Day 1 Virginia mini SASH #11: Rock and roller coaster

roller coaster of love (What what?); Rollercoaster (Hey, hey). Ohio Players.

I didn’t have a good summer. He was unfocused, indifferent and even apathetic. I didn’t walk much after my spring SASH in Georgia; maybe half a dozen short day hikes throughout the summer. As a result, both my physical condition and mental health suffered. Once the mental slide begins, it is difficult to maintain a positive mindset. Nightingale suggested several times that I should plan a hike and I knew I needed to get back on the trail, but I just couldn’t motivate myself. In October, Nightingale convinced me that our son Matt wanted to follow the path this year. He’s been busy with back to school and hasn’t had much time for hiking. There’s been a stretch of about 25 miles in Northern Virginia that I’ve skipped for a couple of years; specifically, the southern half of the so-called Roller Coaster. This difference in miles had nothing to do with the coaster’s popular reputation. I rode the section of the coaster north of Snickers Gap/VA Rte. 7 and I didn’t find it that difficult; Maybe annoying, but not difficult. Shortly after deciding I was a section hiker, I wanted to find a way to get my entire family on the trail, even if it was for one night. A long-standing idea was for my family, including our daughter Stephanie and her then-fiancé Koray (now husband), our son Matt and her husband Dennis, our grandson Lucas aka Treacherous, our son Greg – Spiderman, and of course Nightingale, to camp out for a night at Bears Den. Then Matt, Spiderman, Koray and I will ride the roller coaster and meet up with everyone else again at Sky Meadows State Park for another night of family camping. For various reasons (including Stephanie and Koray moving to California), the family event never happened. So this mileage gap has persisted.

We thought three days and two nights would be enough for this small section. On October 29, I drove from the Chesapeake Bay to Matt’s house in Northern Virginia and we were parking at the northern trailhead on Snickers Gap/VA Rte. 7 to 7 am. Heading towards SOBO, crossing VA Rte. 7 at this hour with the locals rushing to work heading to Washington, DC it’s like a game of dodgeball.

Oddly enough, I finished my spring GA SASH with only 0.3 miles left for 300. So, just after crossing the road and walking down the trail toward Blue Blaze toward Bear’s Den, I declared 300 miles complete with a handwritten sign I had brought for the «occasion.» I always thought the roller coaster was a little more hyped than necessary; Yes, it is tough, but if you are fit it shouldn’t be too difficult. Well, like I said, I wasn’t in shape; in fact, I probably should have chosen a different terrain for this slightly late planned mini SASH. Although it was very slow, we thought we were walking well enough to stop at Sam Moore Shelter to make some hot tea (Matt) and, in my case, cappuccino, for an early lunch. The climb up Buzzard Hill after lunch went well, although at a very slow pace. At this point we still had hope of reaching Rod Hollow Shelter before dark. Then the panorama changed and not in a favorable way.

The stretch between Hollow Brook Falls, along Piney Ridge, to Morgan Mill Stream is probably the heart of the coaster. Add in the highs and lows: rocks! Many stones. And just for fun, PATC has done a terrible job of paving the way in this section, especially for SOBOs. Hello Ringmaster, the «welcome to the roller coaster» signs are kitsch; but white blazes are basic trail maintenance. Among the rocks, the flames were either nonexistent or so old that they disappeared from sight. We lost the trail twice; Luckily, FarOut got us back on the trail, but not without some hiking – across rocks! We were rapidly losing daylight. We were lucky that we didn’t need to filter the water before reaching the shelter. So, with headlights on, we drove the last two miles to the south end of the coaster and entered Rod Hollow Shelter at 7 p.m.

Around Bear’s Den at the start of the day, we surprisingly saw a few day hikers, especially it being a weekday and a bit chilly. After lunch, an ultralight hiker passed us to SOBO, but we only exchanged greetings. We met this guy in Rod Hollow; No Filter was a late SOBO, hoping to finish Springer before December 17th. We discussed the very clear likelihood that he would have to walk through snow in the Smoky Mountains and, more than likely, in North Georgia. Before long, No Filter went to his sleeping bag while Matt and I finished dinner under the red light headlights. It started to rain, but luckily the picnic table was covered and a little ways away from the shelter, so we didn’t have to worry too much about disturbing No Filter too much. The rain continued to pick up and we wasted no time in finishing dinner and getting into our own sleeping bags. It rained very hard for half the night and drizzled the other half. I didn’t sleep. Not really because of the noise of the rain in the shelter, but I just couldn’t get comfortable. Despite the difficult day of walking, my hips felt good, without pain; so I just couldn’t understand my inability to sleep. I fell asleep from time to time, from time to time. My motivation hadn’t skyrocketed; but I was on the AT again this year.

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