So Long to the Shennies, AT Observations, and Bits and Bobs

And On We Go!

It has been an eventful few weeks since we left the Bear Den Hostel on March 6, 2025.  Relying on shelters, we traversed south, entered the Shennendoah National Park on March 8, 2025.  The first day proved a challenge, as a side hike to the Apple House Restaurant that was listed on the Farout App as 1.2 miles, was actuallly 2.6 miles.  For whatever reason, two large, scraggly male hitchhikers were unsuccessful in garnering rides.  But, after a great breakfast, George the owner was glad to give us a ride back to the trail.  The restaurant and business have been in his family for 60 years and are worth a visit.  George’s son was an AT thru-hiker in 2009.

The Shennies are not as challenging as the rolllercoaster, but the trail seems to follow a similar trait in that it ducks into valleys, and then climbs every ridge in the area.  A typical ridge top is 20 to 40 yards wide, and then drops of precepitously on both sides.  One side often has a wall of boulders before the drop off.  The trees on the ridge top often appear stunted and wind swept.  I assume it is a poor place to be located during a thunderstorm.

I have descerned that my good buddy Steve and I trek apace when on flat trail segments, but ascents are a different matter.  Steve takes off up hills like he has a rocket pack on his back, while I do not.  I have pondered this for hours while backpacking, and my fully-developed theory suggests that the difference is inherited.

I believe DNA explains it.  I suspect that Steve’s ancestors centuries ago were Tyrolian goatherds, chasing their goats up and down hills, mountains and craggs, ensuring their safety.  Such work for many generations likely imparted an ability to quickly ascend hills.  I have no idea whether canines helped or whether yodeling was required.

My hiking theory also suggests that my ancestors from centuries ago were likely clamdiggers working the low-tide tidal flats of Ireland, England, Scotland, and France, who took their baskets of clams, scallops, whelks, and cockles home to their shops, or peddled them to pub denizens, all the time never ascending higher than 25 feet above sea level.  Such work never required the development of the lungs required to climb steep terrain.  I have developed this theory over many AT miles.  Stay tuned – I may refine it during future meanderings.

The important thing, though, is that Steve and I respect our different styles of hiking, and the adage to “hike your own hike.”  It works.

People on the Trail

After leaving Luray, VA, Steve and I separately ascended Mary’s Rock.  I was shocked to have someone ask me “Are you John?”  It turns out Gettysburg College’s Garthwait Leadership Institute had a class on the trail, learning about leadership through outdoor activities, and Steve told them I was coming along.  This college is in my hometown!  What a coincidence.  I have also been a student of leadership for years, and believe that discussing skills and then applying them is a great way to ingrain the concepts.  Kudos to Paul Miller and his students!

We ran into a number of students on college break in the last few weeks.  Emma and Yzza from Virginia Commmonwealth University shared a campsite with us at Bear Fence Shelter and campsite on March 13, 2025.  We enjoyed comparing equipment.  I have enclosed a photo of these great hikers.  Go Rams!

Winter Hiking

Winter backpacking is more unique than I had realized.  There are many more blowdowns on the trail; many hikers say there have been more storms this fall and winter than normal.  None of the Shennendoah National Park stores and facilities are open, and there are fewer folks hiking the trails.  Most shelters are empty, providing little need to set-up tents.  The ridgelines and trail provide glimpses into valleys and distant views, as the trees are without leaves.  We only met our first two NOBO thru-hikers in the last few days.  The weather has enabled us to get our hiking legs underneath us and to winnow our packs of items we absolutely needed a month ago, but can live without now that we are feeling the weight for over eight hours a day!

Even without the green of a spring and summer trail, their is great beauty in the variety of the winter surroundings.  Rock screes, fog-filled woods (with a doe examining me through the mist), and boulders lining the trail create contrasts I had not expected.  I am thankful for the variety.

Nature Observed

I flushed a brown bird sitting stock still next to the trail on one of the higher reaches of the AT.  He flew off explosively through the trees, never getting more than 15 feet off the ground.  I believe it was a grouse.  I hear woodpeckers often, but have yet to see one.  Owls are often heard at night.  One early morning I heard a screeching cry, changing downward in frequency as the cry trailed off.  I believe it may have been a bobcat, as I’ve been told it has a similar cry.

Our most unique nature experience was when staying at the Rock Spring Shelter on March 12, 2025.  The docility of the deer – standing within five feet of an approaching hiker – should have clued us into the possibility that the wildlife had become accustomed to humans.  About 6:00 a.m. Steve awoke to find seven skunks approaching his hammmock and a nearby tent.  After shooing them, they then made a frontal assault on the shelter.  Steve continued yelling at them and waving a trekking pole like he was auditioning for a Zorro movie.  After seeing numerous raised tails, he ascended the picnic table and protected the shelter from his new vantage point.  Steve later stated, “They came at me like I was a food truck!”  I was of absolutely no use, as I was sleeping off a stomach bug.  One of the smaller skunks entered the shelter, but stayed in the corner.  The episode ended at sunrise, when the skunks headed off like Cinderella at midnight.

In hindsight, we believe it was a mother skunk and her brood of skunklings (Note: it was decided by a later night’s group of residents at a different shelter that – upon hearing the story – the term “skunkling” was a better name for young skunks than skunkettes, kittens, or even the correct kit.)  The National Park Service was made aware of the agressiveness of the mother skunk and her six skunklings.  Most importantly, no critters were harmed – or hikers sprayed – in the encounter. 

My Good Buddy Steve Gets a Trail Name

Steve has become Central PA.  And for those unfamiliar with things Pennsylvania-centric, PA is pronounced to rhyme with “We Hay,” and not “Haw.”

Sinkholes

Back on one of my first blogs I wrote about noticing a sinkhole adjacent to the AT in a cornfield in Cumberland County, PA.  My younger brother Dutch, being newly retired and perpetually curious, asked me to geo-locate the sinkhole.  I did, provided him the data, and he tracked down a publication on Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) website.  Dutch believes it shows the exact sinkhole, as well as a chain of them in neighboring properties.  The publication is “Sinkholes and Karst-related Features of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania,” by W.E. Kochanov (1989).  Now you, too, can go down rabbit holes about sinkholes!

Southbound!

After a zero day in Waynesboro, VA, we will shortly be southbound into the George Washington National Forest.  Hopefully, you’ll continue to come along with us on the trip.

Hogmaw out.