Off the River

On the 23rd through the 26th, we camped somewhere along the river. I can't do a whole lot better than that. We got to the take-out spot mid afternoon on the 27th and made it into Chevy Chase, MD that evening.

So... Aquablazing is not quite the relaxing ride down a river that everyone makes it out to be. During the course of the 150 miles, I paddled for somewhere close to 80-85% of the time. It wasn't always rigorous paddling, but I couldn't stop either. To some extent I think this is due to relatively low water in the Shenandoah River. For miles, the river consisted of a multitude of rocky ledges that formed an impression of rapids. Once actually traversing these you realize that it would be more accurate to call them small naturally-formed dams. Usually these have one small little spot where you can make it by without scraping or getting stuck but recognizing that location can sometimes be challenging. As the days went by, I became far more adept at this but even on the last day there were times when I had to push the canoe over ledges.

Another result of this is the fishing in the river is supposed to be amazing. Over the weekend I saw hundreds and hundreds of people on the river. Many were fishing from canoes or kayaks and some were fishing while just standing in the middle. We also passed many large flotillas of people in tubes and kayaks just floating. Even in tubes, people were scraping over many of the ledges, though. I was glad when the weekend was over so the river would feel a bit more remote. It was strange seeing so many people on a river in non-motorized craft, though. Since the river is so shallow, even at the "deep" spots only 4-6 feet, there are virtually no real boats. There are a few small fishing boats out and in the dam backwaters there were a couple jet skis but almost everyone was in a canoe, kayak or tube.

When you combine the shallow water and the fact that for the last three days the wind has been blowing rather strongly in our face I think the 150 miles by river was probably harder than just walking. That doesn't mean I'm sad I did it. I enjoyed the experience and it was a nice change of pace. It gave my hurting feet a nice rest and allowed UV to take as many naps as she required. I just feel like it was described as an easier alternative to this section of trail and that is not entirely accurate. I would probably recommend the whole experience to someone else, but I would be a bit more honest about what the whole journey entails.

The end of the journey went quite smoothly, the guy showed up and took everything away and gave us money and then shortly after that UV's faux mom showed up and gave us a ride into DC. Once there, I saw myself in a mirror for the first time in a while... I have a lot of hair, facial and otherwise. Another three months should really finish off my mountain man appearance nicely.

Starting on the Water

This was written days ago but traveling in a mountainous river valley doesn't lend itself to good signal.

On the 13th, we did 12.1 miles to the north fork of the Piney River (2 miles before Seeley-Woodworth Shelter) and camped. On the 14th, we did 8.5 miles to Priest Shelter and I did roughly 3 extra miles down a steep hill hunting for a rumored free lunch; never found it. On the 15th, we zeroed at Priest Shelter since we were going to get into Waynesboro on Sunday if we didn't, and we needed to hit the post office. On the 16th, we did 13.8 miles to Maupin Field Shelter. On the 17th, we did 15.8 miles to Paul C. Wolfe Shelter. On the 18th, we did 5 miles to Route 250 and got a ride into Waynesboro where we stayed at the hiker hostel in the Grace Lutheran Church. On the 19th, we got our canoes and got put in the river north of Waynesboro and camped somewhere (river camping locations are going to be vague for the most part). On the 20th, we did some more river miles and camped in the corner of a corn field. On the 21st, we camped at the Newport Dam (it was our second portage of the day and we didn't want to get back in the water). On the 22nd, we did two more portages and camped seven miles after the Luray Dam, where the national forest runs along the river.

The hiking part of this post was actually a really nice section of trail. There were some great views at Spy Rock and some rock ledges along the trail. It wasn't too difficult of a trail either. The only other notable occurrence was one dinner when I was draining my pasta I dumped it all into a mud puddle. This was the saddest thing that had happened to me in a long time. I quite literally cried a bit. UV took pity on me and picked it out of the mud and rinsed it a little. The gritty Mac and cheese was most definitely a sadness meal. Despite this we made it to Waynesboro.

When I hit Route 250, I saw a minivan on the side of the road letting out hikers and hoped this would solve my problem of getting into town. It was none other than Santa's Helper who I met when he was doing trail magic way back on Wayah Bald in early North Carolina. He said he had been told we were coming into town today and was going to wait for us here. What a great guy. He is helping out with the hostel and is giving hikers rides all over town. The next day he drove UV to the doctor's and then both of us to lunch and ice cream. The doctor thinks UV has Lyme disease.

In town we called a bunch of people to see what our options were for aquablazing. The best one we could find was with Aquablaze Jeff. He has a pretty smart business model; we buy everything from him outright and when we get out of the water he buys it all back for less. This means he doesn't have liability if we hurt ourselves or if we take off with the boat. Seems like a great idea. It doesn't matter how many days it takes us or what we do; we will call him right before we get to Harper's Ferry and he will come up and pick everything up.

We got picked up at 2:00 and brought to what he considers the best starting point. It is a little north of Waynesboro but it avoids a very large rapids that you have to portage around so it seemed like a good idea. Once dropped off, we loaded everything into the boats and set off. It had been a long time since I had been canoeing. For the last ten or more years I have been almost strictly a kayaker. In the first two miles, on our third or so set of rapids, we swamped the canoe. It was more funny than anything and I promised to try a bit harder at steering in the future. We only lost our bailer (oh the irony) and my cold beverage.

Since then, I have become quite adept at navigating the numerous rapids in a most scrap free way. Sometimes there are rocks that I can't see or I get distracted by something and smack into a rock. Other times I just don't plan my route through the rapids enough and get stuck without a way clear of rocks half way through. It has been a complete new set of challenges and interesting experiences and I'm glad we decided to do it. Besides, I think 2012 miles hiked and 150 miles canoed sounds cooler then 2187 miles hiked. On top of that, Benton MacKaye (mastermind behind the AT) said he thought you should canoe this section when the Skyline Drive was put in since it would completely ruin that section of trail. So it's fun, new, interesting, and recommended by the mind behind the AT; seems like more people should do it for the full length not just a day or two like most people.

Well I guess it's on to more rapids, the biggest one we do is today. I'll probably write again once I get to Harper's Ferry and find my way into DC.

Sickness Leads to Amazing B&B

On the 9th, we did 9.1 miles after leaving town at roughly 1pm. On the 10th, we did 9 miles to a campsite along the Lynchburg Reservoir; UV felt quite bad this day and agreed to go to a doctor. On the 11th, we did 3.9 miles to US 60 and got a shuttle to Lexington and stayed at the Brierley Hill B&B. On the 12th, we zeroed at the B&B for more resting time to get over sickness and because it was amazing.

So leaving Glasgow we felt good. UV was feeling better and we thought we could go back to hiking. After about 2 miles, UV wasn't feeling good anymore. So we made it 9 miles and found a nice campsite next to where a 5 year old kid was found dead in 1891. He is supposed to haunt the shelter a mile down the mountain but we camped on the top where he was found and apparently he doesn't mind that since we were left alone.

The next day, UV just wanted to sleep, so I let her. Unfortunately we had to move eventually and did 9 miles after 3:30. During this day she gave in to going to find a doctor so we planned on getting a ride into Lexington. The shuttle worked perfectly and we got into town early the next day.

Brierley Hill B&B is amazing! The owner is a hiker so they have great deals for thru hikers that includes a shuttle. After showering, UV got a ride to the free clinic in town to get checked out. She was turned away because she has a little bit of health insurance and only people with no insurance are eligible. Isn't our health care system great? She was told her best bet was a cheap clinic in Waynesborough. So we have four days of hiking to get to a doctor if she still is feeling bad.

The next morning we had an absolutely amazing breakfast! It started with an apricot pear soup. Followed with some banana bread and blueberry muffins. Then an egg and mushroom casserole (of which I had seconds). It was during this breakfast that we decided to spend another day here, partly for more rest for UV and partly because it was so amazing. I'm convinced that even though it wasn't free it was basically trail magic. The thru hiker rate was quite comparable to the price I've paid for a bunk in a hostel so it must barely cover expenses, if it does. Anyway, the lesson here is stay at Brierley Hill if you are hiking and haven't hit Lexington yet or even if you aren't hiking and just want a nice place to stay.

After another great breakfast (strawberry soup today) we are back on trail and trying to make some miles despite UV still feeling terrible. If we can get to Waynesborough, we can hang out in a canoe for a little while and then we are probably going into DC for a few days from Harper's Ferry. That should allow us to get healthy.

Check out Brierley Hill... Brierleyhill.com

Unfortunate Sickness

On the 31st, we did 5 miles after doing errands around town and camped at Fullhardt Knob Shelter. On the 1st, we zeroed at the shelter due to varying reports of a really bad storm coming in that day with bad hail. We didn't want to get stuck somewhere. On the 2nd, we did 11.1 miles to Harveys Knob Overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway. On the 3rd, we did 15.9 miles to Bryant Ridge Shelter. On the 4th, we did 13.5 miles and camped at the Harrison Ground Spring, 4 miles past Thunder Hill Shelter. On the 5th and 6th, UV felt even more sick than she had been and we zeroed at the spring. On the 7th, we did 11.3 miles and hitched the 6 miles into Glasgow, VA, for some supplies. On the 8th, we zeroed in Glasgow, VA, to give UV more time to feel better.

This section of days was mostly distinguished by UV feeling bad and/or sick. Ever since Trail Days she has felt a bit under the weather but it was more pronounced this last week. We were able to make some miles for a few days but then she felt really bad for a few days. We were forced to hike on and get to a town so we could resupply. After two days of sleeping for most of the day she was starting to feel a bit better. She still feels much more tired than normal and is under the weather. In fact as I write this, a rather nice quote was uttered. "My head hurts and I'm nauseous and I'm hungry and whiny and I'm sorry. *GRRRROOOAAANNNN* I'm so angry!" I think that sums up the scenario rather well.

As for the miles of trail we managed to get done, it has been rather nice. The trail for a while followed along the Blue Ridge Parkway which meant there were a lot of overlooks to come across. It has been a tad strange to actually be able to see views again. Despite having a few more views, the trail has been pretty much the same as it has been for a while.

Glasgow has done a really interesting thing. It is a very small little town 6 miles off of the trail with other towns 20-30 miles north and south of it on the trail so there wouldn't normally be much reason to come here. The town decided to build a shelter in the middle of the town. It is a larger than normal shelter for the trail but besides that the only thing that makes it stand out is its location in the middle of town. It has a nice hot shower built right next to it with a privy. It is such a smart idea. This offers a free place to stay for hikers in town and because of that causes many hikers who wouldn't normally come to town to stop in and stay. Since it was mainly done as Eagle Scout projects, it didn't cost the town much and the upkeep costs less than all the hikers bring to the town. It is a bit surprising more places haven't tried it.

Doesn't seem like an overly large update but I can't think of anything to add. Photos are of us making a feast in town and one of the views along the Blue Ridge.