Baking in the July haze

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

The change of calendar brings a dome of heat to Shenandoah. Despite my best efforts, and even some timely help, I cannot escape the heat.

Superstition is the way

Rabbit, rabbit. Lepus, lepus. These are the first words I say as soon as I wake up on the first day of a new month. The superstition dates back to my high school Latin class about 20 years ago. Lepus means rabbit in Latin. I knew right away that I had gotten another good night’s sleep, but I also knew after checking my phone that it was only 6:00 a.m. Nothing completes a good night’s sleep better than an extra nap to start the day. Besides, today everything was working in my favor. I had some solid trail walking/fiery retro options in front of me. Both the trail and Skyline Drive would generally go downhill toward the northern boundary of the park. And best of all, I would revisit Elkwallow Wayside around mile 12 of the day. You would do well to start packing your bags around 6:30am and hit the road by 7:00am. I managed to do just that and walked 100 feet south to the lookout at the top of The Pinnacle for one last look at the view I had admired so many times over the past few days. I stopped by Byrd’s Nest #3 Hut about a mile into the hike for a quick bathroom break and continued to the Panorama parking area at Thornton Gap, where I stopped yesterday.

Optimization

While taking it easy and sticking to my itinerary was a viable option for the next two days, I had to consider trying to replicate my heroic hike from last Friday. Switching between AT and Skyline Drive to find the quickest possible route back to my truck would get me back into town sooner. To begin my hike I stayed on the trail mainly because it was downhill most of the way. The rocks on the trail slowed me down a bit, but taking a side trail to Skyline Drive seemed to be about a mile farther, leading me to believe that although my pace would be faster, it would be a slower overall route.

Spring water doesn’t taste as good as freshly filtered cold spring water, but it’s much less complicated to obtain. I took over a picnic table and enjoyed my breakfast and having a bathroom with running water to brush my teeth. I exited Skyline Drive from the Panorama parking area through Thornton Gap and followed it for several miles before taking a shortcut on the AT through the area that was overgrown and exposed to sunlight. It wasn’t the most pleasant section of the trail, but Skyline Drive takes a significant divergence to the east and certainly would have been a slower route. Skyline Drive rejoined the AT about a mile down the trail and I knew that from here on out I would stay on Skyline Drive until Elkwallow Wayside.

View from Pass Mountain Overlook.

View from Jeremy’s Run lookout.

Hiking fuel

After covering the 9 mile AT distance I was eager for a break. I enjoyed a heaping scoop of blackberry ice cream and contemplated my options. I felt good, but not as energetic as last Friday. I had to walk too far to get back to the van at a reasonable time. I also had no interest in trying to spend a night in the van. Then I had a moment of inspiration. I could hike, but I plan to spend the night on a trail less than 10 miles from the truck. I would take a short walk in the morning, head into town, avoid the sweltering weather, and then get back on the road to reduce my mileage for Friday and Saturday. In addition to avoiding the worst of the heat today, this would prepare me to finish the race on Saturday afternoon, when I would really enjoy the free time. I could easily find a comfortable place to watch the F1 qualifying round on Saturday night while enjoying the city’s food. I could catch up on the blog and be in good shape for some rest time on Sunday after the British Grand Prix.

I made up my mind and walked along Skyline Drive while carefully selecting a route in FarOut that would make the most of the retro style while taking some small shortcuts on the AT.

View from the Rattlesnake Point lookout.

View from Skyline Drive.

View from the range view overlook.

View of Mount Marshall from Skyline Drive.

View from Skyline Drive.

Cooking

It was a warm 90 degree afternoon. July brought the heat that June had spared us hikers. I was sweating and fighting off a swarm of bugs. At one point I took a detour on the AT and had to take out my bug net just so I could breathe without inhaling some vile flying creatures. The road was cooler, but definitely slower. The views from Skyline Drive were heavily masked by fog, no doubt it would be the same from any of the vantage points on the AT. I was in the middle of a nearly 14-mile stretch, mostly on Skyline Drive, having drawn just a pint of water from the roadside drinking tap.

I was cooking not only miles but also my entire body. I’m as hardy a hiker as you can get, but I was wondering how far I could go. At one point I planned to walk directly to the Tom Floyd shelter, about 7 miles from where I was on Skyline Drive. After thinking about it, I realized that I really should stop for water first. I remembered that there was an excellent spring below Compton Peak. I had to decide between the shorter but steeper route over Compton Peak, where I would get a good water break beforehand, and staying on Skyline Drive, which would be flatter but would mean at least an extra hour before getting more water. Not to mention, the water source at the shelter was at the end of a long side trail.

perfect moment

I came to my senses and planned to head back to the AT to get some cold water into my system from the spring below Compton Peak, figuring it would help me recover and finish strong. I figured the time difference would be negligible, and that prepared me to pass the shelter’s remote water source and instead stop a mile and a half up the trail on VA Route 602, where the trail passed right over a stream. That would be a possible stopping point for the day that would leave me less than 10 miles from the van, but I also had the option of continuing on to the Denton Shelter, just 3 miles from the van.

I wasn’t excited about the prospect of getting back on the trail and climbing to the spring, but incredibly it wasn’t necessary. I was just a few steps from the Jenkins Gap trailhead, preparing to rejoin the trail when a passing car stopped. The driver asked me if I needed water. In all my time on the road, this was probably the time I needed it the most, and here it was! The driver stopped and handed me two bottles of water from a box in his trunk. I thanked him and decided to continue on the flat Skyline Drive the rest of the way. I knew that climbing the trail was exhausting work. The two bottles of water would take me to Route 602, where I could decide what I wanted to do next.

The trail provides.

30 miles the hard way

More than 10 miles of road walking had taken its toll. It was already after five in the afternoon. I was walking for 5 hours straight. My feet were really beat up, my hips weren’t much better. Exiting Skyline Drive and taking the AT didn’t do much to improve the situation. The intense heat and humidity were relentless. The path soon became rocky and a short but steep descent caused especially grimacing. I was hydrated, but everything else was messed up. I kept waiting for a second wind that would magically take me to Denton Shelter. He never came close to appearing. Instead, I was sweating more than ever and the air was getting heavier the further I descended. My feet had softened from the trail and were not used to rocks. Half my steps made my feet feel numb; It wasn’t a good thing, but at least they didn’t hurt. The other half landed on rocks large enough to hit a pressure point on my feet. The downward momentum caused by the sloping trail was like walking on pebbles with 60 extra pounds on my shoulders. My attention was briefly diverted from the state of my body when I saw two adolescent bears in the woods ahead. I scared them off easily, but I recorded the encounter in my mind as I considered camping less than a mile down the creek.

View from Skyline Drive.

There is no steam ahead

I arrived at the creek before 7:00 pm, enough time to hike further, but the next campground was 4.7 miles further north, and largely uphill. I would have to have an incredible recovery to even dream of attempting those miles. I quickly surveyed the area for a tent site. The options weren’t very good, but they would do. After drinking a liter of water, from the amount of sweat that was still pouring out of my pores, it was obvious that I was not going to continue any further. I needed to take off my shoes and let my feet breathe. In fact, I might as well lie down in my tent and try to cool off. I quickly set up my tent and inflated my sleeping pad. There was no need to put down my sleeping bag liner or quilt, I didn’t need heat. I took off my sweaty sweatshirt and laid it on the mat. I felt a little better without the shoes but I was still sweating, the humidity was relentless. Until now, the temperature had dropped significantly every other day after 5:00 pm Not today. It was cooler when I walked since I’m cutting through the air. Lying still in my tent in the humid, still air, my temperature remained constant. I asked for the sun to set so the temperature would finally drop. It would be another hour before that relief came.

-See you tomorrow

Total: 30.4 miles, 60,471 steps

• Hike type: Backpacking
• Campground: Tent Camping, VA Route 602

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