Big Schloss Great North Mountain VA - WV

Thursday August 13, 2009 Up and out of the hotel which had a hot breakfast buffet included with the room and at the trail head ready to go at 10am. (We will definately stay at the Woodstock Holiday Inn Express for any hiking needs in the area as at $81 it was excellent value.)We decided to carry a little more water than the previous day so packs were about 11 lbs. This hike was delightful even though the trail climbs steadily for the first 3 miles so that most of your 586 meters ascent is completed. But on the trail up there were all these amazing varieties of wild mushrooms!
Our walking speed at this point was 1.7 miles p/hr as we kept stopping to examine and photograph the mushrooms which were on a path of moss and rocks. We stopped and actually sat down on the Sugar Knob PATC cabin step to have our lunch. (The prior day's hike we never sat down.)The woods were full of azaleas and laurels. We did the hike over to the base of Big Schloss (named by early German settlers and meaning "castle") The top of this ridge is bisected with the Virginia - West Virginia line. The top ridge line has a long grassy meadow that makes that section "a walk in the park". we did not climb to the top of Big Schloss because I was definately feeling the second day's hike more than I had felt the first day. I was worried that the steep decsent we were to face was going to be like the previous days and I did not want to be totally exhausted by the time I had to face that section of the trail. David got a blister on his right heal so we stopped and put on moleskin and also adjusted our boots for the descent. The last 2 days we have been wearing our biking gloves so that we can use our trekking poles more effectively. Again though last minute panic because the last turnoff of the trail was to be at a certain milage point--- and it wasn't there! Hiking guide said a distance of 1.2 miles and in reality it was 1.9 miles!! We did 11.6 miles with an average 1.7 moving avg and our overall hiking average speed was 1.3 m/hr made up of 7 hrs moving time 1 hr 40 min stopped. We had dinner at the Cracker Barrel before heading home. It feels good on tired sore bones to put the car seat heaters on but doesn't eliminate the hobbling and moans that come as you get out of the car after a day's hike.
Attached video of butterflies in the meadows.
With these 2 days of hiking I have gone back to my packing list and removed a few things - 1 pr socks, that scarf for a more dressed look, the clothes pins (keeping the safety pins) and yes the Ipod and charger are out. From David's pack he has so far removed the carrot peeler and downsized his Swiss army knife.