Signal Knob - Technical Matters

Actually, on the Signal Knob hike, the Knob is not the first “peak” you encounter. The trail stops ascending about a mile from the summit, on a nearby peak.

From there, you can see the summit and the tower itself, and the trail takes you around a ridge line until you reach it. The first photo is looking back at that first peak, and the second is of the guys on a logistics break – Chris having adopted a pirate demeanor.

About a third of this trail runs along the ridge line. Just like at Duncan Knob, where there are a couple of camp sites near the summit, here there are also a number of good camp sites along the ridge – a fact that just about every review of this hike references.

One thing the reviews do not caution hikers about is the tallus fields and rocky areas, especially in the critical first ascent. If you are familiar with the geology of this ridge, the mountains are caused by giant folds that left a stratus of limestone exposed at the peak. Sometimes there is a second layer down the mountainside, and that will be symmetrical, with a similar layer on the other side of the ridge.

Unlike at Duncan Knob, where hikers pick a line to go straight through the tallus to the summit, on Signal Knob, the trail traverses this loose layer of very large rocks for several hundred yards. Good hiking shoes, or boots, are a must, and even with them you may not avoid an ankle sprain or bruises.

As we reached the ridge, thunder started. The forecast predicted a 30% chance of a severe storm. Although we were lucky with rain, a lot of it had fallen on the eastern side of the mountain while we were on the west – our hike down was just a bit more slippery for it. And the last scout group we saw came through on double time because of the rain and lightning. Still, even with thunderstorms nearby, we avoided the rain until the very end, walking only the last 200 yards or so in the rain back to the cars.

Here is a view from the summit of Signal Knob looking west across to part of Front Royal, near exit 6 on I-66. The big building visible is a shopping center, maybe even the Wal-Mart, and there is a housing development down below. Near this view, we found this little group of talismen that some prior group had carefully arranged, looks like they are sitting around the campfire.

After the walk along the ridge, the trail descends part way down a valley. After crossing a stream, the trail picks up the ascent for the final part of the 2,500 feet of altitude gain here – it’s steep with many switchbacks and the trail is strewn with rocks.

The photo is of our group taking a break after this second summit, just as we prepared to descend. As shown in the picture here, Chris has a rule that if the packs come off, the jerky comes out. And there you go.

The descent is steep in places, but generally not as rocky as the trail up, so good footing wasn’t difficult to find, despite the earlier rain. Last photo is of the final stream crossing – there were two on our route. From here it was only a mile back to the cars.