Shenandoah Backpacking Day 2: The Wilderness

For our first night in the backcountry we slept pretty good. After spending some time the night before formulating a plan for take down, we had camp broken down and packed pretty fast. We then sat by Doyle’s River and ate our oatmeal and took a minute to appreciate the beauty of our camping spot. It is always nice to enjoy the beauty of something before you put the pack on and begin cursing those same terrain features.

As we prepared to leave camp, we were greeted by our first wildlife encounter. This little copperhead decided to slither out from a place that was uncomfortably close to where our tent had just been. This was the first snake we had seen and naturally it was one of the venomous options that Shenandoah had to offer. Fortunately for us, we were on our way out and we parted with this little guy on pretty good terms. In retrospect, this should probably have clued us in on things to come, but 20-20 hindsight did us no good as we trudged out of camp and up Doyle River Run.

Doyle’s River Run was probably the worst combination of uphill climb, rough steep terrain, and lying mile markers that could have been concocted on a Tuesday morning. And so the cursing of the landscape begins. As we trudged along, we encounter many day hikers descending down past us to get a look at Doyle’s River Falls and enjoy the morning. We did our best to greet these daypack wearing humans with a smile because breathless as we were, words were not really producible. Reaching the intersection with the Appalachian Trail felt like a small miracle. Like we had just clawed our way out of the pit of despair. Here we were faced with a choice.

As we took our break at the crossroads of the Appalachian Trail, Doyle’s River Trail, and the entrance to Big Run- our destination for the day, we were faced with a choice. The climb out of Doyle’s River took far longer and was more energy intensive then we had expected. It was later in the day than we expected to arrive, but we also knew this would be our last opportunity to access the facilities of the Front Country. We opted to take a 2 mile detour to Loft Mountain Campground and take advantage of the last campstore, running water, and human contact we would have for a while.

Despite the detour and some confusion about where the NPS decided signs should and shouldn’t be, we eventually backtracked and arrived at the entrance to “Big Run”. It was here that we read this sign about Big Run and where we would be for the remainder of our trip. “When you enter Big Run, you enter Wilderness with a capital W” the sign proudly announced. It was referring to the Wilderness Act, but we found it amusing the way it was worded. As we descended into Big Run and experienced what it had to offer, our respect for the capital W would reach a level of reverence rarely achieved. We crossed from backcountry to Wilderness, leaving Skyline Drive behind.

As we descended into Big Run Loop, we faced an almost immediate change. The forest seemed to swallow us whole. Gone were the wide trails of dirt and rock. Gone was the sunlight as the vegetation closed in around us. Gone was the sound of skyline drive and tourists visiting waterfalls. In their place a narrow trail, maybe a foot-wide cutting through dense vegetation which obscured the turning switchbacks and muffled the sounds of a civilized world. It was almost as if Big Run was setting out to prove it was different. That it had earned its capital letter.

On one particular blind curve we heard rustling in the vegetation. It was impossible to see, but we knew it was big. We started our familiar shouts of “Hey Bear” waiting to see what would happen. Whatever creature it was seemed to move further up the hill, shaking the trees as it went. We made the decision to keep moving and follow the switchback which moved in the opposite direction. Bear spray drawn we proceeded slowly, when there was a sudden thump on the ground. Our minds immediately went to a bear’s bluff charge. We aimed our bear spray and removed the safety. Finally our enemy was in sight- a deer. Desperately trying to get up the hill.

The adrenaline from the encounter helped propel us deeper and deeper into Big Run. We turned off Big Run Loop, walked down Big Run Portal, and eventually made camp here near the intersection of Rocky Mountain Trail. We really liked the campsite and quickly set up camp and our bear site on the other side of the trail from us. After dinner, we had another taste of what Big Run had up its sleeve.

As the sun began to set, across the river from us a bear came wandering down the hill. Alerted by the cracking of vegetation, we began making noise and got big at the center of our camp. This method is usually very effective with Black Bears. We continued this for about 20 minutes. The bear seemed determined to come down to where our camp was. We told ourselves it was just trying to come down to get a drink, but I did note in my journal after the fact: “We then had a questionable bear situation. Despite our noise making it didn’t seem to want to give up on coming down the hill toward our camp. It has been handled now, we are going to try to go to bed now. Hopefully this is the only bear encounter tonight”. I had no clue what else was in store…

Final Breakdown of Day 2:

Wildlife Encounters: 5- 1 Bear, 1 Copperhead, 1 Deer, 2 Ring Necked Snakes.

Expected Mileage: 8.9

Actual Mileage: 10.3

Highlight: Getting to Camp in good time despite challenges, Situational Awareness higher, paranoia lower.

Lowlight: Rough climb out of Doyle’s River. Persistent bear encounter.

Teamwork Victories: Keeping Morale high, decision making and camp set up, keeping on top of each other’s health- nutrition, hydration, and endurance.