[at-l] Trip Report - Shenandoah

[askowronek at mindspring.com (amy)]

A friend of mine has decided, after reading "A Walk in the Woods", that
he wants to take a four to five week trip on the AT this fall.  He's 
not a backpacker.
He's not a hiker.  He is fairly active, fortunately, and stays in 
reasonable shape.
He's been getting all his information about backpacking and the AT out
of books.  I've been worried.

So another friend and I asked him out for an easy overnight trip this 
weekend
to ease him into the woods.  The other friend couldn't make it,  but 
the two
of us still went.

I have to say, this was the best weekend weather I've seen all year.  It
was in the low eighties during the hottest part of the day.  The sky was
pure blue.  The humidity was low.  Birds sang, etc.  And it stormed on
Friday, which meant there were remarkably few people at the park on
Saturday.  Strange but true.

We arrived at Thornton Gap around 11, and I filled out a backcountry
permit for us.  Then we parked at a ranger station and set out on the 
AT.
I love the AT in Shenandoah.  It's gentle and the views are really nice.
The air was clear yesterday, so we could see waaaay off into the 
distance.
The Shenandoah Valley is so darn picturesque.

We were doing a circuit hike, so after a short while we took a side 
trail.
We went to Sugarloaf Mountain Trail.  It's a tiny little connector.  
After
another couple of turns we were on Piney Branch Trail.  There are some
really really nice falls on there but we couldn't see them what with
the summer growth.  I heard some people having a good time in them.  :)

We continued down the trail, crossing the river a few times.  There 
were some
hard to cross blowdowns.  And stinging nettles.  Owie.  For a wonder, I
didn't fall in at any of the crossings.

After a bit we came to my planned campsite for the day.  I've stayed 
there once
before, and it was really really nice.  It still is.  It has a bed of 
pine needles
just the right size for a campsite, it's flat, and it has just the 
right number of trees
from which to hang hammocks and other things.

I set up my part of the camp and then watched my friend set up his.  
And laughed,
and made suggestions.  I tried to help him adjust his pack so it would 
be
comfortable.  I was not entirely successful.  I think I've convinced 
him to try
out some other packs.  He has an enormous external frame pack.  The top
bar hits him in the back of the neck.  I couldn't think of any way to 
fix it without
breaking the pack.

I was highly amused to see him pull a two liter bottle of Coke out of 
his
pack at dinner time.  He'd put it in just to make the pack heavier, to 
simulate
loads he'd be carrying while long distance hiking.  It was fun to have 
soda
with dinner on the trail.  (Speaking of which, I've had *no* luck trying
to convince him to carry a lighter load, though he stopped to stretch 
and rest frequently
because of the pain his load caused him.  He attributed my lack of 
discomfort
to the fact that I "know how to backpack" and do farm work.  Oh well.
He'll have to change his mind on his own, if he ever does.)

After a beautiful night (clear and in the upper forties to lower 
fifties) we
packed up and headed uphill.  While we walked downhill most of the day
before I'd been thinking "What goes down must come up".   We'd gone
well downhill and had to make it all back up.  The walk was really 
really
nice.  It was very different from the time I'd gone through with Delee
last year.  This time it was late summer of a rainy year as opposed to
spring in a drought.  The overgrowth changed the look of the place
drastically.  I couldn't find the cemetery, though I knew about where
to look.

At the end of the hike I gave him the choice of walking up a service 
road or
the AT to get back to the car.  It was the same distance for either.  He
chose the road.  About 100 yards in, a tree by the trail shook 
violently.
I looked up in time to see the belly of a baby bear who was running down
the tree head first.  We stopped.  I said "back up!"  We retreated.  
The bear
stayed put at the base of the tree.  I couldn't see mama but knew she 
must be around somewhere, so I suggested we take the AT after all.  
After an uneventful
last half mile, we arrived at the car and ended our hike.

-amy