[at-l] Trip Report: Snickers Gap to Crescent Rock

[Rcalkins at worldbank.org (Rcalkins@worldbank.org)]

With only three weeks left before I depart from Springer, I decided it was high
time for me to finally get around to that shake-down hike with my new gear and
see how everything works.  Just a day hike this time, but more to come.  What
follows is the entry I've posted to my Journal.

cheers,
Longhaul


Distance Traveled:  from the commuter parking lot just off Route 7 at Snickers
Gap, north on the AT to Crescent Rock (2.6 miles), and return (5.2 miles total).

With the normal futzing around getting my gear together, organizing lunch,
leaving the obligatory note for ?She-who-knows-me-best? about my itinerary
(something I?m pretty careful about given what I?ve learned about search and
rescue operations), it was noon before I was at the trail head and ready to
begin my hike.

The skies were overcast, with low hanging clouds moving fairly quickly in an
easterly direction overhead.  Rain was predicted, but never materialized.  The
temperature was somewhere in the high 30s, and there was still the odd patch of
snow in shaded areas, but the trail itself was free of ice.  There was mud, of
course, and the rocks were wet and slippery in places, so I was careful with my
footing.  Given the vulnerability of various joints, I am normally pretty
careful, but when hiking alone in the winter time I tend to be even more so.

My objectives for the hike were simple:  first, to test my new, lightweight (17
oz!) backpack for the first time on the trail with a full load; second, to make
sure that my boots were properly broken in and well-fitted, and third, to make a
start (finally!) on getting my winter-degraded carcass into shape for climbing
mountains once again.

I?m thrilled to report that all three objectives were fully met.  The pack was
comfortable, even with 35 pounds (including five days worth of food and 132
ounces of water).  The boots were good, with nary a hot spot.  The muscles,
bones, joints and connective tissues were fine during the hike, complained
loudly by the early evening, but awoke refreshed and raring to go this morning ?
thanks, at least in part, to the wonderful little pink pills (a non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory medication) prescribed by my knee doctor.  Now I just need to
keep at the conditioning, and I?ll be good to go -- in just 19 more days!

The hike itself was fantastic, and reminded me how much I had missed the
mountains over the busy indoor time of the past several months.  About half way
to Crescent Rock the sun came out and bathed the woods in glorious brightness,
adding luster to the dappled greens and grays of lichen-covered rocks and
bringing life even to the dull tan of the fallen leaves that littered the
ground.

It has been a mild winter hereabouts, so there wasn?t much frost-heave in
evidence, but winter enough that the wildlife was disappointingly scarce.  I
heard a couple of woodpeckers hammering away, but they did not cry out so I
could not be sure which kind.  Piliated, I suspect, but possibly Downy.  I did
hear the ?dee dee dee? of a pair of Chickadees, and the caw of a crow, and saw a
hawk circling lazily above.  That was about it.  The deer are abundant in the
area, but would have seen or heard me coming well enough in advance to make
themselves scarce.

I hiked slowly, enjoying the day, and stopped several times to take photos where
vistas offered an interesting view or where the trail was lovely and stark, and
for a sign or two, including the one that informed me that I had reached the
State of West Virginia, and that Harpers Ferry was a mere 17.6 miles ahead.

I reached Crescent Rock in about an hour and 45 minutes, where I rested and ate
a sandwich.  There was one hiker there when I arrived, and we chatted while I
ate.  He was in the second day of a two-day hike, and had stayed over night at
the David Lessor Memorial Shelter ? a really nice one that?s half way between
Bears Den and Harpers Ferry.  He asked what I was about, and I told him, only to
learn that he was, himself a through-hiker ? Class of 87.  He said he hoped to
do it again one day, and had made it a point to get his three kids out on the
trail.  My guess is that he will.  He was younger than me, so obviously there?s
still time.

While we talked, two other day hikers showed up.  The company was good, and one
of them said he hoped to do the trail himself when he retires, possibly as early
as next year.  After putting my boots back on and shouldering my pack, we wished
each other well, and I set off on the return leg of my journey.

It was easier going back, as the elevation was more with me than against.  I?m
definitely faster going down hill than up hill, especially when I?m not in
shape.  The return to the parking lot was uneventful, but the thrill of having
accomplished all that I had set out to do added to the usual high that one gets
from the exertion of the body and the freeing of the soul of a day on the trail.
I plan to go back next weekend and do it again.  I can?t wait!

Stay tuned,
Longhaul