Backpacking the AT: Day Two

 Saturday, October 12, 2024

Jim and Molly Denton Shelter to Rod Hollow Shelter

Northbound Miles 977.6 to 996.0

The wind sailed above us in large waves all night. I woke a few times, wondering if I’d soon have a tree branch fall onto my tent. By 5:30am, the sounds of the road far below indicated the outside world was waking up. We had decided to be ready to leave camp by 7:30am, but we were all awake by 6:00am. We dressed and packed in the dark, and then enjoyed our morning coffee as daylight slowly fell upon us. 

Don't ask me how, but Kara was a little chilly overnight, despite wearing a LOT of clothing and being in a zero-degree sleeping bag.  This did not bode well for the rest of our trip, as temperatures were expected to dip into the 30's for several upcoming nights.  Even with a little lack of sleep, I think mostly, though, Kara and Misty were pretty happy that no bears had visited us in the darkness.  

We were on trail by 7:20am and had a big day ahead. Originally, we had planned to hike 10 miles to Whiskey Hollow Shelter but felt that would not fill up our day. So, we opted for a more challenging day of 19 miles, finishing at Rod Hollow Shelter. We’d need to hike with purpose all day to make it there before dark. Let's do this!

There was just a touch of coolness in the air as we hit the trail. We were mostly quiet as we hiked along, taking in the peaceful morning. The trail was rough and rocky beneath our feet, though, and soon we were shedding layers of clothing.

We crossed a gorgeous meadow as the sun rose, which cast a golden glow over everything. The three of us remarked on the beautiful morning, the smell of fall leaves in the air, and our hopes that we would remember these things in the distant future. What a blessing it was to be right where we were in that exact moment.

Up ahead, we spotted the tracks that had carried the train I had heard late last night, echoing off the hillside. 

After a welcomed boardwalk, we crossed a road and headed up the trail towards Manassas Gap Shelter. 

The sharp uphill climb combined with the warm weather had us dripping with sweat. We were so happy to arrive at our first little stop, where we refilled our water bottles and had a quick snack. The shelter was bustling with activity, and it was nice to mingle with some other hikers! 

We couldn’t stay long, though-we had 12 more miles to go!  The day was bright and sunny, the climbs were manageable, and we were enjoying the day. 

At mile 10, we planned to stop at Whiskey Hollow Shelter, but when we came to the turn off and the sign said .3 miles to the shelter, we decided to take our break right there on the trail instead of adding more mileage to our day. I quickly whipped out my mat and stretched out, still not accustomed to the weight of my pack.  Kara, on the other hand, was looking very cutesy, very demure while enjoying some trailside snacks.

It was such a beautiful day, and it was so tempting to just close my eyes and nap beneath the canopy of trees, but alas, it was time to throw our packs back on and get moving. Nine miles to go!

The next section had us hiking through Sky Meadows State Park. There were quite a few day hikers out on the many different trails here. With not much shade within the park, we were very hot. The miles were starting to wear on us and the heat wasn’t helping.

We also narrowly avoided stepping on this little guy!

There was a nice downhill as we headed out of the park, along with a bit of shade. The trees were very tall all around us and it was a great little section of trail. 

Then we were spit out onto US Route 50, which is a busy divided highway. Luckily for us the road had no traffic when it was time to cross, and we made it safely to the other side. 

Our next order of business was finding water. The last few indicated water spots on the FarOut App were either dry or not desirable, and our bottles were getting very low. As we searched for water, we came across a woman on trail. We stopped to chat with her and discovered she had just one more day to go to complete her 2024 thru-hike of the entire trail!  Very cool. Congratulations to “No Shit” (her trail name.) Finally, we came to a stream crossing that had good flowing water. We all filled our bottles and were happy to have cold water to cool us off. I was so hot; I felt like I couldn’t drink enough water! 

We had just under four miles to go to reach our shelter. It wasn’t an easy four miles. Between the weight of our packs, the miles on our feet, the heat of the day, and the sharp uphill climbs, we were feeling it. Pretty much the only talking we did was to say how much the trail sucked in each and every moment.   

The final miles of the day were pretty, filled with the setting sunlight. We came through an opening in a rock wall and traversed another little boardwalk.

After more hills than we were interested in climbing were behind us, we spotted the sign for Rod Hollow Shelter. 

This shelter area has some designated camping pads, so I opted for one of those while Misty and Kara decided to set up their tents, nearly touching. Maybe their trail names should be “The Scaredy Cats.”

We were so sore and tired, that after getting cleaned up and situated, we skipped making a fire, cooked ourselves some dinner on our little camp stoves, and retreated to our tents to relax and eventually sleep. 

This was our first time being at a shelter where other people were also there. Several of the campsites were filled and a couple also opted to set up their tent in the middle of the shelter, which was pretty questionable, if you ask us. We were a little leery of this place "down in the holler", so we decided to keep our bear canisters very near to us-right outside my tent.  I didn't even have a whistle or horn to blow in case of emergency. (Haha!)  Come and get me, bears.

Sometimes, when I finally close my eyes in my tent at night, there is not a sound to be heard, and every snap or crack or whirl of wind has me on alert.  This evening was different.  As I sat here and wrote this entry on Saturday night at Rod Hollow Shelter, I was surrounded by the near deafening sounds of crickets, and the far-off hooting of an owl.  The forest was alive.

Daily miles: 18.93

Time on trail: 10:01:20

Elevation gain: 3878 feet

Backpacking the AT: Intro and Day 1

 Who's ready for another adventure?  Well, ever since I finished my February trip on the Appalachian Trail, I've been thinking nonstop about when I could get back to it.  I decided that October would be a great month for the next trip.  Why October?  It's not too cold, the bugs are gone, and those fall colors would be at or near peak!  Of course, Misty was on board for this trip, and Kara decided she wanted to join us, too.  After discussing some options, we decided to start at the beginning: Springer Mountain in Georgia to an unknown point in western North Carolina, determined by how far we could make it in ten days.  We made our plans, fine-tuned our gear, and bought plane tickets.  Our plan was to fly into Atlanta and then shuttle to the starting point.  Then, wherever we finished, we'd shuttle back to Atlanta and fly home.  

There was nothing to do but wait now, and we waited.  And waited.  Finally, we had just a month to go!  The countdown was on!  But then, Helene arrived.  Hurricane Helene.  She made landfall on September 26th, and while the damage from Helene wreaked havoc on Florida's gulf coast, the devastation to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee was catastrophic.  So many lives, homes, towns, and roads were completely lost by the flooding caused by this hurricane.  In addition, it was reported that the Appalachian Trail was at best impassable in places, and at worst, completely wiped out.  I could go on and on about how severe and widespread the damage was and continues to be.  Due to the condition the south was in, we had to change our plans in a hurry.  Our trip was in two weeks, and we had to come up with a brand-new itinerary as soon as possible.

After throwing out a few rough plans of sections north of the hurricane damage, we made a choice. We decided we'd begin just north of the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia, and hike about 98 miles from Virginia, through West Virginia and Maryland, to Pennsylvania.  Estimating daily mileage was just that-an estimate.  I knew the last section we hiked had kicked our butts, so I made conservative plans, with a few days that would push our limits.  Hopefully, we could loosely follow the schedule.

Friday, October 11, 2024

Front Royal, Virginia Gate 7 to Jim and Molly Denton Shelter 

Northbound Miles 972.4 to 977.6

At 3:30am my alarm went off.  Jason had me to Kara’s by 4:30am, and we headed to pick up Misty at 5:00am. Southbound!  Kara had originally planned to nap a little on the drive to Virginia, but we were all filled with excited chatter and the time passed very quickly.  Before we knew it, we had made it to our starting point. 

We arrived in Front Royal at Mountain Home B&B a little after 2:00pm, where we planned to leave Kara's car for the week for a small fee.  After checking in with owners Scott and Lisa who were so kind and helpful, Misty offered to re-packed Kara's pack, since this would be her first time carrying all of her gear.  We hit the trail by 3:00pm, entering at the Gate 7 entrance.

The three of us took it easy, adjusting to our heavy packs. I think within those first few miles we were all silently wondering what we could’ve left behind to lighten our loads!

The trail was gorgeous, though, with pops of fall color all around us. Although the temperature was sitting in the high 60’s, the plentiful uphill climbs and added weight on our backs had us pouring sweat right from the start. We passed a very ripe thru hiker after just a couple miles, and we were all quite concerned about smelling as pungent as he did after a few days on trail. 

After just five miles, we arrived at the Jim and Molly Denton Shelter where we planned to camp for our first night. 

We dropped our packs and wandered the area, in search of a flattish spot with room enough for our three tents. We were not about to actually sleep IN the shelter, after the "Great Mouse Incident" earlier this year.  In no time, we had our tents up, gear unpacked, sweaty wet clothes changed, and we were headed to find wood for a fire. Our tents were pitched very close to each other, because some of the girls were very nervous about bears. Some girls also wore rape whistles and carried air horns to deter bears.   (I am not some girls, for the record.) 

 I would just like to tell you how much I love my tent.  Setting it up takes only a few minutes, and crawling inside and stretching out in there is one of my favorite parts of every day.  

Firewood was a little scarce, but we managed to get a good little blaze going and cooked our evening meal in the pavilion beside the fire.  We had the place to ourselves here, and we were happy it was just the three of us.

After dinner, I spent a bit of time reading through the shelter log.  I always love reading these, and this one did not disappoint.  Every day is unique for every hiker, even when hiking the same section of trail as thousands before you have done.  It's really great to read all the different perspectives and side jokes and highs and lows other hikers share in the books.

Daylight was quickly leaving us, so we packed up our food, stashed our bear canisters, and settled into our tents for the night. I was pretty happy our low temperature was only going to be in the 50's and wore my lightest layer of clothing inside my sleeping bag.  Hopefully, everyone would sleep well!

Daily miles: 5.1

Time on trail: 2:22:14

Elevation gain: 1073 feet