| Date | Distance | Time | Elevation Gain | Average Moving Time | Year to Date Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/20/2019 | 12.7 miles | 2,179' | 106.6 |
Map: Appalachian Trail Guide to Shenandoah National Park
Parking: Panorama parking area (Thornton Gap), Hawksbill Gap parking area
Directions: Hike northbound from Hawksbill Gap to Thornton Gap
Our first day of our vacation. We are dog-less. Krummholz is too young to hike this many miles, and Glen wanted Trek to keep him company at the boarders. Trek is also going through chemo treatments - which he is handling well, but I'm not sure if lots of hiking would be good for him.
We had planned on finishing Shenandoah National Park this week, but part of Skyline Drive is closed. We read that there were many wind storms over the winter, so cleaning up the damage is taking a long time. Luckily the week before we headed out, they opened up a larger portion of the park, so its just the last 25 miles in the park that are closed. It means we'll create another gap in our AT miles.
Today's section was mile 931.0 to mile 943.6 (12.6 AT miles). We were hoping to see bears, but no luck. I did see a snake, which I almost stabbed with my trekking pole, since I didn't notice it until it moved. It was a tough hiking day. I am at least coughing less, so its getting easier to breathe when hiking. There were not too many wildflowers out yet - I'm surprised. Everything is green in town (we are staying in Charlottesville), but higher up in the mountains the trees are still pretty bare. There were some side trails to views - but we decided to conserve our energy and not take them! My plan is to try to average 12 miles a day during this trip. But, we aren't in hiking shape, that's for sure. We're hoping this vacation will help get us there!
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