The terrain on this part of the A.T. is surprisingly varied and somewhat more difficult than what Maple and I have experienced on the A.T. elsewhere in Shenandoah N.P. We generally cover two to two-and-a-half miles per hour, but this eight mile stretch took us a full five hours to complete.

Our trek began by ascending Calf Mountain, and, no doubt, this is where we were slowed down. As we came to the top of the mountain, we saw a bear foraging near the trail. I said, “There’s a bear,” Maple screamed, and the poor bear went running off as fast as its legs could carry him.

The trail took us through patches of wildflowers on Little Calf Mountain. There we saw deer and rabbits.

After having part of our lunch at Beagle Gap, we crossed Skyline Drive and ascended Bear Den Mountain, on which are several power stations. Shortly after passing these, we ran into two other section hikers that we recognized as having met in Pennsylvania. These were O.G. (Old Guy) Bob and O.G. Rick (a.k.a. Grey Cloud).

After crossing the road again at McCormick Gap, we ascended Scott Mountain, and then continued on a ridge parallel to Skyline Drive. On the map, this looks like a smooth three miles, but the terrain is actually quite rocky.

Overall, this was a great hike, one that is probably overlooked by all but a few visitors to Shenandoah N.P.

Although a little anxious about the weather this weekend, since a chance of rain and/or snow along with high winds was predicted, Karen and I decided it was time for us to get back onto the Appalachian Trail and complete our trek through Pennsylvania. We were to begin at Wind Gap, PA, and finish across the Delaware Water Gap, in NJ. Since it now takes us over four hours to arrive at our commencement point and we wanted to get on the trail early in the morning, we spent the night in a motel.

As always, we brought two cars, one to be waiting for us at our hiking destination, and one to drop us off at our beginning point. Well, we were within 100 feet of the AT parking lot in NJ, where we were to drop off our first vehicle, when our two cars were involved in a collision. Both required to be towed away from the scene. Our backpacking plans were shot. Ultimately we got a rental car and made our way back home, but we were both in the dumps.

Our spirits needed reviving, so on Sunday we drove out (in our rental) to Shenandoah National Park. Because Karen’s wrist was swollen and sore, disabling her from putting much pressure on one of her trekking poles, we decided upon a comparatively gentle hike, the Rose River Loop, a four-and-a-half-mile walk. We’d hiked it before (and blogged about it in August 2014).

Unfortunately, winter’s peculiar beauty, particularly when all is wrapped in snow, is past and spring is yet struggling to manifest itself on the heights of Shenandoah. There were few leaves on the trees, and all was brown and grey, with little touches of green here and there. But we were able to get good views of the river through the branches, and a few birds had already returned.

For the most part, it was just good to be outdoors. We needed to get some cool air into our lungs and work up a little sweat in a climb, but mostly we just needed to be surrounded by nature. At one point, where the trail starts to ascend, we sat ourselves down on the dirt, took out our little stove, and made ourselves some coffee. What could be better than to break from a hike, kick back with a mug of steaming coffee, and take in the scenes and sounds of nature all around? It was a restorative experience.