Reading (For Dummies)

The Best of Thirteen Sisters

Work sent me to Maryland twice, so I decided to drive down (save the government money, and make the trip a little more fun for myself). An awesome characteristic of my car reared its beautiful face on the way down.

The Bladder Buster

52-54mpg on the way to Baltimore was just one of the benefits of driving a diesel. The others included having to stop at a few different gas stations until one could tell me where a diesel station was...

Karina (right) and her crew (the rest)

I visited Karina and Gang in Baltimore on Wednesday night, and spent the night on Karina's air mattress.

Thursday morning I went to IBM to talk with a bunch of super-cool folks working the (MLS) Multi-Level Security world. Folks from TCS were present, which was particularly cool. We're trying to strategize what is the laughing stock of the systems assurance world (e.g. the Air Force) to be a bit better at cross-domain work.

After the meeting, I headed out to Front Royal, the northern end of the Shenandoah Mountains. It's a quirky town...especially the south end of it. I witnessed folks driving an RC car from inside of a real car, going 35mph down Route 522 (RC in the front, real car following). And, of course other western Virginia hickness...big trucks, women with big hair, etc.

The view from Calvary Rocks

I got on the trail around noon Friday, to do the Riprap Trail. It promised to be a two-day hike. Guidebooks are usually really conservative with these estimates, but I got a really late start, so I figured I would camp out in the backcountry for the night anyway.

I was getting ready to don my pack when a ranger truck drove past the trailhead. He screeched to a stop and started backing up. I had to move fast. I went behind my car, unzipped my pants, and took a leak, making sure to dribble a little on my hands. As he drove up, I zipped up, turned around, and started walking to his truck with my hand out. He only rolled his window down a little ways. Good, I thought.

"You have a backcountry permit, son?" he asked. "Yessir, I have it in my bear can. Here, let me get it out." I started reaching for my pack. Wow, I thought, I must seem like the good little trooper. "No, that's okay," he mumbled. "Have a nice trip," he said. "You too."

With that, I was off for A Walk in the Woods. Some 4 hours and 10 miles later, I'd find myself back in the parking wondering, "That was supposed to take two days???"

Disillusioned, I headed back to town, and bedded down at the Appalachian Trailhead on Rt 522.

Early to rise on Saturday, I hit up the next hike: Mt. (north and south) Marshall. The good book from Lonely Planet promised a really nice two-day hike this time. I was a little leery after Friday, but decided I'd give it a try. I tossed on my pack again, and started off at 9am.

By 2pm I was actually beginning to think that this was a hike. "I've gone up one mountain, definitely not two yet," I thought. Wrong. I had hiked about 4 miles too far...somehow I didn't even notice when I had topped North and South Marshall...the next one in the chain was kind of a mountain (thought it was North Marshall), and the one after that was also a bump. So I hiked 4 peaks, technically, and the Devil's Stairs...

A hill too far...a lovely ranger outpost along the AT

I turned around and started back, having already hiked 11 miles. It was cool...I thought at least I'd get some back country camping. I made it back to Gallow Springs and considered staying there...there was a firepit which might have been nice. Just as I was arriving, some old guys with gargantuan packs slowly made their way into camp...their packs were full, and they had sleeping bags, tents, and camp chairs lashed to the outsides (I guess the insides were full of Brats and Beer?). Wanting a good night's sleep, I decided to press on.

Around 5pm the sun was getting low...I figured I'd camp near the top of the real South Marshall. I cooked a fine dinner of ramen noodles and miso soup, and got out the tent (weather was calling for snow and ice). Problem: frozen ground meant no getting stakes in, and no stakes meant no tent with my hoop bivy. I looked at the map, and guessed I was only 4 miles from the parking area, so I went for it.

From afar: The ranger station I made it to a bit earlier

On the way back, about halfway between North Marshall and Jenkin's Gap, the trail ran about 20 feet above Skyline Drive. It was dark. I had put my headlamp on, but hadn't bothered turning it on, navigating as I could in the little bit of twilight that was left.

A car was stopped below on Skyline Drive, having problems with about ten deer staring at it in the middle of the road. Wanting to remind the driver that the deer aren't the only wildlife in the Shenandoahs, I ran about halfway down the slope still with my pack on, then turned on my headlamp as I ran across the road screaming, chasing the deer out of the driver's path (and scaring the shit out of the driver, I'm sure). I ran down a really steep incline on the other side of the road, turned off my lamp, and ducked down. The bewildered car very slowly drove on.

Around 8:30pm I made it back to my car, stiff, stinky as hell, and feeling more alive than I have in a long time.