My Trails

That was about it for our hike. We descended South Mountain and walked about three miles along the abandoned railway into Harpers Ferry. We were there so early hardly anything was open. A row of restaurants line the lower streets in the old part of town, catering mostly to tourists that visit the museums and relics on weekends. It was Monday morning and we couldn’t find anyplace to eat so we rode the shuttle bus to the Visitors Center and picked up Karen’s car. 

On our way out of town I ran an idea by Karen. I was still feeling good and not in any hurry to stop hiking. I had plenty of trail food left and plenty of time for another short hike. The transportation was not a problem, Karen could drop me off a ways north and I could hike back to my van. The more I thought about it the better I liked the idea. 

We found a pizza parlor and gorged ourselves on wings and pizza, googled a nearby cinema and went to see the new “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, and then checked into a motel for the night. While I did laundry – my hiking clothes were stinky – Karen found a highly recommended Mexican restaurant on Yelp and we ate some more. 

The next morning, Karen dropped me off 20 miles north of my van and I continued on another section of the AT. It was fun meeting the same hikers we met two days before and seeing their surprised looks, answering puzzling questions at how I got ahead of them.  I saw three black snakes, even stepping on one, but no rattlers, thank goodness.  

The weather was great for my extra hike and I made good time to Tumbling Run Shelter, my stopping place for the night.  Tumbling Run is a unique area:  Twin shelters – new, clean, well cared for-  showcase a campground with decks for picnic tables, fire pits, clothes lines, a nice privy with sanitizer, and numerous tent sites. I chose a tent site away from a group of day campers and set up camp. When I returned to the shelter area, the camp host was in the process of kicking out the day campers. The shelters are for hikers, and he told us how campers park at a near-by road and walk in to party.   

There were only three of us then. We practically had the area all to ourselves. I gathered wood for a fire and we talked until dark. One of the thru-hikers was going home in a few days to attend graduation. He was some kind of math major at a prestigious college and had graduated early, leaving him time to hike the AT before the ceremony. He didn’t think he would be back to finish the trail. He missed his family too much. 

When I awoke the next morning, both thru-hikers were gone. There was a heavy dew on everything so I hung around camp for a while, hoping my tent would dry a little before I packed it. I had plenty of time; there was only nine miles left to finish. If I would have known what was just up the trail, I would have probably left sooner, when it was cooler. 

For about three mile, I walked through some of the worst mosquito infestation I’ve ever seen. They were relentless, and Deet didn’t seem to phase them. I think I used half a bottle trying to keep them from devouring me. They even bit right through my clothes. With all the rain in the last few weeks, the standing water made perfect breeding grounds. 

It was almost 2:00 pm when I reached my vehicle. I still felt good after 60 miles and would have probably kept on hiking if I had a way to get back. I hope Karen and I can do another hike this fall and get some family to join us. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

On Monday, 5/23/11, Karen and I completed our backpacking adventure on the AT. We climbed through rolling mountains, traversed long scenic ridges with expansive views, scrambled over rocks and boulders, trudged up slopes that made sweat run down our backs, and descended knee jarring switchbacks into lush valleys. We met a lot of nice people and a few that were a bit odd. We mixed in with hikers that were decidedly grubby, a little bit smelly, and always hungry. We were transported into a place where nature decides your every comfort level and the world moves at a simple pace. 

Our path traversed the whole width of Maryland along the South Mountain range. For forty miles, high above the Cumberland Valley, from Harpers Ferry to the Mason Dixon Line, the AT visits historic sites of the Civil War. This area was alive with skirmishes and battles leading up to the major conflicts of Antietam and Gettysburg. We enjoyed mixing in a little history lesson, now and then, as we hiked through State Parks and Monuments. 

On our first day, we hiked about 9 miles to a dreary looking place called Ensign Cowall Shelter. When we got there we found it already occupied by two hikers. One young fellow sat outside making a pair of gaiters out of an abandoned garment someone had given him. We later learned that he was from Germany, and had the urge to travel to America and thru-hike the AT before he started his career. He turned out to be a delightful, friendly, intelligent guy and both Karen and I enjoyed his company. The other character was a piece of work. He lay in the shelter wrapped in his sleeping bag, sick from exhaustion and drugs. This was the first time he had ever been in the woods in his life, and he was so ill prepared for backpacking that he was a danger to himself. It was hard getting a story out of him that any of us could believe, but we gathered that he had come on the train to Harpers Ferry with a pack that weighed 150 pounds, and had walked for 10 days to get to this shelter that should normally be only two days hike. Besides being  way out of shape and grossly overweight, he had nothing even practical for backpacking. What little clothes he had were soaked from walking in the rain, and he was living on some kind of Army rations. We heard stories of fishing in the river for catfish and building lean-tos for shelter. It didn’t take much thought for Karen and I to move to the area behind the shelter and pitch our tent for the night. 

No sooner than we had settled in to our campsite, along came a troop of fifteen Boy Scouts. They pitched their tents in every available space in the area, surrounding us with their noise and chatter well onto the night. At one point, Karen even spoke to them, asking them to be quiet. They finally settled down and we got a few hours of restless sleep. 

In the morning, we packed up early and planned a 14 mile hike that would put us well beyond the range of the Scout Troop. 

To be continued…

Trail Days was fun but not all I thought it would be. A lot of the speakers finished off their time by trying to sell something they had made or a book they wrote  And the gear companies were really pushy for the sell. I tried to convey that I was just there to learn and figure out what I should buy, but most of them realized I knew as much as they did about hiking gear and stopped the hard sell rather quickly. All in all, I’m glad I stopped to see the spectacle and check out the latest backpacking gear. 

At the end of the second day in Damascus, the skies opened with pouring rain and wind, chasing everyone to their tents and vehicles. The next morning held the promise of an all day soaker, so I packed up and headed north to Shenandoah National Park. 

In the two days it took to reach Shenandoah (I take scenic back roads through the Blue Ridge Mountains), the weather was clearing and the view along Skyline Drive was beautiful. Drifting clouds and bright sunlight, exposed vast expanses of the valley below.  From numerous pullouts along the ridge line you could see for a hundred miles. 

I spent the night at Big Meadows Campground. Rain came again in the night. It seems like it rains almost every night and sometimes every day; At least it feels like it. What they wouldn’t give for some of this rain out west. 

Karen and I will be hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail from Harpers Ferry, WV, through Maryland, and ending in Pen Mar Park, near the Pennsylvania border. It’s a section filled with history: We will pass through historic Civil War Battlefields.  We will get to see the first Washington Monument. We follow the path of Louis and Clark, early railroads, remains of abandoned canals, and stand on the same rock that Thomas Jefferson spoke from. We are looking forward to spending a few days on the trail, now…if this rain would just go away for a few days.  

The Great Smoky Mt. Nat’l Park is an interesting place. For one thing, it has over 800 miles of hiking trails, enough for even the heartiest wanderer. For almost 70 miles the famous Appalachian Trail winds along the loftiest peaks and scenic gaps through the center of the park, tracing with it the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. On warm, sunny weekends the park is swarming with hikers. 

Another reason the park is so popular is because there is no charge to get in. Back when the park was created, a major highway cut through the center of the park, and it was decided that there would never be an admission charged to go through. That’s one of the reasons so many people flock here during the summer. It seemed such a let down to have an Access Pass and not be able to flash it for special treatment. 

On the first day I was here I did my most ambitious, day hike in quite a while. Starting out early in the morning, I walked from Cades Cove campground along Anthony Creek, ascended almost 2000 feet to Russell Field on the AT, and then finished by closing the loop along the summit and back down. It was thirteen and a half miles, not particularly monumental, but with the climb still a good workout. The next day, I took it easy and limited my walk to a five miles hike to Alum Cave. 

Yesterday was my time of sightseeing. The weather has been beautiful. It is unusual to have such clear, sunny, cloudless skies in the Smokies, and every view  from the tops of the mountains was just breathtaking. I joined hundreds of visitors at the Observation Deck on top of Clingmans Dome – the highest point in the Smokies – to views of almost 100 miles. Even the lookouts along the highway afforded spectacular views, and it was hard to even find a place to park. Newfound Gap, where Roosevelt made a famous dedication speech, was equally crowded. 

Later that day I drove to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. The road through town was like a parking lot, bumper to bumper traffic amidst swirling pedestrians, waddling from store to attraction to slurpy food booths. There are over 100 motels in Garlinburg alone. The Great Smoky Mt. Nat’l Park is popular, but Gatlinburg is even more popular, proving that when people pack up the kids and go on vacation to a National Park, what they really want is to be able to browse through gift shops, play some miniature golf, and ride a zip line. 

Karen and I have made tentative plans to hike a section of the Appalachian Trail from 5/20 to 5/24. We will be hiking somewhere in the vicinity of Harpers Ferry, WV, so if anyone wants to join us for our backpacking adventure, let me know. 

You know you’ve been in too many caves when you start pointing out different formations and explaining how passages were created to total strangers on a tour.  After two days at Mammoth Cave NP, I have had my fill of underground tunnels for a while. On the second day of my visit, I took a tour called Grand Avenue – a walk of four miles through some of the neatest parts of the cave. It took four and a half hours to walk and even had a lunch break scheduled in the middle. The tour guide – coincidently named Richard – a retired geology and botany professor, was the most knowledgeable and interesting guide I’ve ever seen.  

From there I traveled to Daniel Boone Nat’l Forest and spent a few days hiking the trails by the Rock Castle River. On one trail I came upon a huge snake laying across the path. I reached out and poked it with my hiking pole, assuming it would scurry off into the bushes, but it turned toward me and coiled like it was mad and would strike. Even though it didn’t look poisonous, I let it have the path and detoured way around. 

On Friday, I stopped at a cinema outside of Chattanooga and saw the movie Water For Elephants. It was a good movie and I would recommend it. I had read the book a while back and wanted to see if the film remained faithful to the story. It was pretty close. 

I spent today at Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia. It is the place where the Appalachian Trail begins in the South. In the early part of next week, and if the weather looks good, I will hike the approach trail to Springer Mountain and the official, southern terminus of the AT. Then it will be off to see the Great Smoky Mountain Nat’l Park.