- Sam Moore Shelter (1002.9) to Bears Den Hostel (1005.9)
- 1148 feet ascent, 791 feet descent
Sometimes being close makes things feel worse. We only have 3.6 miles to cover today, and less than a mile tomorrow. We had planned to hike both of these short distances today and be to the end of Virginia. It didn’t happen. We had given the hostel in Harpers Ferry a target date, give or take 1 day and the give or take gave and took. We had no internet and were unable to reach our hosts until today and then only to find out there was no room for us. After a moment of distress, we righted our ship and made it OK to take two days. We are out here to learn to live in the moment so this was a good test.
We are on the Trail to reorient and “chill.” The past 15 years for us have included multiple major losses that we were expected to control, and did, but at a great cost to our emotional, financial, and physical health. We, along with 65 of our neighbors, lost our home and all of our possessions to wildfire. We lived apart for years care-giving for protracted cancer and COVID deaths of elders and complex, distressing estates for which we were the executors. When the dust settled, we told the family and friends we needed a break. Everyone was amazing. The elder we currently care for told people we were going “on sabbatical” for four months while we finished the AT. Before we left, we cooked 150 meals for her in advance. Her friends and our family helped with transportation for healthcare. Through the magic of the internet we managed her finances and personal care supply deliveries from the Trail. An extra night in Virginia was the perfect opportunity to test our our emotional reaction to renewed flexibility.
Bears Den, not Halfway Hideaway Hostel
When we originally planned the end of our Virginia section, we considered staying at Bears Den Hostel. It is an official hiker’s hostel owned by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and operated by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. Since we have been trying to experience the iconic AT things, it fit our list. We also wanted to go to Harpers Ferry so that we could go to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy office. I had already hiked the distance between Snickers Gap and Harpers Ferry in 1975 so left Bears Den on the list of options, but decided to get a shuttle from Snickers Gap to Harpers Ferry.
When we finally got to the top of a hill where we could get a connection to the Hostel, they told us they had no space for us tonight. We were looking forward to being done with Virginia, but took the extra day in stride. We made jokes about Virginia having the last word, something she did often on the trail. “Virginia is flat” is true, but flat with tipper and tripper rocks. “Virginia is flat” but Mount Rogers, The James River and the Three Ridges are decidedly not flat. “Virginia feels like it never ends” is true and we were given one last chance to discover how long the AT in Virginia is.
Either we were too hot to care, or we really were OK with the change in our schedule. Neither of us was upset and we had a good time at Bears Den.
Hm. . .Someone Made it Hot?
When we started out after breakfast, we congratulated each other on the short day. We were planning to zip over the 3.6 miles of Roller Coaster trail as if it was nothing. I don’t know why we were thinking we had a “nothing burger” for the day. When we hit the 500 foot climb in 90/90 (90 degrees with 90% humidity) we both acted as if someone had played a trick on us. Short must equate to cool, right?
Silly hikers. No. Hot is hot. Short is short. Hot short is not short. Hot makes you go slower and slower we did go.
The benefit of knowing we did not have anywhere else to be today was we felt at liberty to take as many breaks as we wanted, and for as long as we wanted.
During our breaks we meet multiple other very interesting hikers, including a day hiker who had a son teaching at University of Wyoming from whence we graduated. The heat of the day lead to a round of “it is so cold in Laramie, Wyoming” stories. We were all laughing and enjoying the cold memories.
The Rocks Are Different
Give that the Roller Coaster is effectively all lower-altitude, 2nd growth forest of a similar type, neither the views or the vegetation commads much attention. As I was staring at the ground, trying not to trip on the Virginia rocks that are not technically there according to tradition, I got to thinking about how different the rocks here in Northern Virginia are from the rocks in Southern Virginia.
From the hikers perspective, falling on a Northern Virginia rock is potentially less painful than falling on Southern Virginia rocks. Southern Virginia rocks are sharper than the Northern Virginia rocks. Much of Southern Virginia is composed of fine-grained volcanic Rhyolite and when it breaks it can form sharp edges. Northern Virginia rocks demonstrate more weathering and erosion. In addition to mechanical weathering from forces like ice, water and wind, they are subject to spheroidal weathering in which the corners and edges wear faster than the flat surfaces.
This is a spheroidal weathered rock I found today.
Northern Virginia’s geology had limited limestone formations and is largely eroded igneous and metamorphic rocks, with some sedimentary deposits. Southern Virginia’s geology has a broader range of rock across different physiographic provinces including older rocks and more limestone deposits.
Flowers and Bugs
Of course, along with the rocks, we noticed the flowers and bugs. Two flowers we have not seen often included Campanulastrum americanum (Linnaeus) Tall Bellflower and
Aegopodium podagraria L. commonly called ground elder, herb gerard, bishop’s weed, goutweed, gout wort, and snow-in-the-mountain.
Bears Den
We finally arrived at Bears Den. The grounds and buildings were, as promised, very special.
There was a secret password that could be figured out from hiking clues so we could let ourselves inside. The hiker hostel is in the basement and was relatively cool compared to outside. There were the typical hiker-hostel directions so we found bunks, towels, and got baths. We even found a phone number for a shuttle driver who was happy to help us get from Snickers Gap to Harpers Ferry tomorrow.
We were flat out of food, as we had not expected to be on the trail after tonight. I discovered we could pay a small fortune to have food delivered to us so I placed an order. The Historian wanted a burger and I got nachos. An entree salad for sharing was the perfect balance.
The food came just after the upstairs of the Hostel opened. I waited outside for the driver while The Historian checked us in.
The driver was ever so kind. He had done a lot of section hikes and was delighted to bring food to the Hiker Hostel. His companion was amused by our story and we all laughed when she announced she was born in 1975 when I set out for my original hike. They wished us well and drove off.
It was perfect timing. We were able to spread out on the large dining table in the beautiful stone dining room and eat to our heart’s content.
We even had an audience, although we were warned not to feed them. The dogs could not read the signs so expected to be fed.
Dinner was topped off with a full pint of ice cream each. Yum. Won’t be doing that when we go back home.
The Rewards of Flexibility
So many things felt uncomfortable this morning. The heat, delaying departing Virginia, and how to get from Snickers Gap to Harpers Ferry had been weighing on us. We committed to living on the path we were on and taking the moments of the day as they came.
Before the day’s end, we had solved all of our conundrums for the day. After a short hike with visits, a shower, a satisfying meal, and the promise of a shuttle at the end of Virginia, it was a perfectly flexible day.
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