hiking 2:40:31 [3] 8.76 km (18:20 / km) +399m 14:56 / km
Shenandoah National Park, Hightop Mountain. I was planning on doing a waterfall hike since there had been so much precip lately. Unfortunately the snow/rainfall in Harrisonburg on Thursday ended up being a huge ice storm for the park and Skyline Drive was closed. Ranger suggested hiking the AT up to HIghtop, even though he said that it could be pretty hairy up towards the top. Went up the road to the parking lot, then up. It is without a doubt the most fun I've ever had getting pummeled with ice for an hour and a half, as the trees were losing their icy coating with the warming temps. Towards the top there was lots of ducking under branches, which was a pain but beautiful and almost magical (as one fellow hiker put it). Solid win!