Appalachian Trail - Thornton Gap to Pass Mountain

 Saturday, June 4, 2022

Almost exactly a year ago, while we were camped in Luray, Virginia, where we are now camped, we had a chance to hike south from Thornton Gap in Shenandoah National Park.  Today, we decided to hike the other way -- north to Pass Mountain.  As we walked to the trailhead, David got his "Abbey Road" going:

 

 

Shenandoah National Park is one of the oldest and most visited of the country's national parks.  On a weekend, vehicles can be lined up half a mile to enter the park's beautiful Skyline Drive, either to take in the views from their automobile, or to find a trailhead for an inspiring hike.

 

We skipped the crowds by starting early and driving into the park from the West on a lesser-used road.  While there were a few other vehicles in the parking lot, we saw no one else as we locked up the Jeep and started for the trailhead.

 

 

This section of the A.T. is not as rocky as many, and the surface was relatively dry because this area has had no rain for at least a week.  But the semitropical Spring has made everything a lush green:

 

 

Our total distance was about 6 miles round-trip.  Halfway out, we reached the Pass Mountain Hut shelter that is popular among A.T. through-hikers.  We were tipped off to it by three day-hikers who had gotten an early start and were returning in our direction as we headed up the trail.

 

 

Next to the hut, we spotted these two trees that appeared locked in an embrace like a modern sculpture such as "The Kiss," "Lovers," or the like:

 

 

A gushing spring, improved with a pipe that let the water spill out for easy filling of water bottles, was but a few steps from the hut.  Kathy couldn't help dipping her hand in the spring to splash cool water on her hot head:

 

 

The shelter provides quite a few amenities for long-distance hikers, including numerous tent sites, TWO pit toilets (one, pictured below, is a new composting toilet -- see if you can spot Kathy, who was inspecting it):

 

 

When we reached the summit of Pass Mountain, we found a pleasant spot for lunch, far away from the black flies that were haunting the most popular lunch spot on the mountain:

 

 

We had a number of small, pleasant surprises on our walk back, including a hollow log with plants peeking in the other end --

 

 

-- boulders and ledges that told the geological story of this region, where parallel ridges bounding the North and South Forks of the Susquehanna River were lifted up in great angular walls --

 

 

-- and smaller marvels, such as this unusual little white fungus --

 

 

-- and a huge, late-blooming mountain laurel that stood by an old, disappearing woods road that led to --

-- a massive water tank that the National Park Service uses for its water supply at the complex below:

Perhaps the most enjoyable surprises were a series of encounters with hikers on long-distance trips: a backpacker training to through-hike the A.T. next year; three section hikers, each heading north separately on weekend outings; and two through-hikers headed north to the end of the Appalachian Trail on Mount Katahdin in Maine.  We wished them all well with mixed feelings.  On the one hand, we envied them their adventures, yet, on the other hand, we were happy we can hike each, and every, day when the mood strikes us and the weather suits, and  then return to our happy little house.

Closer to the end of our hike, we marveled at the stone work around a culvert carrying a stream under the nearby highway.

The afternoon sun still seemed to be soft, lighting up a brilliant blue sky, and glowing green through the forest's new veil of leaves:

It seemed to soon, but we popped out at a second trailhead near our parking lot (the trailhead for our hike a year ago) and waved a happy "goodbye" to our good friend A.T. until we see her again in the near future: