Shakedown Trip #2

Greetings everyone!

It has been nearly a month since my last post, and I have been slow to get back into planning mode. Why? I’m sure I could come up with some creative reason(s), but the honest truth of the matter is that I have been lazy. Over the past month, nearly three weeks were spent playing host to a brotherly visit from, well, my brother! Our “grand achievements” during that visit were an epic viewing of Ron Moore’s re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series (2003-2009), consuming large quantities of pizza, and enjoying the pool out in the backyard. The only thing I did relating to my A.T. aspirations were: 1. Doing laundry of my hike/camp clothes, and 2. An exhaustive weighing of every single item I took on Shakedown Trip #1.

So, out of lazy mode and back into planning mode, I am pleased to announce that Shakedown Trip #2 has been planned! (yay… the crowd goes wild!) I had envisioned Shakedown Trip #2 to be a simple out-and-back trip taken over a weekend, with a daily mileage between 8 and 10 miles for each day. So, I grabbed my trusty A.T. Guide and began searching for an A.T. road crossing with a parking area that was located 8-10 miles from a shelter. My intent was to start on a Saturday morning, hike to the shelter for that night, then return to the car on Sunday and head home.

However, what I found was even better than that! I located a road crossing having a shelter only 0.5 miles away, with the next shelter 9 miles beyond that. That would allow for an overnight stay on Friday night as well! This region of the trail is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia just north of where the James River cuts through the Blue Ridge. The majority of the trail is along a ridge line offering splendid views of the river valley below.

View into the James River Valley from the ridge

Here is a satellite overview map of the region that will be covered. I have sloppily labeled three points on the map. Point A is where the Blue Ridge Parkway crosses the A.T. and where the car will be parked. Point B is Punchbowl Shelter – the destination for Friday night. Point C is John’s Hollow Shelter – the destination for Saturday night.

Satellite Overview

For convenience, I have included a link to this location on Google Maps here: Satellite Overview I encourage you to check it out so you can zoom in for detail, and zoom out for context.

For those who chose not to interact on Google Maps, here is a context map showing a large-ish portion of Virginia. The map shows some recognizable cities including Richmond, Charlottesville and Lynchburg. Look closely and notice that even the quaint little town of Crewe is shown on this map! (inside joke for a certain reader of this blog) The manually poorly drawn black rectangle on the left side shows the area detailed by the satellite image above. The area of green containing the doodling is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Context map showing location of the satellite image.

The itinerary for this trip will be as follows:

Punchbowl Shelter – our destination for Friday night.

• Day 1: Friday, June 20th, 2014 – Leave home at 1:00pm and arrive at the parking area on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Point A on satellite image). Hike the 0.5 miles to Punchbowl Shelter (Point B on satellite image). We hope to arrive at the shelter no later than 6:00pm.
• Day 2: Saturday, June 21st, 2014 – Hike the 9-ish miles from Punchbowl Shelter to John’s Hollow Shelter (Point C on satellite image). (btw – interesting name, right? I mean a shelter is hollow in a way, since there is an inside. So does this one belong to John? Who is this John person anyway???)
• Day 3: Sunday, June 22nd, 2014 – Hike the 9.5-ish miles from John’s Hollow Shelter back to the car (Point A – again – on satellite image). Once at the car, head back home.

John’s Hollow Shelter – our destination for Saturday night

There are two big challenges with this route. First, there are no water sources between the two shelters. That means on both Saturday and Sunday, we have to leave the shelter with the total amount of water required for the day. Extra water = extra weight. Second, most of this hike is along a ridge with moderate ups and downs. However… On Saturday, the final 3 miles is along a 2000ft descent. That means that on Sunday, the first 3 miles will be a 2000 foot ascent. That is actually a good thing – it means we’ll cover the most difficult section early in the day and have relatively easier conditions for the rest of the day.

Some may have noticed that I have used the words “we” and “our.” This would imply a member other than myself that is participating. That is most definitely the case and I am super excited about it. Danny, who was present at the Schairer Trail Center (the cabin) during my previous trip, had expressed an interest in participating in future shakedown trips. After I had planned this trip, and asked if he’d like to join me, he responded with a positive “yes, definitely interested!”

So there we have it. Shakedown Trip #2 is planned! I feel that my primary goal for this outing is to actually complete a trip as it has been planned. Taking the lessons learned from my last trip, I have set what I feel are reasonable goals and milestones for myself. Backpack weight is not the only consideration but it will be less than last time – for two reasons. First, I will be eliminating some redundant items I took last time. Second, my food bag will only have two days of food rather than five.

In closing, the thought of having a hiking partner is really cool. Danny better watch out, or I might end up convincing him to join me on my thru-hike in 2015!

Wandering On…

Kelly