My Appalachian Impressions

This is Pink Floyd’s dad and I’m back in Iowa today (Saturday, June 25th), and just read Pink’s comments on the Shenandoah National Park portion of his journey.  Allow me to add a few thoughts.

The hiking was much more strenuous than I’d expected, but I could feel myself rounding into shape after only a few days.  Of course, I was carrying an 8 lb. day pack — a far cry from PF’s usual 30 lb. load.  I got to experience the “hiker shuffle”.  This occurs after a period of inactivity, such as a meal or a night’s sleep.  You arise, take one step, and think you’ll never live to take another step, your leg muscles and joints are so tight and sore.  So you assume a wide stance, lean back slightly to take the stress off your calves, extend your arms away from your body for balance, then slowly slide-step your feet forward until you gain momentum.  A few minutes of this and things loosen up enough to allow a somewhat normal gait.

I became a trail angel, providing food and refreshments to hikers at parking areas and overlooks along the trail.  I found that the hikers prefer a soda to cold water, and prefer Dr. Pepper to Sprite.  However, the absolute favorite food of thru-hikers is the humble orange.  The fruit is too heavy to carry in their packs, and is seldom seen at the restaurants and short-term provisioning places.  The look on the hikers’ faces when offered an orange during the middle of a long day’s hike is priceless.  Initial disbelief, followed by dawning hope, culminating in joy.  My interactions with the hikers was my favorite part of the experience.

I also learned how to identify thru-hikers and pick them out from the more plentiful weekend and day hikers.  Of course the large backpack is your first clue, but is not determinative.  Some of the lesser hikers also have impressive packs on their backs.  The clothes are a better indicator.  A thru-hiker will be wearing light-weight clothing composed of synthetic materials.  The day hikers will be wearing jeans or khakis and cotton t-shirts.  Cotton is absolutely verboten among thru-hikers — it becomes heavy when wet and takes forever to dry out.  Thru-hikers also have a certain slump-shouldered weariness about them, if you catch them at the end of a long stretch of hiking.  Finally, if in doubt, walk up and ask them if they are thru-hikers.  The thru-hikers I met were one and all, friendly and willing to chat for at least a moment.  If you’re too shy to approach them, just roll an orange their way and wait to be praised.

I learned that thru-hikers like to Yogi the tourists.  That’s Yogi as a verb, not a noun.  When the trail runs through an area frequented by tourists, the hiker will seat him/herself near a group who are preparing a picnic meal.  The hiker will ask politely if a seat is available, then proceed to begin preparing a pitiful meal of Cliff Bars, or peanut butter on a flour tortilla or some such trail staple.  Invariably, the tourists ask if he or she would like to share their meal.  This subtle begging for a pic-a-nic basket is “Yogi-ing”.

Finally, I must give kudos to the park itself.  It is a beautiful gem of woodland trails and mountains.  I spent a good share of my time driving to and fro on Skyline Drive, which runs the length of the park and provides something like 75 different scenic overlooks.  The waysides and stores at Loft Mountain, Lewis Mountain, Big Meadow, Skyland and Elk Wallow were well-provisioned, tidy, clean and appropriately rustic.  And the people were extremely friendly.  I spent a thoroughly enjoyable morning talking with the clerks at the Loft Mountain grill about towns in Iowa with unusual names (What Cheer and Odebolt).  The SNP is a magical place and I hope everyone can experience it at some point.  However, if you visit in June or July when the northbound hikers are passing through, be sure to stock up on oranges.

Oh, and I almost forgot — thank you Andrew for the best Father’s Day present I’ve ever had.