year before that incident happened? The fact is that criminals DO NOT obey gun laws and the private citizen, with a valid concealed weapons permit should be allowed to protect himself, his family, and other innocent bystanders in public...

As of yet security precautions as shown in the above photo is not needed...