Low Gap (421) to Damascus 5/14/2009

[Awol]

There is a picnic table and spring at Low Gap:

http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/838/thumbs/Low_Gap_-_VA_421.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1641)

Many hikers fly through this section en route to Damascus, as I have done on this hike. The treadway is smooth and mildly graded, which lends itself to speedy passage. The look of this section is rather homogenous with no significant views or peaks. McQueens knob is the highest peak. Footer blocks remain on the summit where there was once a tower. An old shelter, still usable in a pinch, is a tenth of a mile north of the top.

http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/838/thumbs/McQueens_Knob_Shelter.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1642)

Water is sparse. There are no streams crossing the trail, and only one trail-side spring (2.5 miles from 421) that is weak and muddy. The water source for Abingdon Shelter is 0.2mi behind the shelter on a blue-blazed trail that is kinda steep - it drops almost 200' in 0.2 mi.

http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/data/838/thumbs/Abingdon_Gap_Shelter.jpg (http://appalachianpages.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1442)