Shenandoah! What a sight!
Trip Start
Apr 10, 2005
1
6
25
Trip End
Dec 20, 2005
Where I stayed
Shenandoah National Park,
Virginia,
United States
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
After spending an anxious 2 days waiting for the rain and thunderstorms to end, we checked into a motel and watched Cold Mountain (Nicole Kidman, Jude Law) filmed during the Civil War period based in the very same mountains and ridges in the Shenandoah Valley. We finally embarked on our overnight backpacking trip hiking an easy 21km in the backwoods of Shenendoah National Park in Virginia. Now you may think us wimpy for not putting up with a little downpour, but it's no picnic to crawl into a wet tent, with 2 wet people and one helluva stinky wet dog whose having a mental breakdown due to the thunder
A snack for Sam
. The morning mist of the mountains gave us spectacular panoramic views with the fog rolling into the valley below. Hoisting our backpacks with minimal provisions, we marched into the woods happy to leave the town of Front Royal behind. Within minutes of entering the trail, white tail deer sprung up from the forest floor like magic sending Sam into a frozen, delighted stance. Sam has to be kept on his leash while we're hiking anywhere in the States, and it's a good thing as it would certainly scare off the wildlife, or conversely, bring unwanted wildlife to us. All sorts of migrating birds twittered and flew all around us. Bird book and binoculars in hand, we had begun to keep a log of every species of bird we identified. How delightful! Our hike to some of the peaks on our route also brought us to eye level with soaring Red Tailed Hawks, Golden Eagles and Turkey Vultures flying just around our heads.
We camped overnight deep in the woods, not a soul in sight and dreadfully cold being up so high. A mysterious "Clop, Clop, Clop!" noise in the night and early morning only made me think of the Blair Witch Project as it did not sound like a noise any animal would make. Quickly getting on our way the next morning, we walked through kilometers of eerie dead forests due to a recent gypsy moth infestation, but cheerfully found some beautiful butterflies along the way
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
. Sam always walks in the front as his ears and sense of smell give us some indication of the nearby animals. We had been following a trail frequented by coyotes and Sam proudly peed on as many coyote scat as his bladder would allow. Still no bear droppings. Sam's nose had been twitching for a while and this time he turned his head. Turning around as well, I saw the little fella, a black bear, about 40ft to our right in the forest. Good thing Sam turns into a frozen statue everytime he spots another animal, cause by the time Karin could come within whisper, it's furry black bottom had thankfully turned and ran away from us. No bigger than Sam, we quickly made haste in case there was a momma bear nearby. We soon came upon some fresh bear droppings on the trail. From that moment on, the safety trigger was off our can of bear pepper spray.
We made it back to the car just in time for the rain to start again. A side trip to Virginia's Luray Caverns was well worth it. The tour was an hour long and took us over a mile of spectacular stalactite and stalagmite growth formations, a la cheesy tour guide who talked out of one side of his mouth with a deep southern accent. We spent the evening camping at Big Meadows campground and spent the two most coldest nights ever. It was so cold, we couldn't even sleep in the tent and had to bunk down in the car for warmth. It was so cold, both of us had at least 5 top layers and 2 bottom layers on just to stay warm. Enough was enough, so today we are leaving the beautiful Shenandoah Mountains to North Carolina and Tennesse taking a leisurely scenic route along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
