The Appalachian Trail follows the entire length of Shenandoah National Park from south to north, covering 103 miles. My journey through the park was made special by having my son, Logan, and son in-law, Julian, accompanying me on the trail for the first half of the park. To top it off, my wife, Nancy, and daughter, Shelby, joined us in the midpoint of the park to stay in lodge.
For not having their “trail legs”, Logan and Julian did a great job, covering 57 miles in five days. During their hike, they got the total experience: carrying a heavy pack, walking the “green tunnel”, tent camping, meeting other hikers, bugs, hiking in the rain, and of course, bear encounters.
Stealth Camping
Bear Bags Hung
Logan had a particular aversion to the insects, and would frequently make pronouncements like “Nothing is more sacred than the buglessness of the body.” In contrast, I discovered that after over two months on the trail, I no longer notice the cloud of gnats around my head.
Logan shaking the bugs out of his tent
Logan coined a new hiking term, “trudge mode”, to describe walking uphill, heads down, without breaks – usually at the end of the day heading for camp.
Julian and Logan in “Trudge Mode”
The weather for hiking was generally good so we were treated to some good views.
View of sunset from Loft Mountain
Looking West
I did get some fiendish pleasure when it did rain, since the boys would not have gotten the “total experience” without having hiked in a rainstorm.
Hiking in the Rain
Not as a result of any careful planning, but by pure luck, we hiked up to Big Meadows Lodge about thirty minutes before the women arrived by car. The lodge, completed in 1939, has a rustic charm. Our rooms were completely wood-paneled – floor, walls, and ceiling with “native wormy chestnut which is now virtually extinct” – according to the plaque. (I was happy to see they had installed a robust smoke detector and sprinkler system to prevent us all from going up in smoke.)
Family Photo
Among the other charms of an 80-year-old hotel are a lack of soundproofing and porosity to rodents. Nancy and my room was right over the lobby/common area. We could hear all the goings-on in the hotel, and presumably vice versa. One evening, Shelby was in the common room and texted Nancy in our room, “Did you just sneeze?” Sure enough, she had. We heard various reports of people with mice in their rooms. I reported a mouse late one night to the front desk, assuming there really was not much that could be done. The desk clerk disappeared for about twenty minutes and returned to hand me a mouse trap and a slice of Swiss cheese. I give her an “E” for effort.
During Nancy and Shelby’s stay, it was rainy and foggy so we spent a lot of time in the common area playing games and puzzling, as well as taking in the house entertainment.
Puzzle Master
House Entertainment
When Logan saw that the evening performer was named David Gilmore, he had faint hopes that this could be a cover act for the David Gilmore, the famous lead guitarist for Pink Floyd. When the first song was “My Girl”, his hopes were dashed. The performer said he had strict instructions from the house to “play whatever you want.” We ended up enjoying his set, with Nancy and Logan even getting in on the act. As luck would have it, Nancy was walking in the door when the singer was asking for help on percussion.
Nancy the Percussionist
Logan showing his chops on tambourine
Shenandoah National Park is all about the bears. There are images of bears on the signs, t-shirts, mugs, keychains- you name it. The Shenandoah black bears are plentiful, and not a bit afraid of people, but anything but tame. This seems to me like a bad combination. The park has done an admirable job of installing bear boxes at campsites and bear poles at shelters – all to keep the bears from associating people with food. If you car camp, you have a bear box right by your picnic table. Unfortunately, you have <insert your own adjective here> tourists who leave trash around, or even feed the bears. Bears being such a focal point, my post would not be complete without a couple of bear stories. All told, I had two bear encounters while hiking with the boys, and two more while hiking alone.
Logan, Julian, and I saw our first bear feeding very close to the trail. After a few minutes, three more hikers came up behind us – so we had strength in numbers. The bear completely ignored us while we took a few pictures. After waiting a while for the bear to move, we decided to all clack our trekking poles together to get the bear moving. This appeared to just annoy the bear rather than scare him, so we waited him out and he eventually moved on.
Bear checking us out
Bear crossing the trail
I was hiking alone when I came upon my last bear – a pretty good sized one. He was also near to the trail and I didn’t see him until I was way too close. I backpedalled quickly and managed to fall flat on my back (fall number four for my hike). After a while, an older lady hiker came up from behind. We waited a while, but there would be no strength in numbers – we were on our own. We clacked our sticks, yelled, and whistled but the bear stayed put. I tried moving down the trail closer, but instead of moving away, the bear seemed to take a step towards me, so I beat a hasty retreat. Dang you stubborn bear, out of our way! After strategizing with my hiking parter, we decided to do a bypass. Fortunately, there was no steep dropoff on the other side of the trail. We bushwhacked down the mountain, over logs and around boulders, then back up to the trail beyond the bear. Problem solved. I will be quite happy if I see no more bears on the trail.
Bear 3 for Randy – An adolescent
Other flora and fauna from the park…
Black Vulture
Luna Moth
Cottontail Rabbit
Whitetail Deer
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