tales from the trail part 1

after a slight debacle finding a ride to the trail, my buddy jordan agreed to give up his entire morning and shuttle dad and i out to front royal. Ten miles later we made camp at a shelter apparently infested by snakes, according to some southbound boys. we didn't see nuthin', but i also refused to sleep in the shelter and insisted on pitching my tent instead. i like tenting better, anyway and i don't think freddo really likes snakes all that much, either. we woke up the next morning to the pitter patter of a gentle rainstorm. we broke camp in the rain and got on the trail just as it turned to a steady downpour which stopped only about an hour before we made it to the next shelter.

behold the aftermath of hiking in the rain...

what you can't see is the grubs that enjoyed the mud caked on my shoes and took refuge inside during the night. good thing i thought to dump them out before i put them on. ew.

i actually don't mind hiking in the rain, especially in august, which is disgustingly hot and humid. the rain cooled us off and gave me some gorgeous photo opps.

if you look closely, you can see hiker fred in the distance. he's always faster than i am on the downhills.

a few days later we hit the roller coaster, named for its several miles of ascents and descents marking every mile.

it says "hiker notice: warning! you are about to enter the roller coaster!!! built and maintained by the 'trailboss' and his merry crew of volunteers. have a great ride and we will see you at the blackburn trail center (if you survive)" it used all caps but i don't like them cause they look like shouting. i don't like to shout on my blog.

the entrance looks innocent enough, right?

at the top of the first hill. go freddo go! ride that roller coaster!

not sure how i feel about this ride. 

a few bumps and about 8 miles later at bear's den hostel, named for bear's den rocks (in the background).

every now and then the trail crosses a highway or freeway. the experience is a little surreal, going from the woods to the high speed bustle of the "real" world.

for some reason i also really like power lines. dan (who wrote the a.t. thru-hiker's handbook that dad and i like) uses them as milage markers. i also like the openness and rare view from the man-made clearings. AND and they remind me of when alex and i would pretend they were evil transformers (from the old cartoon) when we were on road trips. actually, i think those "road trips" were really the 20 min trips to nana and papa's house. but when you're 4, 20 min is a looooong time.

anyway, i leave you with another lovely view, courtesy of our communications technology.