In Training on the Appalachian Trail
January 6th, 2007 by Cathie and Randy
We know the next three and a half months will fly by. While Christmas decorations still dangle from the tree, we seem unable to do anything at home except preparation for the PCT. It’s what stokes our fire. WE BOUGHT OUR PLANE TICKETS! Wahooo!
It’s the first Saturday in January, and the kids outside are on scooters, bikes and skateboards wearing shorts and T-shirts. Hey, didn’t we move from Florida 26 years ago? Could have fooled me. I’m just betting we’ll have a snowless winter in Northern Virginia, and then spend June slogging in snow up to our hips in the High Sierras.
The day after Christmas Cathie’s mom dropped us off at Rockfish Gap, just east of Waynesboro so that we might walk the Appalachian Trail north, through the south and central districts of Shenandoah National Park to Thornton’s Gap. There, our friends Kevin and Sherri, owner’s of Hopkins Ordinary Bed and Breakfast in Sperryville promised a New Year’s Eve Feast. We knew they were good for it, so that was our motivation. This was to be a 5 night backpack trip, with the weather generally predicted to be fair, though with rain, possibly sleet and snow on Saturday December 30th. In town predictions were for lows in the upper 20’s and highs in the lower 50’s. Given that we would be at elevations of 2200 to 3400 feet, we figured the temperature might be in the teens at night. We took our zero degree bags. We don’t like to be cold.
Our itinerary turned out to be: Calf Mountain Shelter, Blackrock Mountain Hut, Simmons Gap, the ridge north of Pocosin Cabin, Rock Spring Hut and finally out at Thornton’s Gap and picked up by Sherri on December 31st. We hiked 14 miles per day after the first day, when we got on the trail after noon and only hiked seven miles.
The weather was consistently gorgeous, and the rain we were prepared for never showed. We had a blast - a really fun hike, and at least the south district of the park all to ourselves! The best part was getting up early, in the dark, and actually hiking on the trail when the sun peeked over the mountains. Blackrock Mountain was awesome early in the morning, with misty views of mountains all around. And Saturday, when it was supposed to be rainy - not even a cloud in the sky. When a hiker reported to us the change in weather forecast (no rain until Monday) we couldn’t believe our luck.
We did get to see the massive damage done by the ice storm in November, and we had to walk 2 miles on Skyline Drive to avoid a section of trail which was reported nearly impassable by a late-season southbound AT thru-hiker. Skyline Drive was closed due to blow downs still on the road, and we saw park crews at work there, and Potomac Appalachian Trail Club volunteers working on the trails. We ran into John Hedrick, the new Supervisor of Trails, and our friend Catherine Kelleher.
Some blowdowns were taking a good half day to safely disassemble. Chain saw aside, you have to be very careful cutting and pulling apart those piles of tree trunks and branches. There is often a good deal of potential energy stored in those tangles, which can spring loose with a vengeance once you start cutting. Folks have been seriously injured when they are in the way, and avoiding a mishap involves studying the pile of fallen trees and branches, analyzing where the energy is stored, and what might happen when this log is cut, then that log, etc.
On Sunday, the only overcast day, the wind was brisk and bitter cold on the ridges, but we saw people out, climbing up to Mary’s Rock. We ate well on this trip, thinking early on that we had overpacked those food bags, but we ate every scrap and still felt we were leaner at the end of the week. Food will definitely get to be an issue on the PCT, and we will publish a schedule of approximately when we will be where, so those who are inclined can send Care Packages, care of general delivery.
But as for this trip, any shrinkage in the waistline that may have occurred was “corrected” with the meal provided by Kevin and Sherri on New Year’s Eve. Wow. And then there was breakfast the next morning, and we rolled on home.
