Pass Mountain

On Friday, I took a day off of work to go hiking and camping for an overnight in the Shenandoah's with Babu.  The trip was my (crazy) idea - I thought it would be a good opportunity for Babu to test out more of his Appalachian Trail gear and... I had also been itching for a day off from work to enjoy the outdoors for quite some time.

Since this was a overnight camping trip, we left Tahoe and Ashley at home.  Dogs are allowed in the Shenandoah National Park but many of the trails and camp sites have a "no dogs allowed" policy so, we left Tahoe and Ashley at home.  They did get a nice little morning walk on Friday, before we left.

The Shenandoah National Park is about a 90 minute drive from our house.  A segment of the Appalachian Trail lies within the park, crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains and Virginia.  Babu and I loaded our own backpacks, complete with tents, sleepingbags, food, water, and a change of clothes.  It was the first hike that I had taken in a while with a full backpack.  (The only tent that I own sleeps 4 people! Needless to say, that darn thing weighed about 20 lbs and filled up most of my backpack.)

Me with my loaded pack, resting at an overlook

Babu making his way past a "white blaze"

Once in the Park, we decided to follow a small portion of the Appalachian Trail for 4 miles to Pass Mountain shelter and campsite. We explored this area and the near-by trails and by 5pm, decided to settle down in the camp area. We met 3 AT thru-hikers who were staying at the shelter at Pass Mountain.  Their trail names were Renaissance, Marathon Mess, and Ducky. After talking with them about the rainy conditions that we were expecting for the night and next day, we decided to stay with them in the shelter instead of using our tents. (Yep, I lugged that 4-man tent everywhere and didn't even use it!)

Pass Mountain shelter

Babu resting at the shelter

The kissing tree

Our food (the green sack), secured for the night, out of the reach of bears

Zipped-in for bed

The next morning

The next morning, the conditions were wet and windy.  The weather had reported rain and thunderstorms throughout the entire day.  I was glad that we stayed in the shelter because it would have been very difficult to pack up our wet and muddy tents in those conditions. So... we ate a little breakfast, packed our backpacks, and parted ways with the AT thru-hikers. The rain wasn't so bad - once I got wet, I got used to it.  The fog and the howling winds made it a bit of an adventure.  Visibility was about 20 feet or so.  In fact, due to the decreased visibility, we actually walked past the car and ended up adding an additional 3 miles to our hike on day 2. (Don't tell him I said so, but, I think Babu needs to work a little more on his navigation skills.)