Category: Bits of Life

Trip highlights and vlog-style commentary for a backpacking trip in the Big Run watershed in Shenandoah National Park over the 2019 Memorial Day weekend.

This hike starts at Browns Gap traveling north on the Appalachian Trail. It then turns on to the Big Run Loop Trail.

It proceeds north along the Rockytop Trail down to the Big Run Portal Trail.

The first-night camp is next to Big Run creek near the junction of the Brown Mountain Trail.

Day two starts up the Brown Mountain Trail over Brown Mountain and Rocky Mountain.

It then heads down the Rocky Mountain Run Trail back down to the Big Run Portal Trail.

The second-night camp is just off the Big Run Portal Trail near the junction of the Patterson Ridge Trail.

Day three continues up the Big Run Portal Trail to the Big Run Loop Trail.

It ends with a southbound section on the Appalachian Trail back to the Browns Gap parking area.

Music by Ikson
Wander – https://soundcloud.com/ikson/wander

Map of the Route

This video contains trip highlights and vlog-style commentary for a Fall of 2018 backpacking trip through Shenandoah National Park.

This hike was a north to south, week-long trip covering the entire length of the park starting in Front Royal, Virginia, and ending in Waynesboro, Virginia.

SNP Hike Fall 2018 – Mileage Spreadsheet

Music by Ikson
https://soundcloud.com/ikson/

Hiking and exploring Breaks Interstate Park – a bi-state state park located partly in southeastern Kentucky and mostly in southwestern Virginia. The Breaks is also referred to as the “Grand Canyon of the South”.

American frontiersman Daniel Boone is credited with being the first person of European descent to discover the Breaks, which he first saw in 1767.

The Russell Fork river runs through the canyon.

Song is Paradise by Ikson https://soundcloud.com/ikson
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1LVgg1YoT6U

The Great Channels Natural Area Preserve is a beautiful and unique area in Virginia.

The preserve name is derived from the maze-like system of sandstone crevices and boulders that occur near the 4208-foot summit of Middle Knob on Clinch mountain.

The 721-acre Channels Natural Area Preserve is part of a 4,836 acre State Forest that was purchased by the Department of Forestry from The Nature Conservancy in March 2008.

Three Ridges is one of Virginia’s most popular backpacking loops. Located in Central Virginia, just 30 miles southwest of Charlottesville, this circuit hike has vista after vista along the Appalachian Trail, and many small waterfalls and pools on the Mau-Har Trail on Campbell Creek.