LM: Off the Beaten Track in SNP (Oventop)

Time for something different! This is a repeat of a trip we did in 2019 to explore one of Shenandoah’s many bushwhacks. This one will lead us to Oventop, which should yield great views of the park and the surrounding valley.

The credit for this trip goes to Russ Evans, a long-time DC UL member, who was incredibly knowledgeable about these abandoned trails and shared that knowledge. We wanted to do something in tribute to him--so join us for what should be a nice outing.

(You can read the original trip report here.)

The overall distance is short (I think 15 miles in total for the trip), but bushwhacking can be slow and difficult -- you'll want to be comfortable with doing an off-trail route.

The plan: gather at Vienna at 8:30 a.m. and head out. We’ll drop off cars at the Buck Hollow trailhead along 211 and then proceed to the Pass Mountain trailhead. We'll make our way along Pass Mountain and depart the main trail to head towards Oventop. We'll aim to keep the group close for this section, as this is our off-trail portion of the trip. We'll enjoy the views and then make our way back to Pass Mountain trail. We'll follow it up to the AT--our home away from home will be the Pass Mountain Hut for Saturday night.

Sunday, we'll hop on the AT and take it south up and over Mary's Rock. From there, we'll take Meadow Spring to either the Buck Hollow or the Buck Ridge trails and follow that back to the cars.

Weather-wise, anticipate cold conditions—it’s March, so we could see anything from sun to snow up in Shenandoah. I'll update with the forecast closer to the trip.

We’ll have GPS tracks for the trip--look for those to be shared closer to the trip.

Group size is limited to 10.

The Fine Print

- Total round-trip distance is roughly 140 miles. Per DC UL recommended guidelines of about $0.10 per mile, expect to chip in about $14 to your driver if you're catching a ride.
- Members and above, don't forget to pay your annual dues. You can see if you need to pay dues by seeing if the current year is listed next to your name in your DC UL profile. Applicants do not need to pay dues for their first trip. To pay your dues via PayPal, use this link: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/JenniferAdach/15 ($10 annual dues plus a $5 suggested donation to City Kids Wilderness Project.)
- By RSVPing for this trip, you acknowledge that you’ve read our COVID-19 guidelines (https://dculbackpacking.com/about/covid-19-guidelines/) and that you agree to DC UL's liability waiver terms. (https://dculbackpacking.com/about/liability-waiver)