Mutton Top Cabin
“What an awesome weekend!!!
Friday Night HighMaintenance, Kermit, myself and another member of ODATC left Richmond and headed out towards Shenandoah National Park.. Our destination was to meet up with several other ODATC members at the PATC owned Mutton Top Cabin.
We arrived at the vehicle parking lot, but due to bad directions didn't get to the cabin until 7:30 or so.. And what a beautiful cabin it was!!!!!!!
HM and I set up our tent and then met everyone in the cabin... the wine and crown flowed and we had a great time...
Saturday morning we awoke in time to see a beautiful sunrise.... After an awesome breakfast, HM amd I left the group and hiked back to our car.. We then drove the 7 miles west on 33 to SNP. Hitting skyline drive we headed south to MP 76.2 (Two Mile Run Overlook) where we parked the car. We hiked North on Skyline Drive for .2 miles where we hit the trailhead.
From there it is a steady descent of about 1600 ft in 4 miles. 2.2 miles into the hike we hit the intersection with the Gap Run Trail. The trail continues the descent, and we had several small water crossings. We only saw one other person, a trail runner.. It is so awesome being that secluded.
At about 4.3 miles, right before the junction of the Gap Run and Rocky Mount trails we noticed an awesome spot for camping... (I imagine we will be back there in the spring). At 4.4 miles the Gap Run Trail intersects the Rocky Mount Trail, and a 1200 ft assent begins... There are several great views along the way, especially since the leaves are all down...
The ascent ends after 2 miles, and a short ridge hike ensues... Finally a 1000 foot decscent occurs, before a final 1000 foot ascent takes you back up the park way.. On the ascent back up, I noticed snowflakes, which was kinda cool...
I have spent several weekends during the last few months hiking in this general area, and I commented to HM how neat it is to see the same landscape from different points of view.
We arrived back at the car and drove North to the Pinefield Parking Lot.. from there we hiked into the PineField Hut to survey what is probably going to be next weekend's accomodations....
Arriving back at the car we head back east on 33 until we hit the gas station near the exit to the cabin... On the way HM had commented about how great it would be if they had pizza, and lo and behold her prayer was answered...
We each got a slice and I picked up a bottle of red wine and Sangria... We then headed back to the cabin...
Arriving before the rest of the group returned, I got the wood stove fired up. The snow flurries continued to fall, and while we got no accumlation, it was a beautiful scene. The rest of the night was spent socializing, and HM and I retreated to the comforts of our tent. The temp only got down to about 20 degrees so it was an enjoyable night.
On Sunday, we awoke to see another beautiful sunrise, and after eating and replacing the firewood, we took a short hike to the Portland Cemetary...
Then it was the long drive back to reality..
The Cabin was freakin' awesome, and HM and I are thinking about having a TT trip there next fall/winter...
picures...
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/569115433vvHUyd?vhost=outdoors'32oz
