I'm sneaking this post in here because I think our 'epic' weekend of hiking with heavy packs needs to be documented, if for no other reason than to keep us from trying this again!
Michelle and Joe had completed 50 miles the previous weekend, I was 28 weeks pregnant, [edit: Lorrin was also pregnant but no one knew it at the time!], and Megan really wanted to make sure she didn't train too much for the Women's Half, so an easy, relaxing backpacking trip was discussed. I found some trails that appeared to lend themselves to a basecamping adventure- that is, hike in a few miles with the heavy packs, set up camp, and go for day hikes for a few days, then hike out.
We started on Thompson Hollow Road and quickly connected to the Overall Run Falls trail. There were a few good camping spots near water within the first hour or so. I believe it was a unanimous decision that it was too early to stop to camp at this point. So we hiked on. And on, and on, and mostly uphill. With the heavy packs (well, not me, Paul was carrying most of my stuff. I was carrying all my weight on the front...). Did I mention it was hot and humid? Anyway, when we all had enough, there wasn't anywhere to camp that was flat enough, didn't have bear poop all over, wasn't bug infested, and had water. So we hiked on some more. Eventually we did find a great spot and set up camp for the night, along Jeremy's Run. There wasn't too much complaining, considering we had hiked 6+ hours, nearly 8 miles, mostly uphill. Dinner tasted great, the guys had some wine and whiskey and we were probably all sleeping by 8pm. No bears visited us. A big one did cross our path about an hour before we had stopped to camp though!
The next morning we considered our options. We were now about 7 miles from the car, via a different route that appeared mostly flat or downhill. We could stay here, do a short day hike, and hike out on Monday, or we could pack up, head towards the car and hope to find a nice spot to camp before we were too tired to go on. We packed up.
So we hiked up to the AT and stopped to stuff our faces at Elkwallow Wayside. That was a nice rest! We continued on toward Overall Run Falls, where we hoped to camp. Of course, there were no good sites to be found. The major-looking stream on the map was bone-dry. We hiked on (sound familiar?). After another 5+ hour day, we found a nice spot by some nice water. It was close quarters for 3 tents but who's complaining at this point? We ate, rested, and finally rolled ourselves into the tents. No bears visited us.
The next morning, we were pretty delighted to find we were only about a mile from the cars! We hiked out, in good spirits because we knew a greasy Apple House breakfast was waiting for us.
Much like ultras, I think it took a few days for everyone to agree that it was a fun (though strenuous) trip. Thanks for coming everyone! Here are my pics and Michelle's pics.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Ah, brings back memories! There was a lot of bear poop wasn't there?! I'm glad we got a picture and had no visitors trying to take down our expertly placed food bags high up in the tree. Since the small bit of poison ivy I had is now gone AND since I've almost forgotten how heavy that pack was, I almost think I'd go again.
Great write-up Mical. And thanks for posting your pictures. I love the odd angle ones of you and Paul at the end. On an unrelated note, you posted a very funny comment about the VHTRC half report, making the observation about my continuing and Michelle's stopping. Very funny, not ha ha funny but "hey, that's so true" funny.
Post a Comment