Thursday July 2, 2026
After my toughest night on the trail, I decided to continue hiking early to try to escape the heat. A big decision awaits me when I get to the city.
Sleeping prohibited
Yesbelieve! Stone! It wasn’t the bears or coyotes calling nearby that finally chased me out of my tent, but a pair of barred owls emitting an ear-piercing call from outside my tent. I spent the night doing my best imitation of a roast chicken with probably half a dozen short naps. It was five in the morning and I could already feel the humidity. I decided to be pragmatic, pack my bags and continue on my way. At least I would be walking in the relative cool of the morning and return to the city earlier. My goal was to catch up on blogging and get back on the trail around 5:00 pm for a 6.8 mile hike to Whiskey Hollow Shelter. I would leave myself around 16 miles for the day and prepare for a shorter hike on Saturday.
Outside the tent I could immediately feel the heat and humidity. The owls left upon seeing me for the first time, obviously having accomplished their goal of ruining my morning. I squeezed the remaining water from my filter into my bottle and hit the trail before 6:00 a.m. With a good amount of water ready to go, I decided to skip breakfast at the Denton Shelter and hike the 9.5 miles back to the van during the cooler part of the day. I would get back to town a little early and stay on track to get back on the trail in the evening. Aside from the humidity, I felt good. My feet felt much better than the night before.
Lesson learned
The climb that awaited me was not as bad as I thought. Soon I was walking back through the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute when something unusual happened: the temperature dropped significantly, I’d say about 20 degrees. I realized that my campsite on Route 602 must be in some kind of pit that barely gets any airflow. I’ll have to keep this in mind next time I camp in a warm climate: avoid low spots deep in the woods.
Looking from the Appalachian Trail toward the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI).
The final hill
Passing Mosby Camp and Tom Sealock Spring marked about halfway back to my truck. From there it was a gentle descent to Denton Shelter and then onto Route 638. At that point I was a little over a mile from the truck, but had an exposed climb through a meadow ahead of me. The final challenge before the sweet relief of getting off the road. I was incessantly checking FarOut to get the details of what to expect. I knew it would be a 400 foot climb. It was steeper than average but leveled off unexpectedly. I was sure I had only climbed about 200 feet and FarOut confirmed my hypothesis. The next 200 feet were extended over a longer distance, which reduced the gradient, but delayed the time when the climb would end. When it finally arrived, I was briefly overcome with relief. I wasn’t out of the woods yet (literally), but at least it was all downhill. I can’t say I enjoyed my fall on the final descent. It was rocky, steep, and featured sharp turns that gave me the impression that I wasn’t making any distance to my truck. The traffic on I-66 was close and loud, but not moving far toward him.
Finally the road straightened out, crossed the railroad tracks, then some small footbridges crossed some streams, and I returned to Route 55. It was just before 9:30 a.m. and I knew my priority was to change into city clothes and find a cold breakfast.
The trail passes by the Denton Shelter.
Pardon and rescheduling
The pleasure of eating half a liter of ice cream on an empty stomach on a hot day never goes out of style. I checked the weather forecast for the next few days. There would be 99 or 100 today, tomorrow and Saturday. There was a heat dome that caused near record temperatures in the area. I realized that my idea of getting back on the trail around 5:00 pm and hiking significant miles tomorrow and Saturday was actually a very bad idea.
I thought about my hike plan, which still showed an expected end date of around November 10th. Would you rather walk a few cooler days in November or two more days in the scorching heat of July? The answer was obvious: I decided to take the next two days off, in addition to my usual day off on Sunday (it would still be 96 degrees). It would push back my schedule a bit, but it seemed like an exceptionally logical decision. I’ll be able to thoroughly enjoy Front Royal, I already know some great places at Vibrissa Beer and Coffee to Grow and I’m sure there are more to find. Maybe you can find some events to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary.
One thing’s for sure: I’ll be watching a lot of Formula One! I didn’t even realize until just now that it’s a “Sprint” weekend with an extra race session on Saturday. This is in addition to the event taking place at the famous Silverstone circuit, home of the first Formula 1 race.
This means I will be consolidating the blog posts again. Expect the full posts for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, July 3, 4, and 5 to be published on Friday, July 10. Posts will skip Saturday and Sunday, July 11 and 12 and return on Monday, July 13 to cover Monday, July 6.
Ready for free time
After my breakfast revelation, I move to a coffee shop to prepare my blog posts to publish today. That would allow me maximum downtime over the next few days. A vacation from my vacation, so to speak. Now that afternoon was approaching, I grabbed a subway sandwich and tried to review my walking itinerary for the next two weeks. Since I’m losing two days, I won’t go as far as I planned, but I’m still on track to make it halfway and complete the half-gallon challenge in Pine Grove with a few days to spare. With my important tasks behind me, it was time to return to Shenandoah National Park for the night. I hoped the relatively high altitude would mean cooler temperatures and better sleep. There were dozens of cars stopped at each overlook as I drove down Skyline Drive just before sunset. The views of the Shenandoah Valley were incredible, I will definitely need to see a sunset here in the next few days.
-See you tomorrow
| Leg | Begin | Mile | End | Mile | Ascent | Decline | Address |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia Route 602 | 971.5 | VA 55: Manassas Gap | 981.1 | 1,788 | 2,078 | NOBO |
Total: 9.6 miles*, 24,498 steps
- Hike type: Backpacking
- Camp: van
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