Kelsey returned from Alaska a seasoned backpacker. Woven into the National Outdoors Leadership School programs are outdoor education, survival training, and leadership development. The program was conducted over the course of a month-long hike with heavy backpacks that were carried over 100 miles. It’s trial by fire and she learned a lot. This outing was about knowledge transfer: Kelsey to me.
Coming up soon I have several hikes planned. One is a four-day hike along the length of an island just off the coast of Los Angeles on a trail called the Trans-Catalina Trail. It’s relatively new and is 38 miles long though it’s a logistics challenge because it’s remote and support resources are few. Consequently, if I want to hike the trail I’m going to have to backpack and Kelsey was going to train me.
With our ambition to hike Virginia’s highest peak our attention was drawn to the remote south of the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, just above the North Carolina and Tennessee borders. Our plan was to do some aggressive hiking with loaded packs, camp overnight, and conclude out hike the following day.
It was a good plan and it went awry.
After only four hours of hiking we reached our campground still full of energy but with the sound of thunder in our ears. Do we setup camp or carry on? We decided to continue and setup camp at a location further down the trail near a shelter in the event the weather got ugly. By late afternoon the weather was looking bad so we decided to pack it in … literally, pack the backpacks in to the trunk of my car and head to a hotel!
Good thing we did because the weather turned awful. Regardless of earlier forecasts, a tropical rain storm had made its way from the gulf and was dumping sky and ignite the ground. The drive up the highway was perilous. Rarely has a hotel room been more welcoming. We may not have made it up Mount Rogers nor camped out overnight but we sure got a workout: 14 miles with 35-lbs backpacks. We also had quite an adventure to talk about.
On our way back to D.C. we visited Roanoke, toured Virginia Tech, and enjoyed the nice weather that trailed the storm. As we headed north the air was clear and crisp, we discovered the joy of playing music with Spotify, and spent many fun hours singing to dozens of songs.
That night, physically and emotionally spent, we arrived home.
Good times!
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