Day Four - Shenandoah

Exploring Shenandoah National Park, and a campsite to remember.

Dec 06, 2024

A brief overview of an eventful morning.

Without constant upkeep, anything in life breaks down. Whether it be a friendship, a car, or an appliance, everything in life requires a level of care to keep functioning. A road trip is no different. Food, water, and other supplies would eventually need to be purchased, and on the morning of our fourth day, we went ahead and kept our trip moving in the right direction.

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“.11 parts per million.”

We carried 11 gallons of water in the car with us at all times and were close to running out for the first time on our trip. Luckily, we ran into a natural spring that ran from the ground near the West Virginia/Virginia state line. Seeing a few cars waiting, the assumption was that the water was safe, and worth waiting to collect.

While waiting in our car on the hot summer day, we speculated in the car about whether or not the water was actually safe to drink. After all, we weren’t from the area and had no idea if this water was used for drinking or other purposes. So to be safe rather than sorry, we approached the man who was filling up multiple gallons of water from the spring into the bed of his older, rusted pickup truck, and asked him, “Excuse me, sir, do you know if this water is safe to drink?” The man replied with the thickest Appalachian accent that I think any of us had ever heard in our lives and reassured us of the safety of the water. “Yep, my whole family has been drinking out of this water for years now. I’ve got a buddy who tested the water and he said it was only .11 parts per million.” We thanked the man, and ended the conversation, returning to the car with the knowledge that the water was safe to drink and that it was well worth the wait in line.

Above is a picture of Elias at the Walmart in Virginia.

After a quick stop at Walmart, and an even faster stop at our first oil change in Front Royale, Virginia, we got ready to drive through Shenandoah National Park.

Shenandoah National Park

An incredible experience in an underrated National Park.

Shenandoah is a word that comes from an old Native American word for “Clear Daughter of the Stars.” The story is that when native tribes would go out to hunt for food in the mountains of what is now Virginia, they would camp up in the mountains and look down on the valley to see the stars reflecting back from the clear sky above. The same Shenandoah River and its surrounding mountains that had fascinated the native hunters from centuries before us were now in an almost identical form, ready to amaze us in the present.

Map of Skyline Drive, which is the road that runs on top of the mountain ridge and makes up Shenandoah National Park.

The beauty of Shenandoah didn’t disappoint. During the Great Depression, as part of President Hoover's relief plan, a scenic drive was to be built on top of the mountain ridge in Western Virginia (not West Virginia), where the park now lies. With overlook after overlook, and countless opportunities to see the magic of the Appalachian Mountains, it is no wonder why this park is one of the most visited parks annually in the United States.

Above are a few pictures of Shenandoah National Park from the road.

Backpack camping on the Browntown Trail.

As we were a few hours away from the sunset, and realized that unless we wanted to pay, we’d have to find free camping by backpacking our gear up one of the many trails, we scouted out a good camping spot for the night. We stopped at the “Browntown Trailhead” and hiked up a trail until we found a place that was designed for backpack camping. It was hot and humid, a classic Southern summer day. Discouraged, as there was a lack of any camping spots at all, we were tempted to turn around many times. We were tired, hot, hungry, and uncomfortable, nevertheless, we continued on, and our efforts paid off.

Above is a picture of Colin and Elias after finding the view of where we would be camping that night.

There was a patch of dirt designed for tent camping, around a mile up the trail, further up the mountain ridge from the parking lot. We all celebrated, finally finding what we thought would be our resting place for the night. We turned back to the parking lot and hatched a plan to split responsibilities to make sure we would be able to eat sooner rather than later. Colin and Dylan would make the burritos that we would eat that night before we all went to sleep at our camp, and Elias and I would be tasked with lugging up all of the gear to the camping spot on the mountain. How fair was this division of tasks, probably not very, but it didn’t matter we knew that we needed to do both of these tasks at the same time if we wanted to be able to enjoy the sunset at where we would be setting up our camp.

Above is a highly flattering image of myself thoroughly enjoying a burrito.

The Sunset.

We climbed back up once more, ready to see the sunset through the smoke of the wildfires that had been raging throughout most of the summer of that year. With our tent set up a few feet away from the granite ledge, and with enthusiasm through the roof, we watched what happens to be one of, if not, the most magic sunsets of my life.

Above is a picture of Colin hanging his legs off of the ledge that we were camped off of.

A picture of the sunlight reflecting off of the rocks around us during the sunset.

After the sun finally set below the horizon, we broke out a game of travel chess, read, and took some time to relax in the tent ending what was one of the most memorable days of our whole journey.

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