I suspect my turbo thing had been malfunctioning for some time because I noticed a huge difference in how she accelerated and handled hills! The service writer told me the RV would take off like a rocket and he wasn't kidding! WOW! Going up 211 into the park the speed limit was 35, I caught myself going 45-50 a few times and almost took a few of the curves way to fast! It was as if I had to hold her back! The "extra" power was also noticeable when I had to pass bikers on Skyline Drive!
I'm working on hiking the AT in the park and I left off at Simmon's Gap in the South District. I'd realized that with Skyline Drive I could potentially do a one way hike and then ride my bike back to the car. I'd decided it would be even better if I could figure out how to bike the direction that was more downhill than uphill.
When I arrived at Simmon's Gap I kept driving to Pinefield Gap where the AT crossed Skyline Drive. It was only two miles, but it would be all downhill from Pinefield Gap back to Simmon's Gap. So after driving past and going up to Ivy Creek Overlook to turn around I pulled into Pinefield Gap parking area (there was a NPS work truck parked there and I almost got stuck!) and locked my bike & helmet to a tree, then headed back to Simmon's Gap.
I wasn't far from Simmon's Gap when I encountered a PATC Ridgerunner assisting some hikers and when she turned to look at me I realized I knew her! It was Blissful! Blissful thru-hiked a few years ago and I'd followed her on TrailJournals.com, she also wrote a book about her hiking experience, which I read, and she's the moderator of the Shenandoah Hikers group on Facebook! It was like meeting a trail celebrity! She recognized me too and since we were heading in the same direction we hiked off together, quickly meeting up with her husband, Papa Bliss. We continued down the trail chatting and meeting Thru-hikers (there were 30 hikers at Blackrock shelter Friday night!).
They'd seen my bike at Pinefield Gap and I told them of my plan to ride back to Simmon's Gap. Papa Bliss frequently does the same thing when he is out supporting Blissful in her Ridgerunning so he knew something I hadn't figured out...it's all downhill from Ivy Creek overlook to Simmon's Gap. Hiking on to Ivy Creek would give me a 3.7 mile hike, which was better than the 2 miles I'd worked out. Papa Bliss offered to shuttle my bike to Ivy Creek for me so I could keep hiking! WOW! I thought this sounded like a perfect idea so I took him up on it!
At Pinefield Gap Papa Bliss and I got my bike loaded in his car and I told him the lock combo and he was off to Ivy Creek while I headed back down the trail. I was able to catch up with Blissful before she reached the turn off for the shelter and we were able to grab a selfie.
This was the best part! I'd hiked up and now I was flying down! It was almost as good as a zip line! I was totally sold on this idea of using my bike to help me do one way hikes! This was awesome! True to prediction, there was only one small section of uphill on the way back, most of the trip back I was flying down the drive! It had taken me 2 hours and 15 minutes to hike the 4 miles to Ivy Creek, it took me 15 minutes to ride back to Simmon's Gap!
As soon as I was back at the van I began plotting my next section! I saw that the section from Ivy Creek to Loft Mountain was about 4 AT miles as well, so I headed out to see which direction had the most downhill on Skyline Drive. It looked best to leave the bike at Ivy Creek again and walk from Loft Mountain. I figured I had enough daylight to accomplish this today, however, I was going to be hiking during dinner time. No problem, I'd just eat an early dinner! I drove up to Ivy Creek and turned the generator on and heated up a frozen meal, even though it was only 4:30! After dinner I locked the bike to a tree and drove back to Loft Mountain Wayside.
I headed up the Fraizer Discovery Trail until it joined the AT then hiked north on the AT. This was an especially nice section of the AT. First the trail wound through some old fields and the trail was bordered by bluets on both sides.
Then the trail descended to a stream - Ivy Creek - I think the may be the only, or one of a few places in the park where the AT follows a stream! There was one stream crossing with a nice view of a little cascade. I of course got my feet wet trying to get a picture!
After the stream crossing it was a long slog uphill to a view...
It was only 6:15! I'd expected it to be closer to 7 by the time I got back to my bike, so even through the hike seemed long, I'd done it quickly! I was hot and sweaty from the long slog uphill so riding downhill was a great way to cool off! This section had some uphill at the end though and by the time I got back to the van I was hot and sweaty, but I was at the Loft Mountain Wayside a purveyor of Blackberry Milkshakes! Lucky for me that I got done earlier than I'd planned...the wayside & snack bar closed at 7:00 and it was now close to 6:45! I was just in time to score a blackberry shake to top of the day!
After enjoying my shake I made my way back down Skyline Drive. All the campgrounds were full, as I'd expected, and I'd decided that I'd just enjoy every minute of the day and then head to the Wal-Mart in Ruckersville - intersection of US 33 & US 29 - for the night since I'd get home really late. Enjoying every minute of the day included the sunset! I decided Swift Run Overlook was the place for the sunset - it was the closest overlook to the park exit, which meant I wouldn't have to drive much of Skyline Drive in the dark.
I arrived at the overlook about 7:30, sunset wasn't until 8:25. I settled in to read until it was time. As soon as I picked up my kindle it started informing me that it's battery was dead. Such a 21st century problem...I can't read because I forgot to charge my book. I usually keep a Kindle charger in the van, but somehow it wasn't there. Glad I was going to Wal-Mart! So I decided to take a shower instead. I was too impatient to wait for the hot water heater to finish heating so it was lukewarm, but it was nice, until I realized that I'd forgotten my towel. All the towels were at home - the dish towels, my bandanas, the bath towel...luckily I had a chamois, like the ones Olympic swimmers use! Once I'd dried off and gotten into my pjs the sun was low enough to start taking pictures so I headed out of the van. Standing on the wall snapping pictures of the setting sun, I discovered that I had enough signal to download my book to my phone! So in between pictures I was reading!
It was one of the best Shenandoah sunsets I've ever seen! Usually clouds roll in at the last minute! Not tonight!
It was actually a pretty quiet night! The parking lot Zamboni came through around 1:30, but that was it! I was tucked away in a far corner away from the traffic lanes so that helped! This morning I was up by 6 and read for awhile before driving home. I didn't even get dressed before I headed out! It only took 2 hours to get home!
It was a great day in the park! I only wish I'd made a reservation so I could have stayed in a campground instead of Wal-Mart, but thanks to my bike I was able to cover almost 7 miles of AT and I've now hiked from VA7 (Bear's Den Hostel) to Brown's Gap in SNP. I have about 40 miles left to have covered from I64 to Harper's Ferry!
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment