Day 0: Driving to Crabtree Falls Campground

August 15, 2014 – Friday

So what is it with this Day 0 stuff anyway? Some of my trips have a Day 0 and others do not. Here’s the deal – Day 0 is used for trips that have a “staging day” that doesn’t involve any hiking. In this case, all participants (Me, Danny and Jim) arrived at Crabtree Falls Campground independently and camped there for the night. Hence, Day 0.

Following a short work day, I headed home to perform final packing preparations. Most of my packing had been done throughout the week, but there were a couple items needing attention. First was to actually change into my hiking clothes! Second was to assemble a small cooler with ice, bottled water, and yes – a couple tall beers for Friday night. I do not take beer on the trail with me, but since Friday night was technically a “car camping” night, the idea was sound. And, oh boy, were they nice with the steaks! (see more below)

So Kelly got on the road. After three hours of driving, it occurred to me that I would soon cross the Appalachian Trail along Route 56 several miles before the campground. I decided I would stop at that spot and take a few photos of the area that I would, days from now, be hiking through. But before that, I realized there would be an excellent view of Priest Mountain along the way. I stopped in the middle of the road (no traffic) to take this photo out of my car’s window. The highest point along that ridge is Priest Mountain’s summit – which Danny and I would be ascending on Sunday (Day 2).

At that same point on the road, I had this nice view of Three Ridges Mountain which we would climb on Saturday (Day 1) and then descend, partly on Saturday and partly on Sunday.

Further along, arriving at the aforementioned intersection of Route 56 with the A.T. I encounter one of the few foot bridges on the A.T. I *so* had to grab a photograph of that. Because we would actually *hike* across this foot bridge on Sunday, this picture is something of a preview of things to come.

Finally, this is the parking area where the A.T. crosses Route 56 – see any familiar vehicle? (Hint: The car left of the van is mine.)

A few miles after that photo-shooting stop, I arrived at Crabtree Falls Campground. Below shows a Google Earth view of the campground area – but with our specific campsite circled in blue. The Tye River can also be seen – that darker region starting at lower left and ending at upper right. The river passes right by our camping area.

I arrived to find Jim already present and setting up his camp. By prior arrangement, I knew that steaks were on the menu for dinner. That was totally awesome because…. well… steaks are awesome – beats the hell out of a re-hydrated dehydrated meal. But before dinner, we hiked down to the Tye River and captured these photos…

 

 

After visiting the river, we returned to camp and tended the fire – readying for cooking. Jim had started the fire some time ago. He utilized lighter fluid as a starter – so getting the fire going was no problem whatsoever. Danny was scheduled to arrive at 7:00pm but was running late. Jim and I set up our tents while we still had daylight. Below, you can see that Jim’s “larger-than-necessary” tent is in the foreground, while my perfectly sized “spaceship-looking” tent is in the background.

Here is a reverse view of things. My tent is in the foreground with Jim’s in the background. Have I mentioned how much I have come to love my tent? Well, I really do. Not only do I think it looks really cool and bad-ass, it is also extremely functional. There is plenty of room in the tent for my sleeping setup and my gear. There is even enough room to fit a second person, but it would be extremely tight. It is also very flexible – you see it here in “storm mode” but there is also an awning mode where the rain fly can be propped up on both sides to create a porch-like effect. Also, in guaranteed dry-weather conditions (what is that???) you can even roll up the rain fly to expose the tent’s interior mesh walls for maximum breathability. Oh, and in this photo, you can just make out our camp fire in the upper right. Flame on!!!

Here’s Jim – tending his steak. See those two poles across the fire ring? Well, Jim brought this really odd tripod contraption. It’s supposed purpose is to be setup over top of a fire. The tripod has a grill which is suspended from the tripod’s apex. I had never seen anything like it in my life. Try as he may, Jim could not get the dang thing setup correctly. He finally came to the conclusion that some vital piece was missing – either lost or left at home. After a bit of pondering, he came up with an excellent MacGyver-type solution which you see below – and even better in the next picture. Two of the poles across the fire pit, and the grill sitting atop the two poles.

Man, doesn’t that steak look good? When Jim went to flip his steak, it became apparent that the grill had a tendency to slide around atop the poles. If he wasn’t careful, it would slide right off the poles, depositing his steak directly into the fire. To combat that tendency, we found a perfectly sized and weighted rock which we placed onto the grill. This provided sufficient friction between the grill and poles to prevent the grill from sliding around. Unfortunately, yours truly didn’t capture a photo of the grill-sliding-tendency-eliminating-rock. (New acronym? GSTER? Thoughts?) But wow, doesn’t that steak look pretty?

After Jim’s steak was done, he proceeded to eat it. While doing so, he told the tale of how the steaks were purchased. In the town of Lovingston, VA, he stopped at a grocery store. In the meat department, he asked for three of the “top quality” steaks they had on hand. When confronted with the price, surely a shocker, he inquired, “Uh… Can we maybe go just one step below that?” Great story – whose effect was much better in person than in written word here.

After Jim was done, and after some debate as to who would cook my steak, my steak was then on the grill. Why the debate? Here’s the short version: The exact particulars of Shakedown Trip #3 changed several times. The version of the trip that existed prior to the final version that actually happened had Danny and I night hiking on this Friday night to our first shelter. Jim suggested that we should not be night hiking, and he offered the option of camping with him on Friday night. He would then drive us to our starting point on Saturday morning. To sweeten the deal further, he offered to “grill steaks FOR us, for dinner.” Well, who could say “no” to cooked steaks? (Vegetarians are exempt from the question) I was totally sold. So after Jim finished his steak, he tried to pawn the cooking of mine off to myself. I called him out on that, per his offer! Initially, he responded with a jovial, “I lied.” response. But in the end, he relented and began cooking my steak.

I say “began cooking” because shortly afterwards, Danny arrived at about 8:30pm. Danny assisted Jim with a few camp-related tasks and also set up his own tent. During that time, I ended up finishing my own steak and eating it. I can’t convey in words how excellent the steak was. I do have to say, it was my FIRST (and hopefully not my last) steak that was cooked over an open camp fire. It was SO good. Like I intimated earlier – I did not “miss” my dehydrated meal that night AT ALL. Mmmmmm. Mmmmmmm… Mmmmmm…. (Anyone seen “What About Bob?” before?)

Danny didn’t even have the advantage of Jim starting his steak – he had to cook his all on his own from beginning to end. He didn’t seem to mind though, as I heard no complaints during the cooking or the devouring of his steak.

It was now time for me to sleep. I performed a few camp cleaning tasks and retreated to my tent for the evening. As I laid down, all comfy in my sleeping bag, I realized that going with Jim’s version of Friday night was an excellent decision. First, the steaks – enough said. Secondly, considering the previous version of the trip and how it would have played out, I would have arrived FAR earlier than Danny would have. I would have arrived at the starting point at 5:00pm and gotten to the shelter at 6:30pm. Danny would not have arrived to the parking area until 8:30pm and not to the shelter until 10:00pm. Quite the disconnect.

The plan we followed was perfect – we all rendezvoused at the same place, at different times and had a most-excellent dinner. Danny and I were prepared for our hike – complete with a belly-full of awesomeness.

In the morning, we would pack up and jettison items not needed for our hike. We would drive our cars to the end point of our hike, and Jim would then drive us to our starting point at Reeds Gap.

But for the moment…

Sleep…

 

Wandering On…

Kelly