Wednesday, June 21, 2017
There are many hiker traditions on the Appalachian Trail.
Some are simple and innocent fun, like trail names, squirting hikers with water in the Trail Days parade, and confessing your sins at The Priest Shelter.
Some involve risk-taking, like jumping off the James River Bridge or standing close to the edge of the overhang at McAfee Knob.
| Weather | Partly cloudy and cooler, with a high around 70 |
| Trail Conditions | Mostly well-maintained; some portions nicely graded for tourists, but some sections were rocky |
| Today's Miles | 15.4 miles |
| Trip Miles | 943.3 miles |
There’s one tradition, though, that’s in a category of its own and is supposed to happen today, the Summer Solstice. It’s called Hike Naked Day.
Yes, the tradition is exactly what you think it is.
No, I didn’t participate, and it wasn’t just the risk of sunburn and chafing that deterred me.
I’m glad to say I didn’t see any bare hikers, either.
I did see a bear, though. I saw two, in fact.
Rock Spring Hut and the nearby tenting spots were built on the side of a mountain. A short distance below the shelter was a cabin. A church youth group had stayed there overnight.
When it was time to leave this morning, Mike and Stick left first, followed by the youth group, which included about 25 members and their leaders. I was behind them on the side trail back to the AT.
The young hikers were slow going up the steep climb. When we reached the trail junction they realized I was behind them and they made room to allow me to pass.
It felt a little bit weird to be an old man and yet be able to outpace younger hikers. That just proves an advantage of hiking for two-and-a-half months, I suppose.
A mile later, the trail crossed a scree field. The rock slide seemed out of place, as if a dump truck had backed up to the top of the mountain and dropped several tons of boulders down the side.
From there the whole trail was littered with rocks. Fortunately, they weren’t nearly as big as the boulders in the scree field.
There were a couple small opportunities to catch a view of the valley along this section of trail, but mostly it was densely wooded.
Soon, the trail flattened out and there were no more large rocks. It looked as though the trail was following the path of an old road. This section was approaching Skyland Resort.
This area was originally called Stony Man Camp and started as a dude ranch. It was operated by George Freeman Pollock, who would become one of several men who began lobbying in 1924 for the area to become a national park.
Pollock was a showman. He blew a bugle each morning to awaken guests at the camp. This was one of the ways he tried to enhance the rugged outdoors image he wanted to promote.
Over time he built up the camp to become a resort. To attract wealthy travelers from Washington, D.C. and other parts of the East he organized teas, balls, and costume parties, as well as outdoor spectacles like jousting tournaments.
What Pollock wasn’t was Skyland’s owner. He had trouble keeping up with the mortgage.
Marrying a wealthy divorcee didn’t help his financial problems.
Was Pollock an advocate for establishing the park because of his love of the area? Or was he just hoping the park would put an end to end his financial troubles? I can’t say, but it is known that in his promotion of the area he exaggerated the poverty of the people who lived here in order to convince the government to buy the land. The locals despised him for that.
When the property was sold to the U.S. government to become the park, Pollock wound up gaining nothing from the sale. The banks got everything.
At least 500 families were displaced by the park.
I didn’t walk to the restaurant at the Skyland Resort. It was a little too early for lunch and the resort is not known as being especially hiker friendly.
The only part of the resort I saw was the horse stables, which the trail passed.
Beyond the stables, the trail remained flat and easy, but a little confusing as it was joined by other trails, and crossed roads and parking lots.
I was looking for the side trail to a viewpoint on Stony Man Mountain, which was also confusing. The blue-blazed side trail became a loop and then a loop within the loop. I missed a turn and had to backtrack to the second loop.
It was probably just as well that I did because otherwise, I might have missed Stick and Mike. They were about to leave.
I dropped my pack and continued to the rock ledge, where I stayed for several minutes to enjoy the view.
Stony Man Mountain and Hawksbill Mountain are the only peaks in Shenandoah National Park that are higher than 4,000 feet, and only by a few dozen feet. The Appalachian Trail doesn’t go directly over either one.
A view from here, much like the photo above, was used in a 2014 “America the Beautiful” quarter and includes the puddle of water that is said to never dry out.
I spoke with several day hikers, and after leaving the cliff I helped some find their way to the viewpoint.
Among the hikers I saw as I returned to the trail was Speedy. I chuckled to myself when I saw him because this was the fifth time I had seen him on the trail. Each time he had caught up to me, but never seemed to pass me.
"If he’s speedy, what am I?" I thought to myself.
Later, as I was cruising down the trail, I was listening to a podcast to break up what was becoming a monotonous section of trail. It was still mostly flat and thick with trees and shrubs.
Suddenly, a young bear rambled onto the trail and continued walking on the trail in the same direction I was heading. It looked back a couple times to check me out, then continued on in the same direction. Then the bear bounded back into the woods.
Moments later, a second bear appeared on the trail. I tried to snap as many photos as I could, but only one was in focus because I was also trying to keep up with them while keeping my distance.
I thought the bears were trying to get away from me as fast as they could, but then I looked to my left and saw one of the bears was stopped, just staring at me.
I tried to get another photo of the bear, but it was crouched low in the thick foliage, about 30-40 feet away.
The black spot in the middle of the above photo is the bear.
Ten minutes later I came upon two day hikers who told me their trail names, Bear Market and Krispy Kreme. They said they live near the park, and when they hike here they like to offer thru-hikers donuts. Unfortunately, they had already passed out all of their donuts for today.
When I arrived at Pinnacle Picnic Ground, Stick and Mike were sitting at one of the picnic tables.
I told them about my bear-sighting and showed them the one good photo I was able to capture.
Stick hit me.
It was a good-natured punch and I probably deserved it, but I couldn’t help gloating after listening for days to him carrying on about being the “Bear Summoner”.
He then regained his composure and said, "I'm glad for you and I hope to see one, too."
Mike found the whole incident hysterical.
Speedy arrived while we were preparing to leave the picnic ground. He claimed he was going to do big miles today.
I never saw him pass me.
For the rest of the day, I tried to push harder to make up for the earlier delays. The trail was rocky at times, though, and I wasn’t able to go as fast as I would have liked.
There were a few opportunities for views, but I didn’t stop to take advantage of all of them.
One nice thing that happened, though, was I saw Pippi again. She was excited because she had just seen a mother bear and two cubs, and she told me to make sure I told Stick.
After a long descent, the trail crossed U.S. 211 at Thornton Gap. This was a four-lane highway, but there wasn’t a lot of traffic on it.
Shortly after crossing the highway and then crossing Skyline Drive, the trail made a turn back up a ridge. Someone had left trail magic here in a plastic bag tied to a fire road gate. In the bag were apples and bananas.
I stopped to eat a banana and then took an apple to eat later.
The trail magic gave me a little extra boost, which I was grateful for because I was starting to drag.
I arrived at Pass Mountain Hut at 6:45 p.m., where I found Stick and Mike set up nearby. There weren’t many flat spots for a tent here, but thankfully, Stick had the forethought to ask two hikers with hammocks to not set up over the last remaining flat spot.
I guess Stick didn’t resent my gloating about seeing bears earlier today, or when I gave him the news that Pippi had also seen bears.
The other day I met a bear
Out in the woods
Oh way out there
He looked at me
I looked at him
He sized up me
I sized up him
He said to me
Why don't you run
I see you ain't
Got any gun
I said to him
That's a good idea
So come on feet
Away from here
This trail report was published on