Shenandoah National Park (2017-10)
It was a cold, rainy, and foggy day in Shenandoah National Park today. There were some occasional beautiful scenes of fall interspersed with the heavy fog and rain. Definitely very different than a perfectly clear day!
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After a full day of heavy rain yesterday, low overnight temperatures, and a bit of snow, Shenandoah National Parkwas a totally different place today up along Skyline Drive! Much of the trees and other plants were covered with both snow and ice, resulting in quite a beautiful scene with the white of winter mixed with the colors of fall.
Today also highlighted the importance of proper park management. Most of the roads were in good condition but there were a few sections between the Skyland Lodge and Big Meadows that were a bit icy. When we arrived in that are at around 9am, the road was closed with the Park Service performing an inspection of the road. We were allowed to eventually pass through at our own risk. The road was easily passable and only dangerous if not driven carefully. I was a bit surprised that the road had not yet been treated by this hour.
Further along the road just past Skyland Lodge, the road was closed due to a semi truck that went off the road and also involving a number of other vehicles. Luckily, no injuries reported. We ended up stuck at Skyland until 1pm or so as the road we arrived on was closed for treatment. We ultimately saw the salt truck come through, the driver needed to report to the incident commander for a decision to be made. Ultimately, the decision was made to not open the road. Eventually, a ranger-led convoy of vehicles was allowed to pass. The road was 100% fine, not a single patch of ice. Just a bunch of salt and damp road.
This whole situation shows that Shenandoah National Park's management is incapable of handling winter operations. Management should have ensured that proper resources were in place to evaluate and treat the roads. Likely the accident and extensive road closures could have been prevented. And the park rangers could have been used to do useful work rather than sitting around managing traffic.
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After a full day of heavy rain yesterday, low overnight temperatures, and a bit of snow, Shenandoah National Parkwas a totally different place today up along Skyline Drive! Much of the trees and other plants were covered with both snow and ice, resulting in quite a beautiful scene with the white of winter mixed with the colors of fall.
Today also highlighted the importance of proper park management. Most of the roads were in good condition but there were a few sections between the Skyland Lodge and Big Meadows that were a bit icy. When we arrived in that are at around 9am, the road was closed with the Park Service performing an inspection of the road. We were allowed to eventually pass through at our own risk. The road was easily passable and only dangerous if not driven carefully. I was a bit surprised that the road had not yet been treated by this hour.
Further along the road just past Skyland Lodge, the road was closed due to a semi truck that went off the road and also involving a number of other vehicles. Luckily, no injuries reported. We ended up stuck at Skyland until 1pm or so as the road we arrived on was closed for treatment. We ultimately saw the salt truck come through, the driver needed to report to the incident commander for a decision to be made. Ultimately, the decision was made to not open the road. Eventually, a ranger-led convoy of vehicles was allowed to pass. The road was 100% fine, not a single patch of ice. Just a bunch of salt and damp road.
This whole situation shows that Shenandoah National Park's management is incapable of handling winter operations. Management should have ensured that proper resources were in place to evaluate and treat the roads. Likely the accident and extensive road closures could have been prevented. And the park rangers could have been used to do useful work rather than sitting around managing traffic.
