Backpacking the Shenandoahs

Trip at a Glance:

• Number of Deer Spotted: 6
• Number of Deer Who Thought They Were Actually Dogs: 1
• Number of Bears: 0 :(Number of Miles Hiked: 12
• Number of Pounds Carried on Back: I'm guessing 45 if the water bottles were full
• Number of Bug Bites: Only about 10. Not bad.
• Number of Stoned Hippies: At least 100.
  
• Most Interesting Encounter: The super fit father of 4 grown children who was biking the entire Skyline Drive on Saturday--all 112 miles--and then going back the other way on Sunday.
  
• Biggest Oversell: The coffee at Aunt Sarah's in Richmond, VA
• 2nd Biggest Oversell: The Park Rangers super-favorite-secret campsite on Patterson Ridge Trail
• Best Freeze Dried Dinner: Santa Fe Chicken from Backpacker's Pantry
• Most Overpacked Item: Clothing
• Easiest Trail: The Appalachian Trail - at least where we were. It was pretty even didn't require too much climbing.
  
• Biggest Climb: Jones Run Trail - about 1000 feet in our estimation.

Overall Rating: 3/5 Stars

The Shenandoah National Park offers an range of options for the hiker. Skyline Drive runs along the top, with side trails going down into the valleys or up along mountain ridges. You can head down any of these side trails for some backcountry camping, or set up at a larger campground and do day hikes. Even if you are doing the backcountry option, as we were, you can emerge from a trail onto Skyline Drive and get a cold soda and a burger at the Wayside Cafe, or get a cold shower and do your laundry at the Loft Mountain Store.

We started our trip heading down the Doyles River Trail. At the trailhead, we encountered the baby deer/dog (see above), who kept cantering out from behind an RV in the parking lot to check us out. He'd pause, and then dart off in a circle to his hiding place behind the camper. After watching the deers antics and loading up our packs, we headed down the trail for about 2.5 miles and camped at the confluence of Doyles River and Jones River. Both of these were more like streams than rivers. There were a few small waterfalls on the way down, but having gotten a late start we pushed ahead to find a campsite. Field mice scampered about the site at nightfall looking for a bite, and we heard a couple of owls calling, but fortunately our food stash seemed undisturbed in the morning.

Jones River Trail seemed like a popular day hike--we saw several passers by as we cooked up oatmeal and coffee in the late morning. We set off up the trail, which climbed steadily back up tot the top of the ridge. After three or four hours of uphill hiking, we hit the AT for a couple of easy miles and returned to the Doyles River trailhead.

Overall the valley experience was nice, but we decided we'd try to stay up on the ridge for the second day. After a cold soda and some fried food at the Wayside Cafe (where we met the crazy cyclist), we drove up to the Loft Mountain Campground to inquire about a prime backcountry hike with a view. The Ranger suggested Patterson Ridge trail, where his secret campsite offered a huge pine tree with a soft bed of needles, a partial view of the canyon, and wildflowers and bunnies. It was also a short 20 minute hike away from main road. Well, this was a bit of an oversell. We found the campsite about 100 yards off the trail, and it was nice, but not quite what A. was expecting. So we decided to hike back to the car, watch the sunset at one of the overlooks, and spend the night in Charlottesville so A. could get an early start back home in the morning (work duty called).

I was a tad bit disappointed not to do a second night of camping, but Charlottesville, VA turned out to be a nice surprise. The historic Main St. of the town is closed to cars and full of cafes with outdoor seating and, on this particular occasion, hippies leaving some kind of Grateful Dead spin off concert. It was nice to get a fresh meal and a nice shower. But I haven't had my fill. A. and I both thought that next time we'd look for a prime site on one of the ridges, where we could leave our heavy packs and do some day trips up the mountains or into the valleys. But I'd also like to do a big chunk of the Appalachian Trail sometime... maybe in North Carolina.

Packing List

I'm going on a three day backpacking trip in the Shenandoah National Park, but by the looks of my guest bedroom, where I've spread out all my gear, I'm leaving for a 3 month expedition in the Himalaya's. The thing about such trips is that the basic gear stays the same whether you are going for 2 days or 10. The only difference for a longer trip is that you need more food and more socks.

So my packing list includes:

• tent
• sleeping bag
• sleeping pad
• lightweight backpacking stove and gas cannister thingy
• water filter (thanks Jen!)
• water tablets and Crystal Light (my preferred method but apparently not satisfactory in the Shenandoahs).
  
• 3 Nalgene bottles
• 3 pairs hiking socks (need to locate 1-2 more pairs in the bottom of my closet/sock drawer)
• a couple shirts, pants, shorts, etc.
  
• cooking gear and eating gear
  
• food: two prepackaged freeze dried meals, granola bars, oatmeal, crackers. (A's bringing more).
  
• first aid kit
• toiletries
• camera
• whistle and compass
  
• book: Harry Potter y el misterio del principe (These books are a great way to keep on my Spanish... aside from traveling places which is way better of course.)
  
• A bunch of other random crap: rain poncho, tarp, bungees, rope (for hanging food out of the way of bears)
• Topo map (very important)
  
• Medium sized "Juice box" of wine--this is a very handy invention
  

Since I'm meeting my hiking buddy A. near the park, we are going to sort through our stuff before striking out. So maybe some of these things will be duplicates and I can jettison them from my pack, which last night weighed about 30 or 35 pounds. This is I think more than I should be carrying but on my last trip my pack was 45 pounds so this felt like nothing. And I am using a new internal frame backpack made for women, as opposed to the 1972 external frame pack I used on my last trip.

We checked out a number of possible routes but I think we've settled on this one. It looks good for a weekend: easy 2.3 miles the first day, which is good because we are meeting at 3:00 and will probably need at least another hour to get our s**t together. The second day is 8 or 9 miles and covers some of Furnace Mountain without making us hike the whole thing all at once (apparently it is called Furnace Mountain because the sun beats down, nearly boiling one in one's own skin). The last day is 6.4 miles or so. So hopefully the weather will be nice and my pack won't suddenly way 20 lbs more when I put it on....