Trail Route Hiked: (loop) Appalachian Trail, Rocky Top Trail, Big Run Portal Trail, Big Run Loop Trail, and Madison Run Fire Road.
Trail Length: 15.7 Miles.
Outdoor Travels Rating: 4 out of 5 Backpacks
Thumbs Up:
- Abundant wildlife to observe
- Skyline Drive makes drive very enjoyable
- Wide choice of available trails to hike
- Great views from almost any trail in the park
- Despite proximity to DC, very few hikers and limited vehicle congestion
Thumbs Down:
- Few backcountry camping spots
- Lack of water meant no wild flowing streams or waterfalls to enjoy
Lessons Learned:
- Never try to outrun or out climb a bear. Although we didn't have to do this, the speed of bears makes this a no-no. The best thing to do is gather with your fellow hikers to make yourself look as big and as intimidating as possible and make lots of noise.
Shenandoah National Park Hiking Log
October 2002
By Jeff Cobb
Day 1
Hiking on this trip were Dana, his wife Kelli, Christopher, his wife Grace, and myself. Dana and Kelli were coming from D.C. via Tampa, the Burks from Pakersburg, and I'm coming from Lewisburg, so we plan to rendevouz at the Loft Mountain Information Center around 3pm on Friday.
Without a doubt, SNP offered the best "getting there" views of any hike I've been on so far. Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Parkway offers breathtaking views. Every quarter mile or so, the trees would thin out and you'd be greeted by an overlook and parking area where you could pull over, park your vehicle, and take in the views. Even if you never get out of the car, SNP is worth seeing.
I was the last to arrive at 3:30pm. Christopher yelled "Hey Cobb!" as I drove by. I had already spotted them, but he wanted to make sure I didn't miss them. As I pulled in to the parking lot, everyone was busy checking and re-checking their packs. A few deer lazily munched grass in parking lot and people walked their dogs. It was an idyllic setting and I was excited to see my friends and explore my first National Park!
Before we got started, I took Dana up to the Loft Mountain Store to buy white gas for his stove. There are several locations throughout SNP where they have general stores, laundry service, and showers. As we pulled in, there was a deer munching wild crab apples in the grass. The deer took the whole apple in its mouth and devoured it. Dana worried that he'd have to perform the Heimlich manuever on the deer because he was eating the apples whole. Little did we know, these "parking lot" deer will be the first of many memorable wildlife sightings.
We got started on the Appalachian Trail at the Brown's Gap trailhead. A section of the AT runs right through the park. It was my first time on the AT and I was excited. Granted, we were only on it for about 1 mile but I can still say I hiked the AT! A few minutes in, we encountered a small green snake. He was harmless but Grace didn't stick around to find out; she high-tailed it down the trail. Within the first 30 - 45 minutes of the hike, we encountered a lone day hiker making his way out, and then a group of about 4 backpackers a good distance up the trail. We exchanged waves but they had disappeared down another trail by the time we got to them
Since we had gotten such a late start, Christopher (aka "Magellan) had only planned a short 3 mile hike the first day. We were lucky to find a fairly flat area just a few dozen yards up the Lewis Mountain Trail. I had just bought a new tent (Kelty Streamside II). To make a long story short, I got it at 11:30 a.m by UPS on Friday, so basically it went straight out of box and into pack. I left the instructions at home. I assumed it would be a cinch to set up. It wasn't. But with the help of Christopher (who has a very similiar tent), Kelli, and some nice color coded guide snaps, three people were able to set up my two person tent! Don't ask me what would have happened if two people unfamiliar with the tent were alone on the trail.
Right before sundown, we had a visitor. A buck we dubbed Yuri, since he seemed more than a little interested in the area where Christopher had relieved himself a short time earlier. Get it? Urine...Yuri? Anyway, after licking and sniffing for a while, our little Russian buck circled our camp a few times, checked us out, and then was on his way.
We had a great dinner of pasta, chicken, sun dried tomatos, asparagus and fresh lemon, prepared by the Burks. Dessert bars were supplied by the absentee hiker, my wife Amber. Afterwards, all the guys had a chance to throw the sock-nrock for our food bags...some more successfully than others. From our camp, we had a great view of the lights in the distant valley below and the full moon. Shortly after dark, we turned in.
Day 2
The next day was a long hike of about 6 miles. As we hiked along the ridges, we encountered some spectacular views. It was a little hazy, but the vistas were still awesome. As we dropped down, we began to encounter some charred areas. Evidently, the park had a forest fire in 1982, and parts of it are still blackened. It looked a little like a lava field, or the surface of the moon.
We eventually reached the bottom of Rocky Top Trail and started up Big Run Portal Trail to our first water source since the beginning of the hike. There is a very large steel bridge at this point, and we discussed how in the heck they had gotten the materials into this remote location without the benefit of a road and a flatbed truck. We eventually came to the conclusion that they had helicoptered the steel girders in.
We dropped our packs, had lunch, and refilled our water bottles. Dana's hand pump came in very handy. Filter pumps and filter bottles are preferrable to iodine tablets in terms of taste and ease of use. It is also worth noting that the Creek was very dry. There had not been much rain all summer, however, there were several shallow pools remaining. We were entertained by the remaining fish, many of which scrambled to eat the crumbs from our pb&j sandwiches that fell in the water. We criss-crossed the creek several times with ease due to low water level.
A little later, we took a break at another nice water hole. We de-packed, skipped rocks and tried to feed some more fish. Generally, we wouldn't interfere with wildlife in this manner, but we figured since the water was so low and they were stuck in their shallow pool, food might be scarce. Judging by their less than enthusiastic reaction to the several bugs and crumbs we threw in, we guessed they were still getting plenty to eat.
Eventually made our way to the junction of Big Run Portal and Big Run Loop where we planned to camp for the second night. Unfortunately, we were greeted by several large "No Camping" signs due to reforestation projects to regrow ground cover. Crap! Now what? Dana went up and I went down to look for alternatives. A short while later, Dana came back and reported that he had found a suitable spot.
The wives and Dana took the water and headed up to begin setting up camp while Christopher and I took the empty bottles and headed back to the creek to refill. Easier said then done. We had trouble finding any suitable pools. The creek was basically bone dry. We eventually found a very small pool that had backlogged behind a debris dam and managed to fill up the bottles. We even left a little behind for the wildlife. Seriously, these pools were few and far between and imagine that all kinds of critters would be using this pool since it was the only one we could find in a 100 yard section of the trail.
On our way up the trail to meet the rest of our party, we saw only our second group of hikers. This time two guys and a black dog. We asked if they were camping, but they told us they were just on a day hike. Seeing as how it was getting late in the day, Christopher and I wished them luck and headed on our way.
We found the others at a great camping spot a little way up the trail. Soon upon arrival a group of three does showed up and walked around our camp. Sorry to say but the deer in SNP act as if they have been fed by campers. First Yuri and now this. I hope that isn't the case, but nonetheless, the does walked around our camp for awhile then grew tired and left.
We settled down for a dinner of chicken tacos, spanish rice and corn supplied by the Farnsworths, and more dessert bars. Dana, however, didn't get a dessert bar for dinner because he ate his second one earlier for lunch.
Day 3
The next morning, we were treated to a first: a black bear sighting. Actually, it was a cub. Dana spotted him and we all turned to see him (or her) hightailing it up the hillside about 30 or 40 yards down the trail from our campsite. The cub was booking it up the hill, which led us to surmise that if one is ever being chase by a bear, you will not be able to outrun it. Or outclimb it. Although he wasn't chasing us, the speed with which the little guy went up that embankment was startling. Just imagine what an adult could do! Although we never saw the mother, I suggested that we had missed her and what we saw was the tail end of a cub trying to keep up with mommy.
We had a fairly tiring but manageable hike out on Big Run Loop Trail. It was all uphill, about 800 feet elevation climb in all. We played some word games and joked and talked and before we knew it, we rounded a curve on the Madison Run Fire Road and - Viola! - there were the cars! Three days and two nights in SNP. An enjoyable hike, and one well worth the travel.
