The Shenandoah Mix – The Walk

Friday June 26, 2026

With my truck a two-day walk away, I set out to use backlight and determination to close the gap as much as I could. How far can I go?

Back

lLast night while I was in my tent, I couldn’t help but think about retro-blazing. Yesterday I wrote that although it saves time, it is a bit vague. I realized I should have also noticed that it helps tremendously in preserving my feet, ankles, and knees. Looking at the map of the Appalachian Trail and Skyline Drive south of where I was on Bearfence Mountain, I could see that there were ample opportunities for some long blazes along Skyline Drive. You could potentially go much further south backlit than if you took the Appalachian Trail. I now understand that the Appalachian Trail exists because it is difficult and not because it is easy. But other than Hightop Mountain, I’ve already hiked the entire Appalachian Trail between my truck and my current location on Bearfence Mountain. The challenge of seeing how far I could go today including walking down the road became appealing. There were surely some viewpoints along Skyline Drive that I hadn’t been able to enjoy from the trail, even if, as I learned yesterday, they weren’t as common as I thought. The forecast also indicated rain starting tonight and scattered throughout the day on Saturday. Additionally, taking a different approach on my return leg would provide a different perspective for the blog. I made a plan to quickly get out of the camp and get on the road as soon as possible. I would make a brief stop for breakfast at the Lewis Mountain campground, which promised picnic tables and a water supply.

Taking the low road

The picnic area turned out to be an ideal place to stop for breakfast. Even though the water fountains were closed, I was able to get some water from the bathroom sink. I had my first decision of the day staring back at me. I could get back on the road and continue backtracking or I could take a bit of a risk and go through the picnic area and campground, rejoin the AT, and reconnect with the road in 1-2 miles. On the map, it looked a little shorter, but it might be harder to rain than the road. I decided to play it safe and head back to Skyline Drive, mostly because I wanted a photo of the sign outside the picnic area, which showed the distance, 48 miles, to Rockfish Gap, the southern end of the park. My truck was parked at Turk Gap, which was about 10 or 11 miles north of Rockfish Gap. I wondered how many of those miles I could cover today so I could make a short walk to the truck tomorrow and, as always, have some free time. I know I wrote a few blog posts ago about wanting to take my time in Shenandoah, which is still true. I guess my thinking is slowly shifting from the challenge of hiking the AT again to the challenge of seeing how many miles I can hike in a day.

48 miles to the southern tip of Shenandoah National Park.

View from Skyline Drive.

View from Skyline Drive.

Taking the high road

I arrived at Swift Run Gap shortly after 10:00 a.m. That would have been impossible if I had taken the official route of the Appalachian Trail. It also meant I was about 1 mile from the Hightop Mountain parking area where I would have to rejoin the trail, since I had skipped it in favor of my first hike back on Tuesday. The mile between Swift Run and Hightop Mountain on Skyline Drive was a quick climb that caused my first sweat breakout of the day. Once I rejoined the trail, there was no respite as I climbed steeply up the mountain for the next mile. It was hard work, but I had to do it so I could walk every step of the trail. On the way back to the road I stopped at Hightop Hut to pick up some water. At 12:00 I got back on the road. I had 11 miles of road between me and Loft Mountain Wayside. It was 14 more miles to Turk Gap and my truck. There wasn’t much opportunity to improve the speed of the road hike by taking the AT, but I could see that there were one or two potential hikes where this should prove to be the faster route. Otherwise, I was planning to back up as much as possible and get as close to the truck as possible. The urban food addict in me had taken complete control of my decisions.

View from the top of Hightop Mountain.

View from Hightop Mountain.

Clear to retro-blaze

Since I was now south of Swift Run, I noticed there were fewer cars coming my way. Most people would enter the park through the north entrance, near Front Royal, and head south. Other visitors can enter via Swift Run in the middle of the park and head north or south. I was now walking on the north side of Skyline Drive south of Swift Run, so the only cars I would see would have entered through Rockfish Gap at the south end of the park, which I think is just a less popular entrance.

Shortly after passing Swift Run I noticed a sign advising drivers to «share the road.» On the sign there was a car, a bicycle and a pedestrian. That made me feel a lot better walking down the road and also explained the 35 mph speed limit on the horizon.

Even the shoulder of the road became flatter and seemed to have been recently mowed. I was getting more comfortable backing off and the conditions were changing in my favor.

View from Bacon Hollow Overlook.

A fawn tried to hitchhike on Skyline Drive.

View from Ivy Creek Overlook.

View from Skyline Drive.

Optimizing the route

It was clear that I would save about a half mile by returning to the AT near Pinefield Hut. Skyline Drive has a long, sharp curve that the trail can cut. About two miles after the shortcut I reached Loft Mountain Wayside. This was the general area I had reached by the end of my first day, but it was already mid-afternoon. I bought cranberry juice and blackberry iced tea at the store to inject some hydration and sugar into my system. I also prepared fitness water to save for later. I thought there was a slim chance I’d be able to make it to the truck tonight if I kept making so much progress. It was another 14 miles on Skyline Drive to Turk Gap from the roadside, but I had a shortcut closer to Blackrock that could shave off a mile.

The sugar was a welcome boost to my energy and my ability to keep my legs pumping. The trail always seemed to climb slightly, putting a lot of stress on my quads and hamstrings, but I didn’t plan on slowing down.

When I got back on the road after passing through Blackrock around 6pm, I checked my phone to see how much further I had to go. I thought it would still be a little over 9 miles based on some mental math I had done earlier. It was actually only 7 miles. I felt very happy, sure that I would make it to the van, possibly just before sunset.

There are no words to describe how good it felt to reach the trail with still plenty of time left in the day.

View from Doyles River Overlook.

View from Skyline Drive.

checkered flag

I took out the sports water from my backpack and drank the drink. One last splash of hydration and electrolytes to help me finish strong. On the Appalachian Trail, there are 43 miles between Bearfence Mountain and Turk Gap. I figure I’d cut 5-7 miles by swapping between Skyline Drive and AT. I had already traveled easily over 30 miles at this point, and even the smooth road surface had not rid me of the pain in my foot. A few times, pain shot from my quads to my hips. It was a brief sensation, but one I had not felt before. I ignored him and continued walking. The trail only climbed 400 feet in the last 5.5 miles, but it seemed like much, much more. I fought hard and kept a fast pace for as long as I could. Ultimately my pace faltered a bit after turning another corner with an even smoother, uphill mountain road ahead of me.

Although the chance of rain was low until midnight, a drizzle passed as I headed up the road. It was a refreshing hint and not enough to wet my gear. Still, it could mean heavier rain is on the way.

I studied FarOut, memorizing every corner between me and my truck. There were hardly any cars on the road, a stroke of luck that made it much safer to travel all the miles of the road. I finally crested the road and knew I would be descending 400 feet for the last mile and a half to Turk Gap. I just had to keep my momentum going. After a slight left, a right turn, a left hairpin, I saw it, one last turn to get to the checkered flag. I rounded the bend and could see the brown sign on the side of the road indicating the parking area. I celebrated the completion with more enthusiasm than ever. I had saved a full day of hiking and gained consecutive rest days! And I did it by basically doing two days of hiking in one day. It was 14 straight hours of walking with only small stops along the way. It took just 80,000 steps, my most in a day yet, but it was worth it.

The rain advances towards the valley.

View from Skyline Drive.

View from Skyline Drive.

View from Skyline Drive.

The real rewards

In fact, it turned out to be more worth it than I thought. After cleaning up and changing into my city clothes, I drove back to Waynesboro for a quick ice cream reward. While I was enjoying my prize it rained heavily for 15 minutes. My tent would have been soaked. The rain was probably heavy enough to splash my tent if I had been camping in it. At least it would have been difficult to pack in the morning.

After returning to the park to camp overnight, more rain fell on the park around midnight. The raindrops were heavy and merciless. In my van, they were just a temporary sleep disturbance. In a tent, it would have been an aggravating circumstance. The last forecast he had seen didn’t even call for heavy rain; many hikers would have pitched their tents that night without a second thought.

I chose to stay as close to Waynesboro as possible, let’s just say I know a great place to spend the morning working on my blog.

-See you tomorrow

Total: 43.1 miles*, 79,328 steps

• Hike type: Backpacking
• Camp: van

*Includes the complete AT route; Taking into account the route on foot it would be reduced to approximately 37 miles

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