Despite a few challenges, the Duncan Knob Hollow hike we took a few weeks ago is considered a success by all concerned. We got a late start, ran into logistics issues on the way, found the road blocked and had to free lance to the trail head, and were late getting off the trail - failing to pack headlamps. Still, everybody wants to do it again.
After coordinating by email, we've come to the conclusion that our next attempt will be Signal Knob, which is close to Front Royal in the George Washington National Forest. Also, while my colleagues would like to try and do something every month, we will shoot for a bi-monthly effort, looking for a somewhat rigorous outing like these Knob summit trails. In the meantime, Mary and I will do shorter hikes like the waterfalls and vistas in Shenandoah National Park.
The Hiking Upward site describes Signal Knob as a 10-11 mile, 5-6 hour hike that has about 2,700 feet of elevation gain. As with most of the hikes in GWNF, they give it better marks for the lack of crowds than they might for a similar hike in SNP. They also highlight the views from the high points on this hike as being some of the best in Virginia.
A scan of some other sites mention that there was a Civil War outpost on the Signal Knob summit, hence the name. I'll look for more info on this aspect of the trail experience before we get away.
All that's left is to settle on the date of the hike, which will hopefully take place in late April or early May. By then, it will be too warm for rock scrambles (just my opinion...I understand timber rattlers are fond of rock scrambles in warm weather) so we'll be mostly choosing other trail types for the remainder of the summer.
Looking forward to it.
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