Overall Run – Connector – Heiskell Hollow – Knob Mt (11.5 miles)
Headed out early (0550) to meet Mike at 0900 at the Matthews Arm Campground. I stopped on the way to get breakfast and a sandwich for lunch at the Warrenton Sheetz, and did a DuoLingo Spanish lesson in the parking lot while I had breakfast.
Got to the Mathews Arm Campground gate around 0850, and prepared for the hike. Mike arrived at 0900, and we walked down the road (the gate was locked, since the campground was closed in the off-season) to the trailhead.
Overall Run was a lovely walk, but the trail was steep and rocky and proved to be a relatively tough descent. We had lunch next the swimming hole pools then hiked down to the connector trails that would take us to the Heiskell Hollow trail. The day had started out pretty cold, but warmed up quickly to around 75 degrees. The first connector (Beecher-Overall Connector [0.8 miles]) was a relatively primitive trail, but that made the second connector (from the Beecher Ridge Trail to the Heiskell Hollow Trail) look like the AT by comparison. It was terribly planned and constructed (a yellow-blazed horse trail, basically scratched into the hillside).
Heiskell Hollow was a long, uphill grind. Near the top of the climb we turned onto the Knob Mt Trail which we followed to a short spur (a service road) that took us to the campground gate.
It turned out to be a much longer day than we had planned. We headed to Front Royal to have dinner at the Cracker Barrel there (long wait, crappy food), and then headed home. I got back a little after 2200.