A HIKE IN THE WOODS—
Our base camp was at an elevation of some 3,500 feet--not very high by Himalayan standards but more than 2,000 feet above the highest point in Ohio.
We got our tents pitched that arrival night just before a hefty rain storm hit our campground in the Big Meadows area of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The tent rattled and snapped in the wind as I drifted off to sleep hoping for a night of dry comfort in the howling weather with temperatures quickly plummeting to an overnight low of 50.
Dawn arrived as a quiet glow in the tent fabric and I noticed my left hand was dry as it explored a sleepy reach around the air mattress while the rest of me remained buried somewhere in my blanket reinforced sleeping bag.
It’s not fun to get dressed while you can see your breath but the reward of discovering a platoon of whitetail deer munching grass in the fog just outside the tent flap made the discomfort dissolve.
I was glad it wasn’t a platoon of black bear; sightings of which occurred all around us during our week’s visit including one bear romp right through our shower/laundry area.
We were launching ourselves on what turned out to be fairly grueling hikes totaling some 14 miles on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and another 10 or so on intersecting, local trails in this 100 mile long park along the Skyline Drive.
That first day’s stroll was on a local trail to the Blackrock Lookout at 3,721 feet above sea level. From there we endured a steep, rocky descent; down, down and down some more to the Lewis Spring Falls, an 81 foot shower of water in the woods.
This outing took 2.5 hours and covered 3 miles, 1.3 miles of which were on the AT—my first ever!
The following morning we launched out of the Skyland Campground area and climbed to the Stony Man Overlook at an elevation of 4,010 feet with the town of Luray, VA far below. On a later drive into that town we noted a valley temp of 78 degrees which dropped to 61 as we climbed back up the mountain.
The prettiest hike of our visit was to the Dark Hollow Falls; a little over ½ mile long drop of 440 feet along a mountain stream with high rocks and even higher trees—everywhere. It was easy to imagine being sequestered in a primordial forest.
Our most challenging hike slapped us in the legs when we launched on an immediate and hour-long 30 degree climb to the summit of Hawksbill Mountain; at 4050 feet elevation, the highest point in the park.
From there the ridgeline dropped below 3,000 feet before challenging us to ascend another 700 feet on a 6 mile trek back to our base camp.
When I got done with that one I felt like I had walked from Mansfield to Cleveland—twice.
On all of our romps through these heavily forested mountains I was constantly on the lookout for bears; often finding fresh evidence of their being in the trees and munching on acorns.
I never saw a bear.
Our base camp was at an elevation of some 3,500 feet--not very high by Himalayan standards but more than 2,000 feet above the highest point in Ohio.
We got our tents pitched that arrival night just before a hefty rain storm hit our campground in the Big Meadows area of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The tent rattled and snapped in the wind as I drifted off to sleep hoping for a night of dry comfort in the howling weather with temperatures quickly plummeting to an overnight low of 50.
Dawn arrived as a quiet glow in the tent fabric and I noticed my left hand was dry as it explored a sleepy reach around the air mattress while the rest of me remained buried somewhere in my blanket reinforced sleeping bag.
It’s not fun to get dressed while you can see your breath but the reward of discovering a platoon of whitetail deer munching grass in the fog just outside the tent flap made the discomfort dissolve.
I was glad it wasn’t a platoon of black bear; sightings of which occurred all around us during our week’s visit including one bear romp right through our shower/laundry area.
We were launching ourselves on what turned out to be fairly grueling hikes totaling some 14 miles on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and another 10 or so on intersecting, local trails in this 100 mile long park along the Skyline Drive.
That first day’s stroll was on a local trail to the Blackrock Lookout at 3,721 feet above sea level. From there we endured a steep, rocky descent; down, down and down some more to the Lewis Spring Falls, an 81 foot shower of water in the woods.
This outing took 2.5 hours and covered 3 miles, 1.3 miles of which were on the AT—my first ever!
The following morning we launched out of the Skyland Campground area and climbed to the Stony Man Overlook at an elevation of 4,010 feet with the town of Luray, VA far below. On a later drive into that town we noted a valley temp of 78 degrees which dropped to 61 as we climbed back up the mountain.
The prettiest hike of our visit was to the Dark Hollow Falls; a little over ½ mile long drop of 440 feet along a mountain stream with high rocks and even higher trees—everywhere. It was easy to imagine being sequestered in a primordial forest.
Our most challenging hike slapped us in the legs when we launched on an immediate and hour-long 30 degree climb to the summit of Hawksbill Mountain; at 4050 feet elevation, the highest point in the park.
From there the ridgeline dropped below 3,000 feet before challenging us to ascend another 700 feet on a 6 mile trek back to our base camp.
When I got done with that one I felt like I had walked from Mansfield to Cleveland—twice.
On all of our romps through these heavily forested mountains I was constantly on the lookout for bears; often finding fresh evidence of their being in the trees and munching on acorns.
I never saw a bear.
But, I’m still pondering Lynn’s question, “I wonder how many bears saw us?"
___________
In the small photo above an AT blaze--the white rectangle--is visible on the tree to the right.
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