Trail Day 20 - Shenandoah - Prof

We are finally in Shenandoah N.P.! Time for some glamping! We joke about it being glamping because we only have to plan for 2 day resupplys since there are waysides in the park which means we won't be carrying a lot of extra food (aka pounds). The terrain is not going to be difficult compared to what we have been doing.  

We got a shuttle from town to trail head this morning and got started hiking around 11. We have to register before we hike in the park so all the hikers were lining up to fill out the form before contuing today. 

I tried something new today, retroblazing. The major road that goes through the park is Skyline Drive and retroblazing is when you walk on the road instead of the trail. The reason why someone would do this is because the road offers more views than the trail, especially today. I walked on the road for about 5 miles today. There's a reason I didn't do more, I really didn't like it. The sights were cool (including the McLaren that drove) but walking on pavement is awful and being around more people and cars made me anxious and and I missed the peace of the trail. It's weird how used to silence and being alone you get put here. 

We made it to one of the viewpoints on the road about an hour after lunch and there was shade on the freshly cut grass. An hour later I awoke rested and ready to hike more. I ended up hiking around 20 miles today between the trail and walking on the road. I still haven't seen a bear but came close again.  One guy saw  one by the road when he kept retroblazing after I had turned off .3 miles before. So close! Oh well, the views I got today was worth it. 

 

-Prof 

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