Shenandoah National Park - (And a True Test of Tolerance Levels)

DAY ONE

And so it began!  BT and I set out early Friday morning for Shenandoah National Park.

Peace out, "hurricane" Arthur!  

The drive up was beautiful.  The skies were clear and the temperature was in the 70's.  An overall gorgeous day.  We took in at least a good 20 miles of Skyline Drive in route to our destination.

First attempt at a self-timer selfie.  Don't worry, many more to follow!  

We arrived to the Loft Mountain area (in the southern part of the park) around 1 pm and set up camp.

                           

I was grateful that we were able to snag a campsite, being that it was a holiday weekend.  A very nice park ranger helped us to pick a "more secluded" spot that included a bear box to keep our precious edibles safe and sound. (He was concerned that the bears would smell things through and thus try to destroy BT's soft top Jeep*.)  I was also grateful for our campsite because, originally, BT thought it would be fun for us to "backcountry" camp.  Meaning lugging all of our gear (20+ lb backpacks) with us on our hike and setting up camp in the middle of nowhere.  Luckily, I was able to talk some sense into him on the drive up.  Neither of us are experienced hikers/backpackers/campers and there are bears, poisonous snakes, and God knows what else lurking in those woods.   And while I agree with Laura M. that "everyone needs to experience seeing their life flash before their eyes at least one time", I was not prepared to have that happen just yet.

*Yes, we took the Jeep, not the bike, as "Chuck" may have informed a few of you readers.

BT taking a selfie while I fixed us lunch.  ((rolling my eyes))

With no time to waste, we set off on our first hike which BT had already planned.  I told him I wanted to see waterfalls and he delivered!  

The trail started off with some amazing overlooks.  

"Whatever you do, don't look down there", he told me.

And then began its descent to the ultimate destination, the waterfalls!  

I did a terrible job at noting what pictures went with which waterfalls (read:  I made no notes at all), so I have no idea what's what.  

Probably my favorite picture from the whole trip.  #selftimerselfie

The trail was very quiet.  We passed only a handful of people the entire time and ran into a nice couple at one of the falls who snapped this for us (I think).  

Having taken in all of the beautiful falls, it was time to make the ascent back.  *sigh*

A portion of the return hike was on the Appalachian Trail which was exciting!  It's very different from the other park trails.  Just a single wide walkway, more or less.  Nothing fancy about it.  Oh, and we ran into this little fellow along the way!  

((clearing throat and channeling my inner Garth Algar )) "Excuse me.  I'd like to get by now."

The last hour or so of the hike, we were hauling ass so that we could make it to the camp store before they closed.  Priorities, people!!  

BT gathered some wood and got us a nice little fire started.  Emphasis on little.  

It was around this time that a park ranger stopped by and proceeded to warn us about the numerous copperhead sightings there had been in the area we were camping.  In fact, he believed there had to be a den nearby.  "Just be sure to check under the tent before you break it down in the morning", he told us, "they'll wanna slide up under there tonight to keep warm".  

Me:  "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhck this."  

Time to start chugging these so I'll hopefully just pass out and forget about the copperheads!
(I kid, I kid.)

Needless to say, we were on high alert all night long and any wink of sleep that I did get, I was dreaming of copperheads slithering around under me.  Fortunately, BT had made the wise decision to bring an air mattress (that we had hurriedly rushed to blow up with his noisy air compressor before "quiet time" went into affect). I don't know how we would have survived the night without it.  It was downright freezing and I was ill prepared, clothing-wise.  Lesson of the day:  When BT tells you to bring a fleece/sweatshirt and long pants, listen to the man.  

DAY TWO

We survived the chilly night, broke down camp the next morning, and headed north about 30 miles to our next destination, the Whiteoak Canyon/Cedar Run Trail.    

I had seen the hike in a brochure that was given to us when we entered the park and it sounded challenging and fun.  From the park:  "Consider your physical condition and available time before attempting this hike."  BT agreed that we should do it, so off we went!  

Bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to tackle some trails!  

There were several starting points for this particular hike, and the one we chose ended up being a huge mistake, haha!  As a matter of fact, neither of us has really been able to figure out exactly what we did wrong, but a 7.1 mile hike turned into 11+ miles...at least 4 of which were PURE HELL.  

We started off in good spirits and enjoyed the downhill hike to what would be a plethora of (very crowded) waterfalls, water slides, and swimming holes.  

This was a very popular trail that had a lot more people on it than the one we did the day before.  Along the way, a nice gentleman offered to take a picture for us.   Again, we'll stick to taking selfies, thanks.  

The guy who took this had a baby in one hand and my camera in the other, hence the nervous smile on my face.

We made it to the first point of interest:  a giant, scary cliff overlooking an amazing waterfall.  

There were so many waterfalls on this trail.  The trail description said 9, we counted at least 11.  (And we also made wrong turns.)  There were crazy kids cliff jumping off one of them!  (I so wanted to do it, but wasn't prepared, clothing-wise.  Plus the water is COLD.)  

We continued on and had to cross several small streams along the way.  

Next up was a water slide!  (Note to self:  next time, wear or bring a swimsuit!)  

After the water slide, things got rough.  We knew there would eventually be a tough ascent back up the mountain, but we had no idea it would be as difficult as it was.  There is a good 3 hour period of time from when the above picture was taken to when this next one taken once we were off of the White Oak Canyon trail and onto the AT.  

BT on the AT.

Mind you, we still had about 2 miles to go, but not at the steep incline we had been enduring.  (There were times when we were on all fours climbing ridiculously jagged and slippery rocks.)  

He snapped this one with his iPhone during the rough part.  

The wooded area of the AT spit us out onto the top of mountain, parallel to Skyline Drive.  The view was breathtaking and we were both so happy to be almost finished.  

But first, lemme take a selfie with this deer.  

We made it!  Holy smokes, that was hard!  Not only physically, but mentally.  I broke down once thinking we were never going to make it to the top.  I know BT was in pain too, but he stayed positive the entire time and encouraged me to dig deep.  Around the last two miles or so, I began experiencing some GI distress (which was no doubt caused by mix of overexertion and dehydration).  

 **Warning:  TMI ahead!  Not for the faint of heart**

Me:  "BT, my tummy's not feeling so good...I really hope we're almost there."

Him:  "Uh-oh.  Girl stuff?"  

Me:  "No.  Worse."  

Him:  "Oh.  Well fart it out!"  

Me:  "No.  Worse."  ((guts bubbling))

Him:  "Oh."  ((dead silence))  

I would've rather jumped off the mountainside before I had explosive diarrhea  in the middle of the Appalachian Trail while my beloved boyfriend kept watch for me.  And by the grace of God, I was able to make it to the end and to a bathroom just in the knick of time.  

Back at the (non-copperhead infested and, lucky me, right next door to a bathroom) campground, it was time to reward ourselves for the days efforts.  

BT did what he does best.  (Takes an hour to get a fire started...heh.)  

And then relaxed while I warmed us up a hearty meal.  

We both slept like babies that night.  

DAY THREE

I was up and at 'em before him, so I made some coffee and just enjoyed the quiet (and chilly) morning.  

After about half an hour of that, I began getting antsy.  I had one last waterfall hike I wanted to do before we left!  Never mind that neither of us could barely move our legs.  I crawled into the tent to wake up sleeping beauty and told him to get moving, there was an easy two miler I wanted to do before we left.  I think his exact words were, "I'm not going on another effin' hike."  

Pffft!  Rookie!  

It took a little coaxing, but once he got up and moving and got some coffee in him, he was game.  

We stopped for breakfast at the little campground restaurant and were off to see Lewis Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the park, at 81'.  

We chose the shorter, 2 mile route from Skyline Drive.  

The first thing you come across is yet another scary overlook.  

This will help you to overcome your fear of heights real quick...

A couple of small, stream crossings.

And then the falls!

Unfortunately, this one was only viewable from an observation deck and it was hard to capture the entire thing with all of the trees around.  

It was impossible to get a selftimer selfie at this one.  

A mile back uphill (piece of cake!) and we were done!  

But wait!  One last stop!  I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if we didn't stop for a photo op at BIIIIIIIIIIIG MEADOWS!!!  (Our inside joke that whole day - it's nothing but a big ass meadow.)  

No idea how he was able to do this after all of that hiking!  Mad props.  

I didn't want to leave Shenandoah National Park.  Like, ever.  We barely even scratched the surface of all it has to offer and can't wait to go back one day (soon, hopefully).  

See ya, BIIIIG MEADOWS!  It's been...big.  

RANDOM STUFF

Food:  We were both really worried about this.  My fear was being hangry the entire time and his was having to deal with hangry Laura.  I prevented this from happening by packing enough snacks to feed an army.  We also prepped stuff for a hot dinner both nights (pre-cooked quinoa and beans), which was much needed after a long day on the trails.  Both Saturday and Sunday morning, we treated ourselves to breakfast at the little restaurant in the Big Meadows area (and felt zero guilt for eating huge stacks of pancakes).  And we always had plenty of GORP (good old raisins and peanuts), energy bars, and (almost inedible) "healthy-banana-oat-flax-peanut-raisin cookies" (that I baked before we left) on us at all times.  Oh, and peanut butter-raisin-tortilla wraps were our saving grace!  

Probably worth noting that we both wore Camelbacks at all times on the trail.  It's pretty much a death wish if you don't.  

Don't forget the craft beer!  

Animals Spotted:  A doe on both day one and two.  A large, black snake on day two.  (We only saw it because others were taking pictures of it.)    Sadly, no bear sightings.  Happily, no copperhead sightings.

Injuries Sustained:  ((Knocking on wood))  Nothing bad!  My leg got a little bit scratched up, and I think BT had a blister, but other than that, we escaped unscathed.  No ticks to be found (hallelujah!) and no poison ivy!  Just sore feet and tight muscles.  

Recognize those red shoes?  Yep, I wore them to Costa Rica and they're still going strong!  

Personal Hygiene:  There were no showers taken.  Wet wipes and baby powder can do wonders, but by day three, I was starting to attract flies.  As you can tell from the pictures, BT wore the same clothes every day.  Thankfully it was a "technical t-shirt with WHater WHicking properties which helped to eliminate perspiration and body odor" (<--another inside joke...sorry, we had way too much time on our hands)

Why don't you rinse off under that waterfall while you're at it?  ;)

Motivation:  Pizza.

We binged on Calz Pizza and watched THIS great documentary (on Netflix) upon our return.

Weather:  Damn near perfect, but I had no idea it was going to get so chilly at night!  The temps dropped down into the low 50's and I had zero warm clothes!  Lesson learned.  

53 degrees on Saturday morning.  

How We Survived Without Killing One Another:  Has anybody heard from BT?...Ha!

Credit to him for the subtitle of this post:  "A Test of True Tolerance Levels".  We spend quite a bit of time together, but nothing can prepare you for being in such close proximity with someone (with no bathrooms/showers) while tackling some pretty treacherous terrain.  There was a lot of talking and storytelling and then there was a lot of time where we were both perfectly content to be alone with our own thoughts.  There were a few times when we had to talk some sense into each other, but that's what makes us such a great team!  

I can't speak for him, but there's just something about those mountains that draw you in and make you never want to leave.  As a native Virginian, I'm upset with myself for having never explored this amazing place.  

My advice to you, GO!  What are waiting for?!?!