Monthly Archives: September 2015

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Fogged in at Tentsite #43 (Day 2 – Saturday 9/26/2015)

I left this story as Sidekick Pauli and I were preparing for a night in the tent.  She was on her cushy mat covered with a fleece pad and I made myself as comfy as possible on my Thermarest pad. I had my 20 degree bag underneath and my 35 covering us both like a quilt.  It was quite cozy as darkness fell and Sidekick Pauli’s little snores kept me company as I read my book with a headlamp.  The soothing pitter-patter of raindrops soon had my eyes lids drooping, so I called it a night and drifted off into dream land.

Campgrounds!!! Boom-boom-whack-boom…a family had rolled in after dark and by the sound of it were constructing the Taj Mahal.  No need to worry about the bears…back to sleep…

Peeking my head out of the tent in the morning I couldn’t see more than ten feet in front of me!  That was pretty wild. I waited about an hour for a little more light to filter through the fog, then headed to the car. “Let’s go, Pauli!  This is car camping, I need coffee!”  and I found it at the Wayside…gladly paid $3.04 for a coffee they branded as a “large” but would have been classified as a medium (or a “grande” for you Starbucks folks 🙂 )

Need coffee...what a welcome site on a chilly, wet morning.

Need coffee…what a welcome site on a chilly, wet morning.

Then I headed south with the intention of finding a place to hike where the fog was not as heavy.  This turned into quite a quest!  I drove into the southern section of the park and found a few beautiful views.

Southern Section Overlook

Southern Section Overlook

We hiked a little of this and little of that as I drove back north towards Big Meadows, where it was just as foggy as I had left it!  I decided we could walk down the road to Rapidan.  I was NOT going into the Meadow in that fog…good God, I could have been lost for hours!!

I can't see anything!

I can’t see anything!

We had a good time and eventually the fog lifted in the Meadow, so we entered and found many beautiful wildflowers, in addition to an apple tree dripping with apples!  We were ready for lunch soon after stomping up, down, and around Big Meadows.

Walking into the Meadow on the Rapidan Fire Road.

Walking into the Meadow on the Rapidan Fire Road.

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Heading back to the tentsite I took in the spread of the Taj Mahal campers.  Two huge tents, food everywhere, and the number of red Dixie cups would positively have the Leave No Trace peep’s panties in a twist.  It even made me cringe…seriously, I think these campers produced more trash in two days than I produce in a month.

“Okay…stop judging them!!!” I made a conscience decision to STOP JUDGING them…I was camping.  “Just let them camp, girl! It’s fine…everything is fine!”  So I left it and enjoyed my lunch. 🙂

And it was fine!  Their kids came over and met Sidekick Pauli, and she adored them.  Mom was very nice, as was Grandpa!  How cool that the whole family was getting together for good times outdoors…I love that!

The fog had lifted, but it was still chilly.  Here is the issue with bringing my dog on a rainy weekend…there is not much to do with a dog on a rainy weekend if tenting.  I certainly wasn’t going to tie her to the tree and let her get cold, while I sat in a comfy chair reading my book.  She wasn’t allowed inside anywhere…and we didn’t come out here to hang out in the backpacking tent…so only one thing to do…hike!

I picked up the AT where we had left it yesterday and hiked south to a cemetery, then looped back on a horse trail.  Not a long hike, but long enough to stretch our legs once more before the rain started up.  Which it did, right on cue at 5 pm.  Even so, the tent was a welcome respite and kept us cozy one more night. 🙂  Hike on!

After our last hike of the day...time to relax in the den!

After our last hike of the day…time to relax in the den!

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Fogged in at Tentsite 43 with Sidekick Pauli (Day 1 – Friday 9/25/2015)

Tentsite 43 – Big Meadows, Shenandoah NP

I had the site reserved well in advance.  This was planned to be an outing with my nieces “No Bend Barbie” and “Jedi”, but No Bend is finishing up her Master’s in Geology and was way too deep in research to come…so we postponed until next May.

So I figured I would take Sidekick Pauli!  My first solo camping trip and a long time since Pauli has been on an overnight with me.  This would be fun!  We could chill out at the campsite, enjoying the crisp autumn air, watching the leaves fall, and take an occasional hike.  Hey, I even bought a new camp chair for the occasion at the REI sale a few weeks ago!

As our weekend approached I got nervous…too many nice weekends in a row…oh, the probability for a rainy weekend…

Right on cue, the forecast said occasional showers, then rain at 6 PM on Friday night.  Okay, okay, I will get there early and set up the tent.  We can get a hike in  before it starts raining…

Cruising up to Sperryville, Virginia, I glanced at the wall of mountains before me shrouded in white…uh oh…

Well, I will just drive on up to the park entrance and see what is happening.  As my car climbed up, the fog rolled in, and soon I was moving at about 20 mph, hands gripping the wheel, as shapes swirled in and out of the fog in front of me.  Hmmm, It’s not raining…maybe we just need to gain a little altitude, you know, to get above the fog bank.  So I flashed my pass at the gate and turned south on Skyline Drive headed for Big Meadows (still at 20 mph, but now with the addition of the hazards blinking merrily to the sorry souls who dared hug my bumper).

Turning into Big Meadows, I was mollified somewhat.  The fog had lifted a bit and my optimism for an adventure had returned!  Tentsite 43 let’s go!

Great site by the way.  Way back in the woods.  There is a picnic table, bear box and tent pad.  There were also a few little trails behind the site.  These trails made walking Sidekick Pauli late at night very easy!

After setting up the tent, We set out for Lewis Spring Falls.  This trail is a 3.3 mile loop which I was able to reach by walking from my site (a nice plus!).  The fog was again falling through the trees which made my traverse along the Appalachian Trail magical.

All of my previous doubts about staying the weekend disappeared as walked along the AT.

All of my previous doubts about staying the weekend disappeared as walked along the AT.

The trail followed the AT south past the lodge, then a right turn on the fire road, passing an exhausted looking family unit. “Hey, how are you guys?” I cheerfully greeted them…Dad says, “We’re great!”…Mom says, “Kill me now…”  The teenagers were happy though!  I left them to their resting spot and headed on to the falls.

This was going to make that Mom like her hike again! Did I just walk into a fairytale?

This was going to make that Mom like her hike again! Did I just walk into a fairytale?

Whoa…lots of switchbacks!!! It sprinkled a bit, but I had dropped below the fog and could now see distant peaks.  Reaching the top of the falls, everything was wet and the rocks were slippery.  I guess to actually see the falls I would need to descend a little more…but knowing my propensity for taking a tumble and that at the moment I was hiking sans hiking poles (and with a dog)…I decided not to go any further!  I didn’t feel even the least bit sad about that decision either.  Some people just love waterfalls, I am not one of those people.  I like them, they are pretty, but I don’t have to see them in person…unless of course we are talking about Niagra…

An unexpected view on this foggy day!

An unexpected view on this foggy day!

I wondered why everyone was going back up the same switchbacks they came down…then I figured it out.  When you loop, the trail gets pretty rocky.  Holy crap! I hadn’t bargained on this for my easy, afternoon, 3.3 mile hike!! Careful, whew! I didn’t slide and I didn’t fall!!

Back at the site, I proceeded to make dinner.  As soon as I had finished cleaning up and putting things away, then rain started in earnest.  It was 6 pm.

Happiness is a warm puppy!

Happiness is a warm puppy!

We didn’t come out of the tent until after dark so Sidekick Pauli could have a little walk into the woods, so to speak.  Then we were in for good! Into the fog…hike on!

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Feeling Beachy at Elk Neck State Park-Maryland

The Chesapeake Bay! Turkey Point Lighthouse!

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There is no better indication that summer is still here than a sailboat on the bay!

It took two hours, half a tank of gas, $8 in bridge tolls, and a $3 entrance fee to get to Elk Neck from Frederick, Maryland…but the views of the Bay…yes, definitely priceless!!

Elk Neck is located on a peninsula at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. The place where the Susquehanna, North East, Elk, and Bohemia Rivers spill into the Bay. At the southern most part of the park, Turkey Point Lighthouse sits atop the bluffs affording an expansive view of the Bay.

Sidekick Pauli and I started our hike on the White Banks Trail at North East Beach. Dogs are allowed on all the trails and beaches, except for the swimming area. The trail description describes this as a “challenging” trail, but that must be by eastern Maryland standards. 😉
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Within 15 minutes, we came to a “T” in the trail. The official trail goes left, but shamelessly, I went right…and oh my!! The beach, a secluded, empty, windy beach! Yippee!

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Sidekick Pauli’s first view of the Bay

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Driftwood is very, very cool

Sidekick Pauli approached the water with great trepidation. When a wave would roll, then crash, onto the beach, she would jump back startled. These were tiny waves! Oh well, mountains and lakes are more her style. 🙂 🙂

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The waves are chasing me!! Maybe I can climb that cliff…

There was a great piece of driftwood for us to sit on and eat our lunch. Total relaxation overtook me sitting there on the sunny beach watching sailboats drift by in the Bay.  Then Sidekick Pauli, having had quite enough of the sand, and the waves, and the wind, whined and pawed me leaving wet sand all over! Time to keep hiking!

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Okay, okay…we’re going!

After the stop at the beach we climbed the steepest hill of the entire hike.  I remember it, not for its steepness, but for the woman who we passed as we were going up…a cigarette and whiskey voice with a starlet physique…memorable. 😉

Next stop was White Bank overlook…pretty cool.  Watch your step! It’s a long way down!

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White Banks…and a rather abrupt drop off!

Continuing around the park, we took a side trail over to meet up with the Pond Loop.  Acorns and pawpaws were my only obstacles…and I slid twice! Darn acorns!
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The pond was more to Sidekick Pauli’s liking, so we took our time around the perimeter.  I love those big, plumed grasses that grow on the eastern shore of Maryland.  The pond’s shore was thick with this grass.
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Once we were around the pond, we caught the Farm Trail back to the parking lot.

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It’s not a flower, Pauli.

However, we were not done for the day!  The one unfortunate aspect of this park is that it is split into two pieces, with a prestigious bay community inbetween. 😦  Lucky for the residents, not for park visitors!  So if you want to visit the lighthouse…which of course you do…you will need to drive down to the lighthouse trail.  Which we did! Then NO PARKING was available, but the park ranger made a space for me! 🙂 🙂

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Turkey Point Lighthouse

Thank you, ranger!
Lovely day at the Bay!

Hike on!

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A Morning at Boliver Heights Battlefield

The mysteriousness of a heavily fogged in morning.  It feels both calm and spooky, like something is about to happen.  Battlefields are especially moving in the early morning and add in the fog…well, walking through it, having it swirl around me and swallow me up…left me feeling as if I had entered a magical place where it was possible to transcend time.

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Looking towards Schoolhouse Ridge

Sidekick Pauli walked with me this morning up the the hill from Schoolhouse Ridge.  I looked back at the car once finding it hard to see in the mist.  I looked back twice and it was gone.  A thick misty white wall moved across the field in no hurry to rise into the sky.  We headed on up the hill and eventually emerged from the fog. How beautiful the opposing Schoolhouse Ridge looked.  We turned back to enter the woods and climb up to Boliver Heights.
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The climb was gentle and several deer greeted us with a quick glance and a flip of the tail as we made our way up.  Then the beauty of the ridge!

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Sunrise at Boliver Heights

Looking down to the Potomac & Shenandoah Rivers … rivers still hidden at this early hour.  Absolutely stunning!

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Looking down into Harper's Ferry

Headed back down into the woods after walking along the ridge enjoying the views. The trail here was a little rough with several blowdowns. At one point I wondered if I had gotten off the trail, but there was a definite path in front of me so I continued.
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Coming to a fork in the trail, someone had tied ribbons to indicate which way to go. Downhill, well, that makes sense. So down we went! More blowdowns, then into a pawpaw patch we followed the ribbons.
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“Yay!” I thought, catching site of the field as we climbed over our last log. Entering the field, we were about 100 yards away from a farmhouse. I heard a man’s voice yell up to me, “Are you lost?” Um…um…awkward! I didn’t think so, but apparently this was someone’s private property!! After talking, well, yelling back and forth with the guy, we had no choice but to follow the ribbons back up the hill! I don’t know who marked that trail, but ergh.

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Dead end!!!

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Back on the ridge, but the fog is gone

A lovely morning to explore, though! And hey, eventually I will find the right trail down the hill! 🙂

Happy Friday and take the weekend to hike on!

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Caledonia State Park, PA…Put it on the short list!

Caledonia State Park is quite possibly one of the prettiest state parks near Frederick, Maryland.  The air is scented with pine, the creek bubbles and gurgles as it curls its way through the park, and the towering pine trees leave me with the most serene, peaceful feeling every time I visit.

Labor Day Weekend I was invited up by Queen V.  She was spending the weekend at the park and decided to come out of her tent to hike with me!  I haven’t seen her since the backpack in June and was looking forward to hearing about her hike in Sweden.  One of these days I will go on a hike somewhere in Europe…but until then I depend on my international hiker friends, like Queen V!!

Stopped at the visitor center to pick her up, then headed to the Hosack Run area to pick up the Greenwood Road Trail.  We walked through the woods catching up on the summer and on Queen V’s adventure on the Fjallraven Classic.

BoobOnARock and Queen V take to the trail...oh it's on!

BoobOnARock and Queen V take to the trail…oh it’s on!

We were hiking to the Long Pine Run Reservoir in Michaux State Forest.  September was here and the start of the day had been crisp!  I could feel a hint of autumn in the air!

Queen V is a great person to hike with because it is so easy to carry on a conversation with her as we hike.  I am not much of a talker, but it seemed as if the miles flew by as we gossiped, caught up on each other’s adventures, and generally, just rambled about whatever. 🙂

Lunch by the lake. :)

Lunch by the lake. 🙂

The terrain was perfect for my recovering knee (injured last weekend dodging a bee…).  There were no big step downs, which are still giving me a bit a pain.  But more than that, there are so many pine trees that the trail is pretty soft in spots…love it!  We stopped for lunch in one such spot.  Sinking into the ground we started pulling out our goodies…oh, what’s that? Queen V brought Sidekick Pauli’s favorite…summer sausage!  Lucky, lucky dog!

Oh, it's summer sausage time by the lake! :) :)

Oh, it’s summer sausage time by the lake! 🙂 🙂

Thanks Queen V for the photo! Me & Sidekick Pauli in the Pines

Thanks Queen V for the photo! Me & Sidekick Pauli in the Pines

Rounding the reservoir, we found many places for Sidekick Pauli to get her feet wet. 🙂  My dog is getting older now, 8 years old last May, and while she is not much of a swimmer, she does love to splash!  We rounded back around the lake and took another siesta on the rocks.  Sidekick Pauli made a friend with a very little yorkshire terrier who was just smitten with her. 🙂

Splash!

Splash!

Sidekick Pauli makes a very tiny friend, Rocko

Sidekick Pauli makes a very tiny friend, Rocko

Thank you to Queen V for including me in her Labor Day weekend getaway!  This was awesome!

Grab a good friend and Hike on!