Here we are... 1017 miles, the mental half-way point of the trail... and finally out of Virginia (don't get me wrong... loved VA, a beautiful state full of very nice people) and into West Virginia/Maryland. The past 2 weeks have been full of surprises and unusual events. We've seen Bears, snakes, deer, and tourists. We've enjoyed beer, burgers, hot dogs, and cowboy stews. We've hiked, canoed, swam, hitchhiked, and bushwacked... we are entering the second half of a journey that only gets better with time... and crossing the Mason Dixon line and the land of Yankees... no more backwoods hillbilly moonshine for a while... sad face!
Departing Waynesburo took longer than expected... a gear delay held us back one day. Johnny and Scott at North Face have been incredibly helpful in getting me a pack that fits and will hold the larger load with dog food. The new pack is 70 liters and much beefier for holding 50 + lbs. The people in Waynesburo were excellent hosts who welcomed us and offered as much help as we could have asked for. We got onto the trail and entered the Shenendoah National Park, just in time for Memorial Day!
Shelters were packed from the start, and oddly placed with regards to mileage... making for short days (12 miles) or really long days (30 miles). Every day we would walk into what was called a Wayside... most of these have beer and food. Beer is sold as singles... we indulged in the adult supplies several afternoons, sometimes avoiding hiking for upwards of 5 hours just to enjoy the intoxicating effects of Bucsh Light! On Saturday Sawman and I stumbled onto an all you can eat buffet with pulled pork and fried chicken... very tastey, but not the best light fare for the long distance hiking that took place afterward. On Sunday after a few hours of beer drinking and a safety meeting with a mountain biker we decided to bushwack back to the trail by heading North, keep the sun to our left. We lost Knees in the woods for almost an hour, I saw a bear on the trail... but no signs of Knees until we started up the trail and incidentaly ran into him as he finally found the trail again. But all of the delays put us ontop of a lookout at sunset and we enjoyed a very beautiful end to the day.
Aqua Blaze plans had been floating around for a week, since we had learned that it was possible to run the Shanendoah River N to Harper's Ferry (as mentioned in the previous post). Joining SpaceShip and Safety Patrol on this adventure was SawMan, L-Train, and Snake Eyes. We rendezvoused at the Terrapin Station Hostel, but Sawman missed the turn-off and Snake Eyes and I slacked down to meet and swoop up Sawman so we could catch L-train at the grocery store and stock up on supplies for our floatilla.
Rain came pooring down as we reached our ride to Front Royal, and three soaked hikers met up with a dry dog and Mike, our driver, and headed into the staging point for our river trip. We stockpiled on burgers, beer, and other perishables that we had been unable to carry in our packs for the past months, and pushed our shopping cart possey to the China Buffet accross the parking lot. Four carts sat fully stocked as we munched down on Orange Chicken and Crab Ragoo (that's what I call it) untill our cab arrived and we pilled our food pile into a mini van and headed to the Budget Inn.
When hitchhiking the hitcher carries the understanding that the driver may and will most likely be an interesting character... a wise hitchhiker will turn down a hitch that doesn't feel right, whatever the reason may be. Sometimes you realize you've missed some obvious warning signs, but it is too late to refuse a ride, unless you want to ditch on the highway at 50 mph and take your chances. Some obvious warning signs for anyone hitching a ride or hailing a cab:
- The cab is not marked
- There is no meter in the cab
- the driver walks with a limp, a hard limp
- the driver talks about selling crack
- the driver has been shot by a cop
- the driver got away from said cop
- the driver then removed the bullet from his own leg
- the driver talks about doing crack
- you think the driver did crack before picking you up
The next morning we called the canoe company, Front Royal Canoe, to arrange a ride when we got the unexpected news that we would not be able to run our trip to Harper's Ferry due to high water... sad face
Breakfast... classifieds... impatient chamber maid... phone call... change of plans... moved gear out of room in 10 minutes to get $30 late fee back... moved all of gear into FRC van... arrived at outfitter... packed dry bags and coolers... ride to put in at Lurray... loaded gear into two canoes... launched canoes... cracked a beer... safety meeting... floatilla underway!
Our first day was fantastic, got into camp at 7pm and cooked a cowboy stew of kielbasa, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and other goodies. The next morning we found a rope swing over a deep part of the river and enjoyed the joys of gravity (20 foot jump)... then around lunch time we hit the class III rapid that we had been warned about. Our boat with L-train and the beer decided not to stop at the agreed pre-rapid take-out to tiedown gear and scout out the rapid... instead we stood up and headed right into the wavy watery mess... and proceeded to take on enough water to fully sink our canoe... but we were still in it enough to keep paddling and push through the final wave and fully flip the canoe and disperse all of the contents into the brown river water.
Lexi said "C-ya" as the beer cooler floated past her and into my face, allowing me to grab it and proclaim... "It's ok.. i've got the beer!" But I had to let go of it in order to get the canoe into the upcoming eddy so we could empty the water and re-load our vessel. But not all of our gear was heading into the eddy, so I left the canoe with l-train and began retreiving our gear from the current in hopes of salvaging the important stuff... success! After a bit of hard work and lots of swimming/paddling... all gear had been collected and accounted for... and SawMan and I decided to head back up to the top of the rapid and float it on an inner tube we had found. Floating on the inner tube was near impossible, so we headed down the wave train in shambles, knocking our butts on every rock within reach of the surface... laughing... yelling... and having a damn good time.
At camp that night we found a cabin unlocked and enjoyed the matresses and power outlet free of charge! Our final day was a nice easy float, thundershowers crossed the river in front and behind us, and then finally at the last mile, directly over us... making our final stretch quite exciting! Stumbling up to the outfitter, we accept the invitation to camp down at Bone's site (dudeman who worked at outfitter) for the night.
5am the next morning, after a freight train passed by knocking earplugs out of ears and waking people 5 miles away, Snake eyes and L-train decided to pack up and try and hitch to Baltimore for Andy Days. I pack up as well and join the troop. We catch a ride (3 hikers and 1 dog) in less than 5 minutes and as we rode into front royal, lexi and I in the bed, Snake eyes pokes his head throught the cab window and informs me that they're heading to DC. Not thinking clearly I stay in the truck for the next hour until Dale drops us off at a 7/11 near Dulles Aiport... nowhere near Harper's Ferry.. a bad idea. But Andy agrees to pick us up and drop me and lex off at the ATC HQ in Harper's ferry... and we finally arrive at our resting point for the afternoon.
Mom and Dad make it into town around 5, just as the HQ was closing down, and we all head to Moonridge Cabin, where I sit writing this story on a leather couch on a beautiful cool day.
(to be continued)
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