First bears of the season!

Date: Sat, April 14 & Sunday, April 15
Start:  Little Stony Man parking 
End:   Fisher's Gap
Today's miles: 8.1
Total (cumulative) AT miles: 40.1
Time: the weekend


Wow! So this is waaaaay late. It's been a hectic week. Dog-sitting for a friend, which turned out to be a major commitment. I've spent my week making home-cooked dog food, administering meds, applying lotion to a dog butt, and trying to keep my own dog entertained too!  But anyhoosey, about the hike...


We took 1/2 day off on Friday (well, my 1/2 day ended up being more like a 1/3 of a day off thanks to some clueless co-workers). Jen got us a good site at Big Meadows (site #29 to be exact). It was a nice short hike-in site, with only two immediate neighbors. One neighbor was a very quiet couple, and the other was a small group that never seemed to be there. Yay!  We used the Bean tent (aka, "The Taj") for space and comfort. We were discussing a night hike on Friday, perhaps to see the sunset from Little Stony Man, but I was running so late that it just wasn't going to happen. Instead, we just chilled on Friday and had a nice dinner at the Big Meadows wayside. Neither one of us had brought any food except snacks.


We got up early (pre-sunrise early) on Saturday morning for a wildlife photo expedition. We would hike after. We were running a tad bit behind, so we ended up watching the sunrise at the first decent overlook, which happened to be the Old Rag overlook. It was awesome! We were taking pics of the sunrise and Old Rag, when we heard, "Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!".  Yep!  My old tom turkey was baaaack!  He was hanging out near the road making a fuss. We got some good pics, then moved on. We never saw anything better (aka, no bears). 

We finally hit the trail at 11:15"ish". We dropped the Escape at Hawksbill Gap, and shuttled in the Yaris back to Little Stony Man parking lot. We had hiked the Stony Man trails before, so we knew exactly what to expect...A steep ascent with a quick payoff (Little Stony Man), then a slow steady ascent towards Stony Man. The AT doesn't go to Stony Man, but passes near it. We then descended from Stony Man mountain down into Skyland. The Skyland north crossing was very familiar. Then we hiked to Skyland south, which was an area I had never seen before. There were times when you didn't realize you were smack-dab in the middle of Skyland. I kept wondering where the two women that were murdered in 1996 might have been camped. It is sickening to think that there are evil people out there that would do something like that. http://www.barryyeoman.com/articles/murderonmountain.html

Once out of Skyland, the trail was all new to both of us. Lots of really nice views! We hiked underneath Timber Hollow and Crescent Rock overlook. We got the same views as the people up above, but without all the people. :)  Rosie was along for this hike, she did really well except when she had a little "breakdown". She just turned around and put her front paws on me and refused to move. We gave her a snack, some water, and some love and kisses. She was fine after that, so we must have hit the problem. I started playing a game with my iPhone where I would use the self-portrait setting, and then do something cute with Jen behind me. She finally caught on to what I was doing. All those miles and you tend to get bored. 

We finally made it to the awaiting Escape at Hawksbill Gap. Rosie was sooo happy to get in her crate and flake out. Jen and I were tired, but overall we felt pretty good. The total miles for Saturday were 5.1. Afterwards, we retrieved the Yaris and headed back to Big Meadows. I had the best cheeseburger EVER! We picked up some firewood and some ice & beer for later. After a nice hot shower, we headed back to our campsite to chill.


On Sunday morning, we were really waffling on what was the plan. Were we going to hike? Or photo expedition? Sunrise? Sleep in? We both woke up pre-sunrise, and I was thinking of sleeping in....but then I had to get up to pee and figured I might as well stay up. We broke camp quickly (and as quietly) as we could. We were on the road by 6:20am. We were a tad late for the actual sunrise, but got some nice shots a few minutes after at Thorofare Mtn. overlook. We were still trying to decide whether to hike or not. Finally, based on the fact we hadn't seen any bears at all the last few times, plus it was cool in the morning and promised to be a hot day, AND because I think we were both feeling guilty about NOT hiking....we decided to hike. We retrieved Jen's car from Big Meadows and dropped the Escape at Fisher's Gap and headed to Hawksbill Gap and were on the trail by 8am. Once we started hiking, we both realized it was a good choice. Rosie had her flexi-lead, so she was one happy pup. Running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth...etc.  


We had some great views! There was this humongous rock slide that the trail went right across. Did I mention it was HUGE?  We took tons of pictures. It was kind of unnerving to think what would've happened if one of the rocks let loose. Fortunately, none did. 

Then we hiked on up to Rock Spring cabin and took the side trail to check it out. Ugh! The cabin is just below the shelter, plus folks tenting along the hillside. It was as crowded as a Wal-Mart on a Saturday afternoon!  No thanks! I took Rosie to the spring to get a slurp, and we took some pics of the cabin before heading back up to the AT.

Once back on the AT, we hiked along underneath Franklin Cliffs and some more great views. If you ever stop at the Franklin Cliffs overlook, park the car and hike about 1/2 mile north on the AT. It's just view after view after view. Odds are, you'll have it all to yourself.

The hike was so enjoyable, it was over before we knew it. I looked up and there was the Escape. I think we weren't ready for it to end. Oh well, to go any further would have meant shuttling the cars again. Our total miles on Sunday was 3.2. Our next section will take us past Big Meadows campground. We'll probably shoot for Milam Gap on a day hike. We picked up the Yaris and headed to Thornton Gap. We had our cameras, but weren't actually doing a true photo expedition. Coming past the Stony Man overlook, we FINALLY saw our first bears of the season. A mama and two cubs. We managed to get some half-assed pictures before the bear jam started and scared them off. 

Jen was considering a photo expedition after that, but I had to get back to check on Cheeky (my cat) who had just had 6 teeth pulled the previous Monday. I was worried he wasn't eating enough. We stopped at Burgers 'n Things in Sperryville (which has become a tradition) for lunch, then we both headed home.

P.S.  Cheeky was fine. This is Cheeky.