I hiked with three friends this Saturday up via White oak canyon then submitted Hawksbill Mountain for 14.5 miles with 3500 feet elevation gain. It was too windy to have lunch at Hawksbill. Due to the heavy rain the day before, all the waterfalls were raging more powerfully than I have ever seen in the Shenandoah National Park. There was one stream crossing that I finally got to use booties that I carried 3 years in my backpack. We changed plan to take the White oak canyon trail down to avoid two bigger stream crossings on the cedar Run trail.
The Appalachian Trail on the backside of Hawksbill Mountain was totally frozen like an ice strip. This was the hardest one mile in my lifetime to pass. Without spikes, I was squatting low or sliding on my bottom most of the time to get via that icy one mile. You bet that I will bring my spikes to each hike this winter.
As usual, we stopped by a winery after hike.
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