Having experienced the dubious pleasures of the Greyhound bus, we were relieved to arrive in Charlottesville. With no idea of where to stay we headed to the cupcake shop opposite the Greyhound station where a very friendly cupcake girl with excellent local knowledge, directed us to the Redroof Inn in the centre of town.
After checking in we headed downtown and marvelled at the polar difference between some of the poor, and predominantly black, towns we had visited in the Deep South and the very affluent university town of Charlottesville. As we sat outside having dinner at a local student hangout, we could not help but notice the preppy uniform of the male students (every guy that went past was white, rich and was wearing beige chinos, navy sports jacket and a tie, despite being late teens or early twenties). The only black person we saw in Charlottesville was our taxi driver from Togo in West Africa. He was immensely friendly and was delighted when we guessed that Arsenal was his favourite football team!
At Charlottesville airport we picked up our next hire car. The guy at the desk offered us an upgrade and as soon as he said "Dodge", John was sold. We went outside expecting some slice of Americana but were greeted with a huge bus of a people carrier with as many gadgets as you can shake a stick at! Thankfully gas is cheap over here and the Dodge is really nice to drive.
We set off for Waynesboro in the Appalachian Mountains as we needed some camping supplies and John could remember a good outfitters there. Fully stocked up we stopped for an enormous fried shrimp lunch and headed into Shenandoah National Park. We drove up the Skyline Drive which almost follows the Appalachian Trail through the park. There are multiple overlooks and amazing views frequently along the road. We stopped at Loft Mountain Wayside and did a circular hike, taking in a couple of miles of the AT. It was pretty cold in Shenandoah and when we arrived at Big Meadows Visitor's Centre there was still snow from a huge snowfall they had had 4 days before. Recoiling from the snow, Sarah favoured a motel rather than camping that night so we stayed the night in Elkton just outside the Park.
The following day we were due to meet one of John's Virginian friends Sharkey at Skyland Resort in the late afternoon. Sharkey is hiking the AT again this year with his friend Suzy and hoping to do a "yo-yo" (hiking all the way from Georgia to Maine, then turning straight round and hiking back again!). We went back to Big Meadows to get some maps for our day of hiking and got chatting to a ranger who suggested an excellent hike and told us to be on the lookout for a bobcat which was hanging about by the road. After an excellent few hour hiking along a series of waterfalls we arrived back at the car and drove up to Skyland Resort.
On finding Sharkey's room we were greeted by a very bearded Virginian and much reminiscing began. We went to the bar for a few beers before having an excellent meal with wonderful views as the sun set over the Shenandoah Valley.
Somewhat surprisingly, Sharkey and Suzy were not keen to hike the next day so we all drove into Front Royal so they could resupply. We all booked into a cheap motel and spent the afternoon wandering around the town and enjoying a beer in the local saloon. That evening we went back to the same bar for a fine meal, a few drinks and some great conversation.
The next day we decided to help Sharkey and Suzy "slack-pack" (this is what thru-hikers call hiking without their rucksack, which is deposited at the end of their day's hike by any means possible! In this case our Dodge Grand Caravan did the job! After a leisurely breakfast, we dropped them next to the AT and drove 18 miles up the Skyline Drive. We headed off on a 10 miler through "prime bear country" (as advertised by the flyer we picked up in Elkwallow Wayside information centre. Having not yet glimpsed a bear, Sarah was both nervous and exciting by this almost guaranteed bear experience. 10 miles later, following a lovely hike, no bears had been seen. However, other wildlife included a snake that John nearly trod on, several deer and a tick that became both physically and emotionally attached to Sarah whilst she sat and ate her lunch. After feeling physically exhausted by our 10 mile jaunt, we found ourselves back at our rendevous point, almost as Sharkey and Suzy skipped in after 18 miles. We all tucked into some deep fried goodness and said goodbye to Sharkey and Suzy, who shouldered their packs and headed off to make camp in the woods. As we were driving back to the motel in Front Royal, Sarah noticed something large, black and furry by the side of the road. We screeched to a halt and sat watching a large black bear foraging for food in the fading evening light.
After a night in Front Royal, we headed a bit further north to Harper's Ferry in West Virginia. This is where Sarah had met John during his AT hike in 2008, and is the psychological half way point of the trail. It is also the site for many civil war battles and where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet before flowing down into Washington DC. It's a beautiful town with lots of historic buildings and a couple of nice restaurants. After grabbing some supplies, we left our car in the carpark of the AT headquarters and set off along the trail, crossing over into Maryland. A VERY steep climb rewarded us with wonderful views back up the Shenandoah Valley. After 7 or so miles we finally reached the Ed Garvey shelter and sat chatting for some other hikers for a while before pitching our tent and cooking dinner. A peaceful night, with no bear attacks.
Following a very leisurely start to our day's hiking, we headed back towards Harpers Ferry, aiming to reach there for our lunch. As the miles went by we started getting hungrier and hungrier, until we remembered the pulled pork sandwiches available at the BBQ shack in the centre of Harper's Ferry. At which point we started salivating like some of Pavlov's dogs and picked up the pace again. We marched our way back to Harper's Ferry and distracted ourselves by thinking up trail names for Sarah. John had retained his 2008 trail name of TEG (The English Guy) but Sarah was yet to be christened. A number of options were considered but 2 that can be shared on this blog are Tick-magnet and Slow-start!
On reaching Harpers Ferry...disaster! The BBQ shack was closed for renovations! So we made do with a regular cheeseburger and fries from a courtyard restaurant and sat enjoying them in the sunshine. In the afternoon we drove south again back to Elkwallow where we had spied a perfect campsite during our hike 2 days before. The light was fading fast so we grabbed our packs and headed off into the woods. A mile or so in, John stopped dead on the trail with Sarah nearly crashing into him. The reason for the emergency stop......a black bear ambling across the trail 30 yards ahead. We stopped and watched in awe as he checked us out and slowly resumed his foraging, not bothered by us at all. Eventually he disappeared into the woods and we carried on another mile to our spot under some pine trees where we made camp. Sarah was a little nervous having seen a bear so close to where we were camping, however it was a beautiful spot and a lovely moonlit night. As we were pitching the tent, two deer almost stumbled over us. We cooked up our dinner in the dark and enjoyed a very peaceful night with no bear visits.
The next day we hiked back to the car and drove further south to Loft Mountain. After another day's hike we camped up at the deserted campsite with deer watching our every move from the bushes. One was particularly perturbed to find us in what was obviously his feeding spot and made several attempts to scare us off by snorting and pawing the ground, before reluctantly retreating. We watched a truly beautiful sunset over the Shenandoah Valley that evening.
After hiking back to the car the next morning, we headed out of the Shenendoah National Park and drove to Sharkey's house, nestled at the foot of the Appalachians. Whilst Sharkey is hiking the Appalachian Trail (yet again!) his friend and colleague, Meagan, is house-sitting and looking after his online business. Sharkey had offered for us to stay at his place for a few nights, and had phoned Meagan to warn her that we were on our way! She could not have been more welcoming and our first evening was spent with her at the Blue Mountain Brewery up the road, enjoying some good ole Virginian ale. We spent the next few days at Sharkey's house chilling out, enjoying the hot-tub, looking out on the Appalachians and putting the world to rights with Meagan. One night was the Cinco de Mayo Mexican festival and Meagan and her friends from Charlottesville put on an amazing Mexican feast and we ate, chatted and drank beer into the small hours.
