We set out last week from Newport News, heading to the Shenendoah National Park to get in our first backpacking trip since we left Nome! We finally had emptied the truck of our belongings, and were able to leave it for the night, not to worry about everything being there when we returned. We camped Thursday night at a campground, and toted our banjo and ukulele out for a little fireside entertainment. Heading to the restroom to brush our teeth, the camper couple by the building complemented us on the music, and wanted to hear more! good thing. We've only heard good things about our little traveling duo so far...
The next day, we packed up our packs and set out on the trail! We took it really easy on ourselves. Jeff was nervous about getting me in too far over my head I think (although I did backpack Grand Central in Nome...come on!) Anyway, we were just relaxing, it was hot, and we traveled down to where we would camp in just a few hours. The trail description talked of 100ft. water falls and a swimming hole, which we were really excited about. But it's been so dry, we were lucky to find some small, small pools of water that were suitable to filter for drinking. No waterfalls, no swimming... But we found a place to set up camp, and relaxed for the rest of the day. Reading in the tent, as the sun was going down, we heard some rustling in the leaves not too far away. It startled me, and Jeff shot up, a black bear was less than 100 yards, digging at a rotting tree. We had just gotten back from a walk in that very direction, and there it was, checking us out. Luckily, it got a whiff of us (not pleasant,) and felt it wise to head the other direction. The next day, we woke to a pleasant fall morning. The air was cool and crisp and leaves and acorns were falling to the ground. I think the night out in the woods connected our energies somehow. Jeff was talking of be more in tuned to everything around us, the morning light filtering through the trees. It was nice. A quick breakfast, and we were off! I wasn't entirely prepared for our hike back to be completely uphill...whew! what a workout! I kept reminding myself of that, and somehow it wasn't that bad. But I'm still feeling it, and it's two days later. haha.
We came in to Luray on Saturday afternoon and spent some relaxing time with Abbey, George, and Sam, and then ventured down to Lexington yesterday to hear the Carolina Chocolate Drops. The concert was at 3pm with contra dancing afterward! I was glad to have experience from our Nome time. It was good to do that again. And we spoke to the guitarist and percussionist extraordinaire from the band, and plugged the Nome Folk Fest. I told them that they should try to get out there, and they wouldn't regret it! He said to keep trying to get them there...so I'll have to pass that on to Carol!
Next we're heading to Fredericksburg to hang out with sister Gabie, Thane, and their little Asher. We'll be heading into DC for a day to visit the city life and catch a museum or two that we missed when we were there in the winter. Then...VERMONT! I'm excited. more soon. and we'll have pictures next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment