In case you all were worried, we did survive the frozen wastes of central Shenandoah during the ~Polar Vortex~ a couple weeks ago! We originally planned on trekking out to the Pocohantas trail in West Virginia, but due to a snowy forecast during the week I chose to opt for a shorter drive this weekend in a snow-free area of SNP. However, Mountain Forecast for Mary’s rock was still calling for low teens and even single-digit wind chill on Sunday morning. In the end it was only Aneesh, Logan, and myself heading up to SNP despite the bitter forecast. I wish I could tell you harrowing tales of how we survived the freezing polar vortex, but it actually ended up being quite a nice weekend with temperatures just down to the mid teens overnight on Saturday.
We headed up in the dark on Friday and camped in the first flat area off the trail. On saturday, we enjoyed the beauty of Hazel Country and the never-ending staircase of Buck Ridge. Whoever does this trail next time, I think it might be a good idea to go up buck ridge and down the hollow because those stairs are pretty steep.
We also got to see some nice snow up high.
But as we came down off Mary’s rock, we got treated to an ice rink on the trail. It seemed like maybe springs had been running across the trail and then froze. I was very glad to have my ice spikes.
We moved pretty fast and ended up at the shelter well before sunset. We had plenty of time for a luxurious fire at the shelter and enjoyed the evening as the mercury dropped.
As you might have expected, we had the shelter to ourselves. But a very nice family stopped by and said hi. I think we all packed like crazy expecting the big polar vortex to come in but we all were plenty warm overnight. We were treated to an inch of snow overnight, so we woke up to a winter wonderland! Instead of doing the ice rink over Mary’s Rock again, we took advantage of Skyline Drive being closed and had a nice power walk up the road. It was very cool to be the first tracks and have the whole vista to ourselves. We even got to walk through the tunnel.
And finally, we stopped down at the waterfall on the White Rocks trail which was very pretty. Sorry i’m bad at photography
And we may or may not have walked back on the country roads to avoid going over the big hill. But, who cares? It was a beautiful weekend to be out! Thanks for coming guys!
-Maddie
DC UL Backpacking 
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