Strider suggested a trail song verse about Shenandoah, and it was quickly delivered. We met a ridge runner in the park who told us that the bear population, usually one of the highest on the trail, was decimated by a recent outbreak of mange. The trail maintainers of the PATC
Shenandoah National Park in northern Virginia is the second major park for northbound AT hikers. 101 miles of the AT run through the park. It differs from the first major park, The Smokies, in several ways which would affect our experience. There are few park-wide regulations in Shenandoah in addition
I met Strider on Tray Mountain in Georgia. Her tarp was set up on the cliff side facing the sunrise. Later we would hike together for hundreds of miles after Erwin, TN where the tramily began to separate by pace. Strider was known for borrowing clothes out of hiker boxes
On June 11, the tramily was gathered again to bid farewell to a brother leaving the trail. Our party of three set up a two hour shuttle ride from the south end of Shenandoah back to Daleville, VA, to meet up with the full crew. Sebastian, known to the trail
Dying is one of the most generous people I've ever met. He kept the party full of candy. We met at Muskrat Gap shelter over a campfire on the first night I ever performed this song for hikers. well this here's the story 'bout a
I have returned to the trail in the company of the two hikers who helped me leave the trail, Pickup and Strider. In the roughly two weeks since I left, they have covered 253.2 miles. This will be my additional distance in southern Virginia after Katahdin. The same shuttle
A much discussed highlight of the Appalachian Trail is Grayson Highlands State Park. This park is notable for its population of wild ponies. In practice, the ponies are mostly tame. All of the ones we saw were branded, and most of them barely paid us any mind. Only the curious
We came across Voodoo Ranger at the Carter Gap shelter in North Carolina. She had hurt her knee on the trail and limped into the shelter a couple of days prior. She was resting in the shelter until she could hobble down to the road and get into Franklin. Several
I got a ride home from Marion with an excellent shuttle driver named Bryan. He was driving an old Civic with 216,000 miles on it and said he wanted to drive it to the moon, 239,000 miles. The custom Star Trek decals made me smile. On the same
I met Oma between Unicoi Gap and Dick's Creek Gap. She had twisted her ankle two weeks prior. After recuperating at a friend's house, it was her first day back on the trail. I sang this verse for her before parting ways at Deep Gap shelter.
After our Damascus marathon, we had three days to reach our scheduled ride from Grayson Highlands back into Damascus for Trail Days. Since the distance was only 30 miles, we used this time to avoid the worst of the forecasted rain, spending most of the second day huddled in a
It is Friday night at the Trail Days festival in Damascus, VA. It has been raining for hours. The group I have been hiking with for hundreds of miles is nearly fully assembled and encamped near the edge of the baseball fields in the tent city. Laura, the Finnish hiker