A Walk in the Park

Some say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.   Some would say that time heals all wounds.   I can’t confirm or deny those claims, but it had been six months since my high school buddy Jim and I had finished our first section hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) through the state of Massachusetts, when we started planning our next adventure.  It seems that was just enough time to help us forget about the aches, pains, blisters, hunger, and odorous unpleasantries that go along with a week of communing with nature and make us miss the trail.  

We both enjoyed the 100 mile’ish distance, so we looked for a section of the trail that would accommodate that distance and was located somewhere centrally between my home in upstate New York and Jim’s home in Georgia. After some fancy Googling, we ended up picking the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.   

The cost of an ounce…

After starting out my first backpacking trip with a loaded pack weight of nearly 40lbs, I had made it my winter goal to reduce weight, at nearly all costs…  A new tent, different headlamp, smaller pocket knife, lighter water filter, fewer clothing items, cutting straps off my pack and a handful of other changes and I had reduced my base weight from 22lbs to just under 19lbs and brought my total pack weight to just under 34lbs.

With my pack, and wallet, significantly lighter, we had settled in on a mid May hike.   Well, until COVID hit and the world shut down, including Shenandoah National Park.   After a few other hurdles, we finally locked in on a week in October for our next hiking adventure.

Oh Shenandoah…

Shenandoah National Park straddles the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.   The Appalachian trail through the park runs from Front Royal on the northern end to Rockfish Gap on the southern end.   Sticking strictly to the main trail, the distance between these two points is 107.7 miles… but side excursions to huts, water, and waysides will quickly get you up over 110 miles of total hiking.

We started at the Front Royal end, hitting the trail mid morning on a Saturday.  Greeted by a cool morning, we made our way along the predominantly uphill trail from Rt. 522 to our first campsite, about 14 miles from our starting point.  A few things we quickly learned about hiking this section of the trail.   Lean-tos or shelters are called huts in this neck of the woods.   There are also limited places to pitch a tent at the designated campsites.   Our experience the prior year was that the campsites had lots of wide open space around the shelter for tenters.   Given COVID concerns, we had planned to use our tents on nights where we couldn’t have the huts to ourselves.  This meant getting to camp early enough to claim a spot for the night was a necessity.

The Daily Routine…

Backpacking has a routine.   Every morning starts with the clean up, pack up, eat up routine.  Typically done simultaneously to get on the trail.  Hiking in mid October meant limited daylight hours.   We had done a better job this year laying out our nightly destinations to even out daily distances, but with a few days pushing the 20 mile mark, the 11 hours of daylight, didn’t leave a ton of room for hanging around camp in the morning.   No matter how much we attempted to speed up the morning operations, we were usually on trail right at 8AM.   We would typically hike a pretty good clip, and even with stops for snacks, lunch, and filtering water, we’d cover our 18+ miles in about 8 hours, arriving to camp around 4PM each day.

Remote, with conveniences…

The Appalachian Trail through Shenandoah parallels the Skyline Drive, and crosses it from time to time.   Though you never hike through any towns, there are some wayside stores, campgrounds, and lodges that can usually be reached by a short detour off trail.    The Skyland Lodge was one of those stops for us.   We both snagged a pre-packaged sandwich, some chips, and some high calorie candy snacks.  I can’t say that I’ve ever had a pre-packaged sandwich I’ve enjoyed more.   An equal amount of joy was experienced at the Loft Mountain Campstore where they had a ‘mix up your own milkshake’ machine.   Under a covered breezeway, we shared caloric euphoria with several other hikers in varying states of fatigue, achiness, and dirtiness. 

Two of our six nights on the trail, we also took advantage of staying at one of the campgrounds along the trail.   This helped us keep our daily distances a bit more even.   We stayed at Big Meadows Campground on Monday night and Loft Mountain Campground on Wednesday night.   Though, not quite as peaceful or serene as the hut sites, it was nice to have access to running water a couple times through our week.   At Loft Mountain Campground, a fella from New York City who was our campground neighbor took pity upon us and gave us some firewood for a campfire. Later that evening, he joined us around the campfire to solve the problems of the world for a couple hours.

True Colors…

One of the perks of hiking in October is seeing the fall colors.  It wasn’t quite peak yet in Virginia, but many of the trees were exchanging their greenery for hues of red, orange, and brown.   And, though the 24,000 feet of elevation gain through Shenandoah National Park was a challenge, many of the summits provided never ending views of the autumnal display.

Chasing Seth and Amy…

I’ve read that thru-hikers on the Appalachian trail end up seeing the same hikers or groups of hikers along their journey on the trail.  As section hikers, we had never experienced that.  Our first night on the trail this year, the prime tent spots had been taken, so Jim and I set up our tents practically right on the trail.  A while after we made camp, a couple came in, and faced with a similar shortage of great tent sites, ended setting up camp right near us.  Other than a casual hello, there was nothing significant about our interaction.   They were pretty efficient at their morning routine and hit the trail before us the next day.  Jim and I, despite no longer being able to check the 25-30 year old age box on any customer surveys, hike at a pretty good clip.  We ended up catching this couple mid morning after a grueling climb that seemed to go on forever.   We didn’t see them again while on the trail that day, but once we got to the next hut site, there they were, getting ready to set up for the night.  We didn’t know where they passed us, but likely during one of our water filtering stops.   That night we finally learned that their names were Seth and Amy and they were from Maryland.  We also learned that they were hiking the same section of the trail that we were hiking.   For the next four days, we’d leapfrog each other, oftentimes staying at the same campsite at night.   It became the common theme for the week, we’d be wondering where Seth and Amy were, and they’d be wondering when Craig and Jim would pass them.   The last night on trail, we hung out by the hut getting to know each other a bit more and sharing some hiking stories and laughs from the trail.   The next morning, they got the jump on us and were well ahead of us for our last 8 mile leg.   Somewhere around mile 6 we caught up with them one last time.   We saw them again as we were loading up our car and they were just getting off the trail…we exchanged energetic waves as we each ended our week in the woods and prepared to return to everyday life.   We will likely never see them again, but I finished that week knowing we had made some new friends.

Changing Gears…

For the gear junkies that are following along, the two biggest gear changes for this year were my pack and my tent.  Last year I had hiked with the Osprey Atmos AG 65.   I loved the pack, but it was a bit bigger than I needed for a week long summer hike.   This year I used the Osprey Atmos AG 50.  Dropping 15 liters of capacity only dropped my weight by 5.5oz, but the more compact pack made for a better carry.   I also left my Big Agnes Copper Spur one person tent at home in favor of the Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo.   This single wall, trekking pole tent added more interior room and shaved about 12 oz. off my prior year weight.   The downside was that a single wall tent has a lot more condensation.  As much as I enjoyed the extra room and weight savings, the condensation was a hassle.   Some of our nights dropped into the low to mid thirties, so maybe that added to the challenge, but for next year, I’ll probably be going back to my old tent or looking for a new option.

We the people…

Aside from the challenges and the beauty of the trail, I think one of the things I most enjoy is meeting the people on the trail.   We were not sure what to expect, hiking in the midst of a pandemic and all, but if hiking isn’t considered socially distant, I’m not sure what is.  However, we did meet a lot of hikers along the way.   Not much conversation took place during the daily hiking, except at the occasional scenic overlook or water stop, but once we got to camp, things were a little different.  It’s always fun to hear what brings a hiker to the trail, because they all have a story, something that makes them leave the comfort of home to get out and spend some time in nature.  We met a trio of women that became friends through some Meet-Up hiking groups in Florida and they were out doing the same section of trail that we were doing, just northbound.  We met some first time hikers on their first night on the trail, a couple brothers that just realized they were brothers six decades into life and were getting to know each other, some seasoned section hikers, and a couple father and son duos out for a weekend in nature.   We also ran into a few thru-hikers that were trying to beat the cold weather to Georgia, and at the pace they were going, I’m sure they will do fine.   Some hikers keep to themselves, others want to talk gear, some want you to be sure to know they are in the know about all things hiking.  Most would ask how Jim and I got into hiking together, and it was always fun to tell them that we’ve known each other since Kindergarten and a moment of weakness at a class reunion started this new found obsession.   

Speaking of people, someone find me a stump to stand on…

Since there are no soap boxes in the forest, I figure a stump will do.   My week without connectivity to the outside media world was a gift.   …and there’s one thing I learned from it.   On the trail, there are people from all religions, races, genders, ages, economic statuses, educational statuses and political affiliation.   But, you would not know it.  Because, on the trail, we are all hikers, and that one common bond alone is enough to make any other difference not matter.   On the trail, everyone is willing to lend a hand, give a trail tip, warn other hikers about a long stretch with no water, share some food, give up some of their precious filtered water so that a hiker short on water can have a cup of coffee, make room at the picnic table, and lift up and encourage each other.   It does not matter if a person is a day hiker, over nighter, week long section hiker, or a thru-hiker on a 6 month journey.  On the trail, we are all just hikers.   We commiserate together about the tough climbs, and we celebrate together the small victories.  It’s sad to me that as a nation, we’ve lost sight of that common bond of being ‘Americans’, and instead of working together for a greater good, we tear each other down at the earliest chance we get.   Perhaps we all need to spend some time on the trail and learn to embrace what we have in common and learn to appreciate what we don’t.

Happy Trails…

The Appalachian Trail through Shenandoah National Park proved to be a real treat. As we made our way south, the trail would continually change personalities…occasionally flat and fast, other times rocky and steep, with a mix of less technical but seemingly never ending climbs thrown in just to make things interesting. Water was abundant and campsites were close enough together as to not make for unbearably long days. Add to that spectacular views and abundant sunshine, and the end result was a great week of hiking.

Shepherd’s Pie…

This year, we were pretty confident in our ability to get off the trail in 6 days, so we already had a place to stay booked for that last night.   We tried to find something conveniently located to an establishment that would serve some delicious hoppe goodness and pretty much any food that wasn’t prepared by adding boiling water and letting it sit for 10 minutes.   Somewhere along the way, Jim got it in his head that he wanted Shepherd’s pie that last night.  I don’t know why, but it became his weeklong obsession.  Despite my warnings of likely disappointment and as bad luck would have it, the only Irish Pub in Front Royal, VA had gone out of business earlier this year.  Jim handled the news quite well, and finding a micro brewery that served some corned beef, albeit wrapped in rye bread in the form of a reuben, seemed to provide some contentment.   Despite the disappointment, our first real meal in a week was beyond delicious, and gave us some time to reflect on a nearly perfect week of hiking and start planning next year’s adventure.

You probably wouldn’t understand…

Life on the Appalachian trail is pretty special.  It’s fun, but not all fun.  It’s hard, but not too hard to handle.  It’s exhausting and rejuvenating at the same time.   It’s work and play all wrapped up in one package.  It’s three quarters of a marathon up and down mountains with thirty pounds on your back, repeated daily, for six days in a row.  It’s taking that next step when you don’t really think you have another step left in you.   It’s really an experience quite like no other.   I wasn’t home a week and I was already looking forward to the next time I could get back out on the trail.   I’ve tried to explain the experience to my friends and my family, but most of them only hear the words one hundred miles, no showers, bear boxes, freeze dried meals, and they look at me like I’ve lost my mind.   …and perhaps I have, I don’t know.   But, maybe, just maybe, losing one’s mind every once in a while is the perfect way to find one’s soul.