HI All. I went out to the park yesterday and here's what I can tell you. Nicole's vehicle was found in the upper parking lot of the Cedar Run/Whiteoak Canyon. This parking lot is now closed with Park Police and other personnel to ensure you don't. Only the lower parking lot here and the Weakley Hollow parking lot a little further north are open for those wanting to hike Old Rag. Even though the park posted several trail closures in this immediate are were closed as the search expanded, I found there were others included yesterday. Old Rag Trail is still open as well as the Weakley Hollow Fire Rd, however, they've included Corbin Hollow, Robertson Mountain and the Old Rag Fire Road coming down from the Skyline Drive. Even though the park noted Hawksbill Peak would be closed for planned maintenance starting on 4/20, they have also closed Hawksbill Peak and all parking areas in this are for the search. Skyland Resort is the only thing still open in this area and suspect it's only open for those who have reservations or wanting to eat at the restaurant. The Rose River Trail and Dark Hollow Falls Trail (further south) are still open, but the only parking in the immediate area is the Dark Hollow Falls parking lot. Furthermore, the Big Meadows Field across from the Big Meadows Wayside appears to be closed as they are using it as a staging area for the helicopters being used in the search. I also found a State Police staging area at the lower Hawksbill Peak lower parking lot.
Now what's interesting, is the wildfire raging in the Southern District on the western side of Skyline Drive @ Rte. 33 (Spotswood Trail). In that, it's almost to the day that another wildfire happened in this same area a year ago. It's about 15 miles south of the search area and in speaking to park personnel, they feel the fire was set deliberately. Which this area is cordoned off with no vehicle and/or foot access is allowed from MM 65 up to MM 79 and the Appalachian Trail @ Simmons Gap (MM 73) up to Ivy Creak (MM 77) is closed to foot traffic. As I came down Skyline Drive to exit @ Rte. 33 (Swift Run Gap Entrance Station), I could see that the fire was getting very close to Rte. 33 and was told by park personnel that the fire had expanded since Wednesday. If they can't contain it, it's possible they may close the Entrance into the park here as well as possibly closing Rte. 33 heading towards the cities of Elkton and Harrisonburg.
Another interesting thing is that the State Police have said they are not asking for volunteers. However, I found out yesterday that they have. In that, some members of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club have been recruited in the search.
What's tugging at me the most in all of this, is that it's known that Nicole stopped in Warrenton to do a workout before continuing on to the park. My understanding is her workout club is a specialized club for those that cross-fit train. Which brings up why would she do a workout and then head to the park to do a second one back to back. It also brings up what has or hasn't been found with the State Police reviewing road cams. With her car being somewhat unusual, it's not like they couldn't find her easily in the review and who might either be in the vehicle and/or if there was another vehicle following her.
For those that do not know Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive, there is limited at best cellular service within the park boundaries and especially so at the upper parking lot where her car was found; it's down in a valley in a very sparse area at the edge of the park boundary with tall mountain tops blocking signals. Matter of fact, I verified that this was the case when I stopped here. Having hiked many sections of Shenandoah, the only places I'm aware where one can get a signal are on top of mountain peaks and they are usually on the western side of the park that have large barren areas at the top; such as Hawksbill Peak. Not to mention it is only cellular, no data service. However, it doesn't mean a smart phone won't continue to ping and catch an occasional signal. I still carry my phone on hikes and use an App to track my progress and the GPS can capture a signal every so often; enough to show most times where I am along a trail. I noticed many commenting about Nicole having a Fitbit or the like, which basically only keeps track of minimal data until it's connected to a smart phone and/or other liked device that has Internet access. It then updates the data the Fitbit stored.
