Trepidous Trail - Day 2

Read day one first

The night before we had been walking through the dark seeing what looked like cairns.  We didn't discuss it at the time, but we were both thinking "Blair Witch Project."  It was creepy.

From AT Pictures

But in the light of day, much less creepy.  I assume these were put here by trail maintainers.  There were a bunch of these piles along this section of the trail.

From AT Pictures

As I packed up the tent the kids went to check out the views...

From AT Pictures

...which were breathtaking.

This is what nap time looks like on the trail!

From AT Pictures

The kids were great on this trip.  When they were uncomfortable, they let us know but when they weren't they were all smiles.

From AT Pictures

Shortly after this picture was taken the kids were complaining about being hot. So, of course, God provided a rain storm to cool us off. At first it was all "Wow! Daddy we can splash in the puddles!" But after about an hour the rain was taking it's toll and kids were getting cold.

As we trudged along Hunt was really struggling. Then all of a sudden I heard him exclaim "Look! Daddy! It's a lizard!"

From AT Pictures

His mood went from tired and grumpy to excited in the blink of an eye. It was a welcome diversion.

Because of the rain we didn't take many pictures after lunch.  But it rained on us for about the next five hours as we proceeded towards Route 621.  We were all tired and cold and wet by the end.

Overall it was a good trip.  I was very impressed with the kid's fortitude throughout the journey, but next time I think we'll take a shorter section of trail.

Trepidous Trail - Day 1

It was with some trepidation that we set out on a hike of the AT from Rt 631 to Rt 621 (left 'P' to right 'P' on the map below).

From AT Pictures

Trail Date: June 11, 2010 6:00pm
Weather: 80's and clear (or so we thought)
Location: AT from Rt 631 to Rt 621 SW VA.
Distance: about 11 miles

According to our guide book this was to be a 11.3 mile hike.  Could the little guys do it?  Could we?  One of the motivations to hike the AT as a family was to challenge ourselves.  We wanted to accomplish something together as a family.  Since we couldn't take a year to sail around the world, we decided to hike the AT.  We finally decided that this section of the hike would be a challenge, but we thought we could do it.

From AT Pictures

The crew ready for the big adventure.

Shortly we came upon Keffer Oak.  It was big, but I have to admit in my imagination it was much bigger.

From AT Pictures

From AT Pictures

We got a later start than we wanted and by the time we stopped for dinner it was nearly dark.

From AT Pictures

We were trying to make it to the first shelter (the little house on the map) before stopping so we pressed on.  But by 10:30 we had to admit it was just too dark and no longer safe for us to be tromping along through the woods.  We setup camp next to the trail.  I'm not sure why, but everyone fell asleep quickly.

The next morning was cereal for breakfast, break camp and on on!

From AT Pictures

Check back soon for the rest of our adventure.

Hello Trail!

From AT Pictures

Trail Date: May 7, 2010 5:30pm
Weather: 80's and clear
Location: Old Keffer Trail north along the AT from route 42 in SW VA.
Distance: about 1 mile of the AT, 2 round trip