Hiking in the Shenandoahs - Day 2

Saturday, 6/14/14

(Honestly, I should probably just call this trip 'Napping in the Shenandoahs...')

I woke up to the birds all yelling at each other. I have to believe they were saying something more than “Hi! Hi! How are you! Hi! Good! Its not raining! No, its not! Hi!....”

My breakfast was my standard trail option - grits with cheese, though this time I brought baby bell cheese. As I ate breakfast I waived hello to a couple of folks hiking through in the early am. After breakfast I went down to the stream to pump more water, when one of the hikers came back down to talk with me. She was retired, and we chatted about the trails and the area. Again, turns out she didn’t have a map of the area (?!?) and so I got her oriented before I set off for my day. And unlike day one, today I didn’t have to start then stop then turn around etc…

At 9:15, with sleep and a hot meal under my belt, I set off at a brisk pace. Lunchtime walking buddies from an old job referred to this as my going at Warp speed, but whatever. The bigger issue was that by 10:30, I’d already reached what I thought would be my halfway point. Hmm. After some thought, I realized that I’d need to rethink my route for the day. Looking at the map and calculating my options, I chose to hike back to where I parked on day one, so as to hop onto the AT southbound for a few miles. I ran across several through hikers who were northbound - through hikers are easy to spot, as they’re a little worn around the edges and hiking very quickly. Its not uncommon for through hikers to put in 20 - 25 miles per day on the AT, and the folks I walked past looked like they were in full stride for the day.

Again, by 1:30 I was at a point on the trail where I figured would occur much later in the day. However, for the first time, the stone markers in SNP didn't indicate the trail I wanted (Jeremys Run Trail), even though I was standing at the head of the trail. I sat down for a moment to eat some food and take stock of my day. It was sort of a Gandalf moment, as a few moments later a group of hikers came along, led by a guide. Turns out this was someone from REI leading their backpacker basics class. I chatted with the guide for a bit, and he confirmed that I was, in fact, at Jeremys Run. They moved on while I finished my lunch. Even with a healthy head start, I caught up with them in a few minutes, and found my Saturday night campsite just a few minutes after that.

Even though I found my spot a little sooner than I anticipated, this gave me a chance to set up a laundry line to dry out all my clothes and gear. There was a cool breeze blowing, and the sun was streaming down through the leafy canopy. After a few minutes I re-attached the legs to my convertible hiking pants. As crazy as it sounds, I was getting a little chilly. Eventually I even added a second shirt.

With the gear dried out, I set up the tent and took a short nap.

Now that all the gear and clothes were dried up I took down the laundry line in favor of setting up my bear bag. I would like to say that of all the activities involved with backwoods camping, setting up the bear bag line over a high tree branch is my least favorite.

Dinner was day two of the chicken and rice, along with the second and final cup of wine. While I had dessert on Friday night (M&Ms), Saturday night I was left without. So, note to self: always pack dessert for each night. After dinner I did the dishes, and packed the pot, mug, remaining food and assorted toiletries into the bear bag and hung that up high on a tree branch.

As I was flying solo, and had camp pretty much stowed away, I spent some time writing up notes on the trip and then turned out the lights early. And by turning out the lights, I mean falling asleep watching the sunlight on the tops of the trees as the valley turned to dusk. I slept without the rain fly on the tent, enjoying the light breeze.