We woke up at 7:30a. Actually, we woke up at 7a when my watch alarm went off, but we didn’t need to get out of bed for another thirty minutes. We wanted to get out of the room at 8:30a and back to the trail by 9a. Atlas and Lotus didn’t want to leave as early and plan to catch up later today.
Almost as if by magic (but I know it’s not) an Uber driver showed up as available. We were back to the trail even before 9a. Kirby wasn’t too far behind us and then Wonder Woman and Snow Monkey were after him. It was great to see them all again. It’s been over a week since we’ve seen Kirby and more than that since we’ve seen Snow Monkey and Wonder Woman. Back together again. It felt good. We got a bit distracted filling everyone in on the things they missed, particularly the stories that have become quotable and inside jokes. Finally, we decided to push off.
We entered into the part of the trail that runs through Shenandoah National Park. About a third of the way in for the day we had to stop to register. It didn’t cost us anything. It’s just how the park keeps tabs on foot travel and their backcountry visitors. Warthog and I are both extremely excited to be hitting this park. It was after our 2015 week and a half backpacking trip here that we decided to hike the trail. We spent part of that week on the AT itself. Originally we were trying to avoid the AT… you know, because of the crazy people that hike it. Then, when we met some of them, we realized they were incredibly cool people doing an incredibly cool thing. We left our trip inspired and determined to hike the Appalachian Trail. So you can understand why this park holds a special place in our hearts.
It was still early in the day when we started out, probably around 10a, but it was already crazy hot. Summer heat is setting in. I’m sad, because it means early mornings for us. The terrain was generally very easy today. The hardest thing was the extra weight we were carrying. It seems like we always leave town with too much food. Usually we are taking all of the snacks we meant for town but didn’t end up eating. Yeah… we have impulse control issues.
The trail stayed near the road today. We also passed by power lines and antennas. I wouldn’t say we were very cut off from civilization. But that’s okay because tomorrow we will pass by a camp store and a wayside where we can either grab ice cream or milkshakes. You can’t enjoy the sweet perks about being near developments and then wish you were disconnected in the woods.
It rained on us for about an hour or so during the afternoon. Most of it was while we were in a shelter eating lunch. It was good timing. The rest of the day stayed clear… muggy, but clear. After lunch we filled up on water. There wasn’t a confirmed water source for another ten miles or so. We drank a liter each at the source and then filled up. I carried two liters, Warthog carried the same. Each liter is just over two pounds. Four pounds is a lot of extra weight, especially with our already full packs. It was hot and we needed enough water to get us through dinner, etc., so we had to carry it.
We ran into Atlas and Lotus as we were leaving the shelter. We got to hike about a mile all together before we got separated again. They don’t plan to go as far as we did today. Lotus is having issues with her foot and wants to take it a bit easier.
We had bigger plans, but only hiked about twelve miles. It felt like so much more. Tomorrow we will get an early start to avoid as much of the heat as possible. They are predicting storms all week. I’m hoping it’s just afternoon storms similar to what we had today. Although, tonight and tomorrow early morning are calling for more rain.
Near the end of our day Warthog and I pulled out a speaker we bought in town and listened to music as we hiked. It really made a difference in my motivation level. I don’t want to use it all that often, but when I’m having a touch climb, I’m excited to know I have another tool to help get me over the mountain.
Tonight we are “stealth” camping. We aren’t in a designated spot, but we can see it used to have a fire ring. We are in a part of the forest where the floor is clear and there’s plenty of space to move around without fighting a bunch of growth. It’s actually a really pretty forest. The ground is softer than we’ve camped on before. We are excited about the soft ground because for some reason we can’t keep our sleeping pads inflated. They keep getting leaks. It seems like once Warthog patches one leak, the other pad will then start to deflate. Kirby, Snow Monkey, Wonder Woman, Warthog, and I are all camping together. We made dinner, Warthog learned how to hang a bear bag (since we’ve been using the Ursack, we don’t have to hang), and now we are settling in for the night.
I can hear the Whippoorwill singing – a nocturnal bird that has become the unofficial call to go to bed. I’m excited for sleep and tomorrow I’m excited for either ice cream or a shake. Ah Shenandoah… what a wonderful place.
-ansel