Shenandoah Day 7

“Just keep hiking. Just keep hiking.”
~adapted from “Nemo”

May 10, 2021
Hike from Pass Mountain Shelter to Front Royal
AT miles: 26.8 miles (not a typo!)
Ascent: 4071′
Descent: 5808’
Weather: Windy, sunny, and around 60
Sightings: a black snake
High point: I hiked more than a marathon today!

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After three nights of nonstop wind and gusts up to 30+ mph, I was really not looking forward to yet another night of crazy wind. So I woke up this morning and thought to myself, “Maybe I can hike to Front Royal and spend the windy night in a nice protected B&B!” (I just don’t like wind!)

I have twice hiked over 20 miles in a day,  but I have never done more than 22 miles. To make it to front Royal I would need to hike 27 miles. I didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew, so I decided to hike to the first shelter and check the time, and then continue to the next shelter and check the time, and if everything was good I would keep on going the last few miles to Front Royal and a lovely bed-and-breakfast. Well, I was hiking at a moving speed of 2.7 mph and an overall speed of 2.6 mph, so I finished around 6:00 p.m., and the sun was still pretty high in the sky. I succeeded in my goal of making it to Front Royal while avoiding night-hiking!

The AT in Shenandoah National Park is really well-maintained and easy to walk. This is another view of the lovely trail.

I love the carefully made steps on the trail!

The views from Pass Mountain and South Marshall Mountain and North Marshall Mountain were great!

But honestly I was too busy watching my speedy feet to notice much today! I did successfully avoid stepping on a black snake!

I did see bear corn today! It is also known as Squaw corn and as American cancer-root because of its medicinal properties. It is a non-photosynthesizing parasitic plant.  I have seen dead ones before but I’ve never actually seen it in its full glory!

The northern end of Shenandoah National Park is quite remote, and once you leave the park the trail gets even more remote. I saw almost nobody on my hike today, and once I left the park the trail was not nearly so well-maintained. At one point I had to tiptoe across the stream (in the park it probably would have had a bridge).

I definitely tripped a few more times near the end of my hike since it was so long and I was getting pretty tired. Thankfully since I was coming down out of the mountains most of the last several miles was downhill. And then I saw the lovely B&B where I had stored my car. They had a vacant room, so I am having a decadent evening in a fascinating Civil War era house with period furniture and a warm shower. I particularly enjoyed the shower since it was my first in days!

Since I was focusing a lot on my speed and my feet rather than my surroundings, today’s hike was less fun than the other days, but it was still a lovely walk. And I am just very grateful that I managed to walk from the south end of Shenandoah National Park to the north end of Shenandoah National Park without seeing a copperhead, a rattlesnake, or a black bear!

Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!