It was smooth sailing from Savannah up until I got to Broward County. There were a couple of dead stops on I-95 around Oakland Park Blvd. In any case, I got home around 3 pm. It’s been a great trip.
I’m not sure what it is with Hilton Garden Inns. My mattress sagged again last night. I was so tired (I drove for 11 hours the day before) I slept well anyway, even if I did sink into the abyss a couple of times. This particular Hilton property charges you for everything. Parking ($39) and breakfast ($12). I didn’t partake of the breakfast but I did the parking. I meant to tip the valet $5 but he disappeared and left me waiting. I was so eager to get everything loaded by the time I did, he was gone again. I forgot to tip him. I hate when I do that.
Normally, I would tell you how many miles I traveled at this point. My trip odometer said over 7,000. That’s impossible. Previously, I looked at it around Savannah and it said 1700 or so. Either the valet had a very good time with my jeep or something is going on with my system.
I previously mentioned I added a device to the place in the jeep you plug in to get diagnostics. It was supposed to give me a hotspot for WiFi for the jeep. It was part of the new program for UConnect – something similar to OnStar. I think it is screwing up the electrical in the jeep. My GPS kept routing me cross country, across lakes, and side roads. First thing I did when I got home was unplug the device and repackage it to send back to UConnect.
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I had enough umph to unload the jeep, stow all the gear, clear out the suitcase and then wash clothes. I also unpacked the tent and pitched it to dry it out.
It’s really good to be home. It was a great trip but I’m glad to be back. Of course, I dressed for 50 degree weather in Savannah this morning. It was 84 when I got to Fort Lauderdale so I had to get out of my Savannah clothing and get into my Fort Lauderdale clothing. But wait! We are due a cold front on Saturday. We’ll get down to 68.
Even though I stopped my mail with the postal service, they continued to deliver it. I had stacks of it upon my return. Joel was kind enough to check on the house and my mail while I was gone. Most of it was junk but there were a few keeper pieces.
My January trip with Michel and Nancy has been canceled so I don’t have anything planned for the foreseeable future. That’s OK. It’s time to get back into my usual routine.
Apologies for no post yesterday but I had one bar of service.
Well, it did rain. Dark Skies told me around 6:30 pm it would begin to rain. It did. Around 8:30 pm the skies opened up. Click on the audio below to hear the intensity of the rain.
I got up to pee three times last night and no, I didn’t go to the comfort station which was 4 campsites away and uphill. Instead, I went behind the tent.
The first time I went, I waited until there was a break in the rain and emerged from the tent into a dense fog. The second time I got up to pee, half the sky was total clouds and half was clear as a bell. I met Mr. Orion again.
If you look at the clouds at the right, you can barely see the three stars that form the part of the belt that hangs down.
The third time I got up, it was with gale force winds. I have no way of determine the wind speed but it sounded like 40-50 mph winds. My phone beeped and said there was a wind advisory. You can get some idea of what it sounded like by clicking on the audio below.
After 4 years in the Coast Guard and 37 years of living in Florida, I have a pretty good feel for wind speed and I think this was definitely gale force. Fortunately, the tent was sheltered and the wind was mostly high in the trees. Unfortunately, we were basically atop Loft Mountain and the winds were amazingly strong. We also had lightening strikes – nothing close, fortunately, but definitely something to worry about.
I waked at 3:30 am (I went to bed at 8:30 pm) and tried to get back to sleep to no avail. I decided to break camp around 5 am and I was on the road by 5:50 am. I was to spend two nights at Loft Mountain, two nights at Mount Pisgah Campground and one night on the way home.
The forecast called for more wind and rain. I can hike in the rain but the wind would have made it miserable.
Skyline Drive is eerie at 6 am. There was so much wind that many times the road was obscured from downed leaves to the point that you could barely see the stripes on the road bed.
I was nervous about three things: deer, smaller animals like raccoons, and downed trees. I experienced the first two but not the latter. There were three deer on my way out of the campground and I came to a skidding halt when a family of three raccoons crossed the road in front of me.
As usual, my GPS was useless. It kept telling me to veer right or left but what it was doing was taking into consideration the overlooks. Then it had me turn left of Skyline to something-or-other Gap. It turned out to be a hiking trail. Most of the time it was re-configuring the map. It couldn’t find the interstate and had me turning every 3 miles or so. I finally switched it off and used the map on the iPhone – which turned out to be far more accurate.
In any case, I decided to head home. I’m spending the night in Savannah – my third night here over the years. I’m at the Garden Inn on Way Street – my second time here. I think they’ve renovated the place since my last stay since the rooms seem nicer than I remember.
It’s about a 7 hour drive back to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow. I plan to go to bed very early tonight.
I’ll post a final blog when I get back into Fort Lauderdale and get all the camping gear squared away and stowed.
Casandra and I seem to have an issue. I had no sooner left the hotel and headed out for Loft Mountain Campground when I passed a sign for the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. I immediately turned around and headed for the drive. Loft Mountain is just off the drive and I knew it would lead me to the campground.
She constantly wanted me to turn around at every overlook until I cut the cord on her. Then it dawned on me I had programed it for the quickest route, not a scenic route. By her routing, it would take 3 hours and 6 minutes.
By traveling the Skyline, it took me 3 hours and 30 minutes and that was with stops. I’m sure she would have routed me through small towns with stop lights and stop signs every few feet.
It was well worth traveling the Skyline. The fall colors were not spectacular, just beautiful. The yellows of hickories and elms were especially brilliant and there were some stunning reds from maples. It looks like the Shenandoah will be at its peak for fall colors in a couple of weeks but what I saw was great.
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I made the obligatory stop at Rocky Top overlook. Most who read my blog have seen the photo of Archie and me at Rocky Top. I must have been all of three years old – and in pajamas.
That’s Rocky Top directly behind me.
Loft Mountain is the largest campground in the Shenandoah. I pitched the tent and then drove to the campground store to see what it is like. Showers are open except from 1-3 every day for cleaning. I got lost in the maze of sites on my return and had to circle back to get to my already pitched tent.
While checking out the store, I saw a Benadryl anti-itch ointment. Lately, I’ve been waked at night with itching in my arm pits. I know – weird. I have numerous remedies for it on the dresser beside my bed. I packed one for the trip. I couldn’t find it. What I did have was some Preparation H ointment. Hemorrhoids are something I must have inherited from my Dad. He had them really bad. In his case, and mine, I think they are brought on by stress. I always pack some in case I need it. Since I could not find the anti-itch cream, I decided that Preparation H would work – since it is anti-itch also. It did. It’s the wonder cream. It even works for bags under the eyes – remember it is supposed to shrink hemorrhoids. It works. One time I looked in the mirror and I looked like a raccoon. It took just a few days of PrepH under the eyes and the raccoon look was gone. I’ve now added another use for it.
Rain is predicted tonight and tomorrow. I may or may not get some hiking in. The rain won’t bother me – my tent has weathered some pretty intense downpours and it stays dry. What I will not like doing is packing camp up two days from now in the rain. I hope it quits soon enough to break camp.
Bucket List Item – Checked! I made it to Harpers Ferry today! It’s a national park historical site and yet there are people that still live in the town – population approximately 100. Even though it was Sunday and fairly early in the morning – just before 9 am – you could tell the shops and restaurants were getting ready to open.
I pulled into the visitor center and a ranger explained about the shuttle to and from Harpers Ferry. It runs so frequently, he uses it to go into the village and eat lunch. The shuttle is actually city bus-like. When it gets busy, there are 3 or 4 of them running constantly. Even though they have the shuttle bus, you can still drive the streets of Harpers Ferry – all four of them: Public Way, High Street, Potomac Street and Shenandoah Street. I was surprised at the traffic on an early Sunday morning and wonder why they still allow public vehicles. I had to dodge cars a couple of times.
The shuttle lets you off just before you come to Lower Town on Shenandoah Street. I walked immediately to the river and got my first real look at the Shenandoah River.
Shenandoah River near shuttle stop
From the shuttle stop, it’s a very short walk down Shenandoah Street to Lower Town.
Lower Town on Shenandoah Street
Just before you get to the junction of Shenandoah and Potomac Streets, you get a glimpse of High Street – aptly named. It’s far more steep than it looks and seems to hang from the sound of the mountain.
High Street and Shenandoah Street
The whole point of my trip was to see the confluence of the Potomac River and the Shenandoah River at Harpers Ferry. Mission accomplished!
Potomac River on the left, Shenandoah River on the right and the confluence straight ahead.C&O Canal Footbridge in background
Of course, I wanted to see where John Brown made his last stand against the troops of Robert E. Lee. It’s called John Brown’s Fort.
Actually, the fort has been moved four separate times, once dismantled and moved to Chicago and reassembled near the Columbia Exhibition. Later it was relocated at Murphy’s Farm, then nearer the town at Storer College, and finally, back into Lower Town. It is situated today approximately 150 feet from its original site. The building was originally a fire station.
Potomac Street is a combination of museums, shops and restaurants.
Potomac Street
I chose a rather steep set of stairs off Potomac Street to get me to High Street.
Steps leading to High Street
As I walked High Street back towards Shenandoah Street, I saw a set of steps leading to St. Peters Catholic Church. There seemed to be a photo shoot going on the steps to the church.
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From the steps next to the church, a path led to Jefferson’s Rock (and the Appalachian Trail). As you walk up the trail, you pass the ruins of St. Johns Episcopal Church. They are quite stunning.
ChSt. Johns Episcopal Church ruins.
As you go further up the trail, you come to Jefferson’s Rock.
Jefferson’s Rock. The rock under the structure is unstable and so it was protected to keep it from rolling down the hill and crushing villagers. Supposedly Thomas Jefferson stood on this spot after discovery by Lewis and Clark.
The rock looks much smaller than it did from original photos of the time. I suspect the actual rock did fall and it was replaced by a smaller look-alike.
From Jefferson’s Rock you get a great series of views.
View from Jefferson’s Rock of the PotomacView of High Street from Jefferson’s RockView of ruins of St. Johns Episcopal Church from Jefferson Rock Trail View of still active rail line across the Potomac from the trail to Jefferson’s Rock
After I got back down to Shenandoah Street and Lower Town, I rebounded the shuttle for the visitor center. I changed into my hiking shoes and grabbed my day pack and headed for Murphy’s Farm Trail.
The trail is a 2.2 mile loop but I managed to eke out 4.4 miles somehow. I admit to being very tired once I returned to the visitor center. There was nothing special about the trail except you did get to see the foundation of John Brown’s Fort that was once on Murphy’s Farm.
Foundation of John Browns Fort when it stood on Murphy’s Farm.
When the building was here, the Niagara Movement held a meeting here in 1906 . The Niagara Movement led to the founding of the NAACP three years later.
The best part of the trail was the overlook of the Shenandoah River.
Overlook on Murphy Farm Trail of the Shenandoah River
After a backpacker’s lunch at the visitor center, I drove up to Bolivar Heights, instrumental in Stonewall Jackson’s defeat of the Union forces at Harpers Ferry in 1862. The surrender of Union soldiers was the largest surrender of U.S. forces until the surrender of Bataan during WWII.
Tomorrow I head for Loft Mountain Campground for two nights of camping. The campground is the largest in Shenandoah National Park and has received accolades for its sites. I can at least take a shower if I can scrounge up $1.75. I was warned in an email that bears roam the campsite nightly and to lock any thing that smells (like food) away in your car. Great, now the bears will try to get in my car.
After my hike this morning, I’ll admit to a lack of stamina. Maybe the trip is wearing on me. In any case, I’ll pitch the tent, then think about the trails tomorrow and see what feels right – if I can find the place. There are two towns listed as the location of the campground. No street is listed so I’ll just follow my GPS to Shenandoah National Park and hope for the best. It is an adventure, after all.
I set out for Harpers Ferry around 9 am this morning. I was plenty done with Hampton Inn & Suites in Lynchburg. The mattress sagged to the point you had to sleep on the far side of the bed or you would roll down into the abyss. Not only that but the coffee maker in the room didn’t work. Such trials and tribulations roughing it in a Hilton branded hotel.
The next two nights are in Home2 Suites by Hilton in Charles Town, West Virginia. I have a full sized refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, even dishes, cups, glasses, and I assume silverware. I also assume the coffee maker will work and the bed will not sag. Stay tuned for further updates.
I decided I would actually drive to Harpers Ferry first off, do a short reconnaissance, then do a U-ie and head back to Charles Town. I was about 15 minutes into the trip when I saw a sign for Natural Bridge in Virginia.
I’ve always wanted to see this natural phenomenom so I pulled over to check the GPS and see how far it was. It would take me 45 minutes out of my 4 hour trip to Harpers Ferry. I quickly reprogrammed the GPS for Natural Bridge and struck out. I guess I’m too much a sentimentalist.
It took me through some of the most beautiful crooked roads and mountains I’ve ever seen. Traffic was light but what little there was in front of me stirred up the leaves on the road bed and had them swirling behind them and into my field of view. It reminded me of old country roads where I grew up in Scott County Mississippi. The leaves had a little more color to them than they did in Appomattox and Lynchburg. I had forgotten how red the sumac leaves get in the fall.
Funny thing about fall colors. The absolute first tree to turn color in the fall in Mississippi is the Tupelo gum (Nyssa sylvatica) with red leaves. I could always tell fall was around the corner when those leaves started to change. Sumac (Rhus copalina) is more brilliant in color with their red leaves but don’t change color until later in the fall. Sometimes the leaves remain on sumac for the entire winter whereas the Tupelo gum gets naked pretty quickly.
The GPS announced I had arrived at Natural Bridge but when I looked, I didn’t see anything except what looked like a bunch of commercial buildings. I kept going. I finally turned around and realized what looked like a tourist trap was actually the visitor center for Natural Bridge.
Visitor Center for Natural Bridge
I got a real bad feeling about this, particularly after I walked inside (with mask) and the place was teeming with people. There was a long line at a ticket booth and behind the ticket booth was a shop that would put any tourist trap to shame. My ticket was $9 and I was told half the trail was closed due to flood damage. I asked if I could even see the natural bridge from the open part of the trail and was assured I could.
I was also warned there were a series of numerous steps down to the bridge. I noticed there were quite a few people huffing and puffing their way back up as I made my way back down.
The trail was really nice down to the bridge.
Trail down to Natural Bridge
I have to admit, I was ready to be disappointed. I’d seen postcards of natural bridge from the 40’s and some quite beautiful color photos over the years and like the Grand Canyon, I thought it would not match those photos and my imagination. I was wrong. It may be a tourist trap but it is still a beautiful thing to see.
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The arch is solid limestone, 215 feet high, 100 feet wide and spans 90 feet. It is actually 55 feet higher than Niagara Falls. The rocks of the bridge date to the Ordovician and are estimated to be 500 million years old. This is an impressive sight!
Guess who?
Once you get under the bridge, you get a good feel for how massive the structure is.
Under the arch
Even better, once you pass through to the other side, you get a whole different perspective.
Just past the archCascade creek. The stream that runs down by the side of the trail is attractive with several small cascades.
Also along the trail is an Arbor vitae (tree of life) which died in 1980 that is considered to have been 1600 years old and was considered to the be the largest of its species in the world.
The photo doesn’t do it justice. It is huge!
After leaving the park, I was routed to I-81 and it actually cut an hour off my time to Harpers Ferry. However, I pulled off at Charles Town, needing a bathroom break. I thought I would check to see if my room was ready and use the facilities at the hotel.
They got me into a room, I took a bathroom break and decided to not head on in to Harpers Ferry but leave that for tomorrow. Instead, I washed clothes and am now looking to head to a Japanese restaurant for a good meal. I skipped lunch today so I should have a pretty good appetite.
Tomorrow, it’s Harpers Ferry or bust. It’s a 6.5 mile drive from the hotel, so I should be able to make it.
Today, I went with plan B. Instead of driving 1 1/2 hours to Peaks of Otter (and 1 1/2 hours back) and hiking the trails, I decided to explore Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, a 28 minute drive from Lynchburg.
I’m not much of a Civil War buff these days – that was more in my college years – and I’m not big on Civil War sites but I figured this one might be worth it. After all, I’m going to visit Harpers Ferry which was instrumental in the series of events which led to Civil War and by going to Appomattox, I was going to see the location of end of the Civil War.
To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. There seemed to be a plethora of park rangers (after so many years of hiring freezes, retirements, cutbacks, and neglect for the National Parks) and the grounds and buildings were pristine.
I left the hotel (Hampton Inn & Suites – not Hilton Inn & Suites nor Hamiliton Inn & Suites as I insist on calling it) around 9 am and was finished touring the park by 11:30. Most of the historical sites are located within the historic area around the court house but there are several areas along US 460.
Appomattox Court House/Visitor Center
The actual surrender of Confederate forces was at the McLean House.
McLean House
Inside you can see the parlor where the surrender terms were signed.
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Once the surrender was signed, the Union forces went into overdrive to print pardons for the approximate 30,000 Confederate soldiers under Lee’s command at Appomattox.
Clover Hill Tavern – the first structure of any repute in Appomattox which led to the building of the Court House. If it had a tavern with beds, it could handle a court. Printing presses in Clover Hill Tavern. You can see the pardons hanging to dry on the line above the presses. All you had to do was fill in the name of the pardoned and have it signed by the appropriate authority.
There was a park ranger in the tavern giving a spiel to a couple. Apparently there was a cloth doll sitting on a couch to the right of the printing presses shown above. That doll had been missing until 1992 when two ladies brought in a paper bag and gave it to the park manager. It had gone missing for 127 years.
The last death at Appomattox occurred in and around the Peers House.
Peers House. There were skirmishes up until the actual signing of surrender and a cannon in front of the Peers House supposedly fired the last shot.
Further down US460 is Robert E. Lee’s last headquarters. There’s a nice loop trail that takes you by the site. There were no tents, no stools, nothing but trees where his commanders stood around Lee as he made his final decision to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia.
Site of Lee’s last headquarters near Appomattox Court House
It was a perfect day to visit the place. It was cloudy to the point of almost being overcast and the temperature was in the mid 60’s. I can only hope I have equally good weather tomorrow as I head to Harpers Ferry. I may drive there first before I back track and head to my hotel in Charles Town.
I slept in till 6 am this morning! Thankfully, Stephen still had coffee going for me. Jimmie and Stephen treat me too well. After breakfast, Jimmie and I walked for 1 1/2 miles. The weather was perfect. A little after 10:30 we said our goodbyes and I headed out for Lynchburg, Liberty University, and Jerry Falwell.
My GPS, true to form, took me in a very round about way to US 29. I started noticing I was being routed away from the highway and through back roads. Finally, well past Greensboro, it decided to put me on US 29. It got me to thinking. My hotel room wouldn’t be ready until 3 pm. When I was 45 miles away from Lynchburg, I decided to scope out Peaks of Otter, my intended destination tomorrow.
The best I can understand, there are three peaks that make up the Peaks of Otter: Sharp Top, Flat Top, and Harkening Hill. True to form, the GPS routed me in the most round about way, down dirt roads, and on occasions, trying to get me to turn down people’s drives. Eventually, I made it to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Peaks of Otter Lodge. The place was booming with the restaurant the busiest part of the lodge.
I took a few moments in the parking lot of the lodge to check out some of the potential hikes in the area. After getting my bearings, I then programmed the GPS to the Hamilton Inn & Suites in Lynchburg. I made it to the hotel around 3:30 pm. Dinner was take out from Chili’s, 86 feet (according to TripAdvisor) from the hotel.
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There’s only a 6% chance of precipitation tomorrow and a low of 47F tonight and a high of 72F while I’m on one of three possible trails. I’ll pull into the Peaks of Otter Visitor Center, talk with a ranger, and make my decision then, but I’m thinking Flat Top.
Flat Top is a 5.3 mile out-and-back hike with an elevation gain of 1, 761 feet. It’s rated as moderate by AllTrails but some hikers commented it’s easy at first and difficult at the end with severe elevation gain at the last with hand over hand climbing at the top. However, the views are said the be spectacular from the top with an elevation of 3,793 feet. I may get halfway up and have to come back down.
It’ll take me approximately one hour and 30 minutes to go from Lynchburg to Peaks of Otter tomorrow. If I leave early enough, it should give me plenty of time to make one of the hikes and get back down sometime in the early afternoon.
Stay tuned to find out what trail I hit and whether or not I survive the hike!
Happy Birthday to my cousin Jimmie! This is one of the few times I’ve been with her on her birthday other than in our childhood together. It was a thrill to be able to celebrate her birthday with her!
I was up and around at 5:30 am after a very restful night’s sleep. Stephen had the coffee ready when I came down around 7. After birthday wishes Jimmie and I headed out to the Greensboro Science Center. Jimmie is a member and she suggested we go.
Entrance to Greensboro Science Center
This is a very large complex that includes an aquarium, a zoo, and a tree top adventure park. Jimmie and I opted out of the tree top adventure but we did visit the aquarium and zoo.
One of the aquarium exhibits
Although small, the aquarium was well maintained and had most of the things kids really wanted to see – sharks, rays, and a wide array of other fish species. One of the more popular exhibits was the penguins.
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The zoo was also well maintained and there seemed to be staff everywhere, all volunteering information or at the least, a smile. A lot of the animals were not out – I suspect it was too cold for most like the Komodo dragon but the meerkats were out in force.
I got to see an okapi for the first time. I know it mainly from crosswords. It comes up frequently as an answer so it’s kind of nice putting a “face” to the creature of my crossword answers.
Perhaps the best part of the science center was walking outside under beautiful blue skies with the leaves just beginning to change colors. We were back home a little after 11 am. After lunch, I begged off for a nap and a little reading on my iPad.
Dinner tonight was takeout at Elizabeth’s Pizza. This is the second time eating their food over the years and it’s as good tonight as I remembered from the last time. I had the vegetarian pizza, Jimmie had the vegetarian Stromboli and Stephen had the vegetarian sub. I think I must be an evil influence. Truthfully, they often eat vegetarian. Not that I’m not an evil influence.
I did receive some news from my friend I was meeting for lunch in two days time. He had to cancel. His partner was ill and he didn’t want to leave him. Completely understandable. That’s one of the things I always try to anticipate on my trips – the unforeseen circumstances that arise. That sounds oxymoronic but there is always something that arises for which you can’t anticipate. You learn to go with the flow. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for Tom. As it happens, I’ll see Michael in Fort Lauderdale later in November.
Tomorrow, I plan a leisurely start to Lynchburg, home to Liberty University. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get in one or more day hikes in the Peaks of Otter area. After two nights in the Lynchburg/Bedford area, I’ll head to Harpers Ferry.
So far, with my tent camping, I have avoided rain. My luck may be running out. I don’t mind hiking in the rain, pitching a tent in the rain but I do dislike breaking camp in the rain – not so much for me but putting gear away wet. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
I got ten hours of sleep last night. I went to bed around 7:30 pm and made coffee at 5:30 am. It was a good night with one exception. Around 1:30 am, as I turned over in my single sleeping bag (turns out two bags were too warm last night) I heard a very large motor leaving the campsite area. I opened my eyes and saw red flashing lights.
I was due for a bathroom break so I got up and as I returned to the tent, an ambulance drove down to the sites below mine. Later, I figured the large motor sound with flashing red lights was a fire truck. I have no idea what happened but I do know the ambulance stayed around an hour. I hope whatever happened ended on a better note than it started.
I was on the road by 8 am. I’m getting pretty good at breaking down camp. The GPS in my car said I was 7 hours away from Greensboro. I knew that wasn’t correct. I checked Google maps on my iPad and it said 4 hours. That sounded better. Later, at a diesel stop, I realized I had set the parameters for my trip from Suwannee River State Park to Mistletoe State Park to exclude interstates and toll roads. The Jeep GPS was sending me the back roads to Greensboro. I corrected that and shifted back from the iPad Google maps to my Jeep GPS.
All was well and good until the GPS tried to get me to exit I-85 into Greensboro well before I thought I should. I knew I-85 took me into Greensboro but I also knew I had to get off it and work my way to my cousin’s house in the north section of town. I-85 comes in from the south of Greensboro. I finally gave in to the GPS insistence (I named her Casandra because she often predicts doom and gloom ahead on the road) and left I-85 at Thomasville. From there I went through High Point. It was 35 mph for the rest of the trip when I wasn’t stopped a red lights.
It’s not like I haven’t updated the GPS. I have installed 3 GPS updates since I purchased the Jeep. I still can’t figure out why it routed me through these small towns on the outskirts of Greensboro.
Jimmie and Stephen have my permission to track me via my iPhone and I’m sure they thought I must have lost my mind by traveling the back roads.
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As I was driving, I thought more and more about my two nights at Peaks of Otter campground on the 21st and 22nd. Recreation.gov sent me a email reminding me it did not have showers, running water, nor electricity at the sites. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me but after my two nights there, I was due to meet a friend for lunch in Charles Town. I got to worrying about having enough water on the site for two nights, having to shave with my tiny kit mirror, and still having enough water for my coffee. I could probably show up at the very nice restaurant with a two day growth of beard but I’m not sure my friend would want my company if I hadn’t had my coffee for two days.
On a whim, I checked for towns close to Bradford, VA (and hence Peaks of Otter) and found a Hilton Inn & Suites in Lynchburg, 18 minutes away from Bradford. I decided to encamp at Hilton Inn & Suites and make the trip to Charles Town refreshed, clean, non-stinky, and on time.
It was so good to see Jimmie and Stephen. At one time, with Covid, I wondered if I would ever get a chance to see them again other than FaceTime. Jimmie immediately put a load of my dirty laundry on (I swear that’s not why I visit them when I’m in the area – yet I always have laundry) and we set out on a short walk. Then it was tea cake time.
Jimmie and I used to make tea cakes with my Great Grandmother Laura Lee McEwen Tadlock. As Grandma Laura made the dough and rolled it out, we’d lick the bowl (the recipe has raw eggs and yet we lived to tell about it) and help cut out the cookies. It’s become something of a tradition between Jimmie and me to make tea cakes together whenever we visit each other. Stephen is the official taste tester. He may have even sampled some raw dough.
Depending on how thick you roll the dough and how long you keep them in the oven, tea cakes can be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside (Jimmie’s favorite) or crisp throughout (my favorite). I eat the thin crisp ones, Jimmie eats the thick chewy ones. Somehow this batch all ended thick and chewy. Hmmmm.
Well, it is her birthday tomorrow. And they did feed me lunch and dinner. And provide a second floor all to myself. I’ll just make sure when they visit me next time to roll the dough extra thin and crispy.
Tomorrow is a big day. We’ll celebrate Jimmie’s birthday, eat freshly baked bagels, head to the science museum and continue to catch up.
Today I hiked 10.6 miles. Thank goodness I got a great night’s sleep. I went to bed around 8:30 pm and waked around 12:30 pm and needed to pee. I know, TMI, but my urination schedule has been so disrupted, I’m thrilled I can get back to my twice a night routine.
Orion’s Belt around midnight last night.
Since I was up, I took the opportunity to put the 50F sleeping bag inside my 30F sleeping bag. I slept the rest of the night toasty warm. I did wake up around 5 am, had my second pee, and went back in the bag but about that time someone’s car alarm went off for about three minutes. I was fully awake. I felt badly for them because I’ve done the same thing – accidentally hitting the panic button on the key fob.
Breakfast was oatmeal and coffee again. That really works out well for me. I use my jet boil (propane backpacking stove) to boil the water and I have a single cup drip for the coffee. What’s left from the coffee water I add to the oatmeal.
I’ve also gotten washing dishes down pretty well. I add some Ivory liquid detergent (biodegradable) to my empty coffee cup, add cold water, and use the sudsy water to clean the drip cup, my oatmeal cup and spoon. I rinse in cold water and then heat up some water with the jet boil and do a final hot water rinse. So far that’s good enough to keep me from getting diarrhea.
I hit the trail at 8:03 am. I started out on the Beach Trail near my campsite.
Beach Trail at Mistletoe State Park
The entire Beach Trail is 1.9 miles but I veered off to the Office Trail (1/2 mile). The Office Trail is supposedly marked by a deep pink color. Just about the time I thought I needed to change trails, I came upon a red marking. What do I know about colors? I assumed their deep pink was my red. I followed it through the woods and kept running into a sign. I should have realized something was wrong when I couldn’t find any sign of a beaten down trail.
I pondered it a while and then it dawned on me the park may have been marking boundaries for hunting within the state park. It is also deer season. Here I am walking hunting boundaries during deer season in a green outfit. I quit following the red markers.
I back tracked to the original trail head for Beach Trail and then found the actual “deep pink” trail markers for the Office Trail. The Office Trail then merged with the Cliatt Creek Nature Trail Loop (3.5 miles) and it goes past the park office. I stopped at the park office for a rest break and a snickers bar. I know the park heard I was coming and they stocked them just to tempt me.
The Cliatt Creek Nature Trail does briefly follow Cliatt Creek and then loops back to the park office.
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I would have liked to hike the Rock Dam Trail but it was 6.5 miles by itself and AllTrails stated there are several areas you have to wade creeks and some of the respondents on the AllTrails site said they had to wade in waist deep water. I figured I could do without that since the temperature was still in the 50’s by the time I got to the crossing.
I finished the Nature Trail Loop which merged with the Canyon Loop. The Canyon Loop is not really a loop and is only 0.3 miles but it is supposed to be handicap accessible. However, if I were in a wheel chair, I wouldn’t attempt it. It was paved with some soft spongy, material and at several areas along the trail you sank into it.
It’s called the Canyon Loop due to poor conservation practices during the depression years and farming practices caused the land to erode to form the canyon.
Canyon Loop Trail. There is an overlook at this point and the canyon really is pretty deep.
I then back tracked to the Office Trail, Beach Trail and then merged with the Campground Loop Trail. I tried to find the trailhead to this earlier and couldn’t find it. It loops you down to Clark Hill Lake, the name of the portion of J. Strom Thurman Reservoir that is part of the park.
Clark Hill LakeJ. Strom Thurman Reservoir
I admit I’m tired from today’s hikes. But the good news is I needed to pee twice during the hike. Sigh, back to biological normal for me!
Eleven miles is a stretch for me, even on level terrain. That didn’t stop me from later biking through all the campsites. There are some really nice sites in this park. Some have multilevel decks that overlook Clarks Hill Lake. There are 99 campsites and 4 walk-in sites along with 10 cabins.
Blue skies at my tent site.
So far, I think this is the nicest state park I’ve been in Georgia.
Tonight’s low is predicted to be 48F. Looks like a double sleeping bag night again.
Tomorrow, I head to Greensboro for a visit with my cousin Jimmie and her husband Stephen.
