March 9, 2002 Tuscarora Trail/Massanutten West Trail
6.75 miles, 1500' rise
I started out at a gate on USFS 66, and went up to the top of Three Top Mountain on an orange blazed trail to get to a particular section of the Tuscarora Trail. On my map, issued in 1998, this section is labeled "for experienced hikers only", which is intriguing. Furthermore, the guide states that this is not a good section for backpacking, and if you can do it without a pack, you'll be happier.
I don't know what this is supposed to mean. I was expecting a knife edge or a boulder field or something, but no. It was a bit rocky, but no where near the rockiest hiking I've seen in more or less the same mountain range. I'm curious to find out if they relocated bits of it that used to go straight over boulder piles (there were many, but the trail didn't go over them).
I got lucky on the weather today. It was just warm enough, even when it misted towards the end of my hike. I'm really glad I started early -- I'm usually very bad at that. Hiking this in the winter was an excellent choice. With the trees leafed out, there would be no views. As it was there were miles of views to the western valley and down into Strasburg.
I saw people on the return bit of my circuit, quite a few of them actually. I saw no one on the ascent or on the Tuscarora Trail. All in all, a quite excellent hike.