Winter Comes Early: Escape from Loft Mountain
So, having just returned from one camping trip, I suppose it's high time for me to chronicle the previous one. It would be hyperbolic to call it a disaster, but suffice to say that lessons were learned. Never before have I been compelled to abandon a campsite in the middle of the night, so I believe you can readily comprehend the scale of the lessons learned.
Mika and I had desired to go camping several times this year. However, by September we had only been camping once, and that was "cabin camping", which hardly counts at all. So when Brian and Elwing invited us to go camping we were quite interested. As a bonus, it was at Shenandoah National Park, one of our favorite destinations. It was even in the middle of Autumn, right when the leaves would, so we thought, be turning; Shenandoah is rightfully renowned for beautiful fall foliage.
The plan was pretty straightforward. Mika and I, and Brian and Elwing, would pack up in our respective vehicles and drive to Loft Mountain in Shenandoah on Friday night, eating dinner somewhere along the way and setting camp late in the evening. We would spend Saturday lazing about, hiking, etc. On Sunday we would have a simple breakfast, pack up, and head North to Skyland where we would take a horseback ride then enjoy lunch at Skyland's excellent restaurant before heading home.
Now, it's worthwhile to briefly discuss the layout of Shenandoah for those who have not been. As a National Park it is one of the most beautiful spots int he country and quite likely the world. Shenandoah runs along the length of part of the Blue Ridge mountains, overlooking the Shenandoah river for which it is named. It is very long from North to South, being over 100 miles along that axis, but is exceptionally narrow, in many places only a mile wide from East to West. This results in something which is terribly obvious from a map but really must be experienced to understand intuitively: that just because you are in the park does not mean that you are anywhere near J. Random Location which is also in the park. For example, Big Meadow and Lewis Mountain, two of the more popular parts of the park, are almost an hour's drive away from each other - and both of those locations are in the North half of the park!
Fortunately, it's relatively difficult to get lost in the park, as the only road of any consequence is Skyline Drive, which runs the entire length of the park. It's also one of the most scenic roads on the continent, full of numerous incredibly overlooks and views. Thus, if you begin at the Northern terminus of the park and proceed South, you are almost certain to see wonderful and awe-inspiring sights. You're also almost certain to zoom right by your destination unless you're paying close attention and the weather isn't too foggy. Remember, the Park is in the mountains. In fact, it is the mountains, and weather can be pretty extreme. Remember that for later.
Mika and I had also determined to kill two birds with one stone. I was seriously considering the purchase of a Toyota RAV4, and the best way to see if it was the right vehicle would be to test it in the conditions I had in mind. So, on Friday afternoon we rented a RAV4, loaded it up, and headed out. Unsurprisingly, we ended up on the road considerably later than desired. Still, we got on our way. Our plan was to head west to Luray, which is right at the North end of the park, enter the park there, and enjoy the view along Skyline Drive as we headed South. It was a good plan, really... it simply completely failed to happen. I was remiss as navigator and did not notice the entrance to the park, resulting in us going some distance out of our way and ending up taking 81 South along the Western side of the park until we reached a gap which would allow us admittance.
We thus proceeded back East through the gap, confident that we'd get on Skyline Drive. This confidence was quite unjustified, as the first indication that we'd entered the park was the sign proclaiming that we were leaving the park! Somehow, in defiance of geography and geometry, we had managed to pass through the park without crossing Skyline Drive. We turned around and tried again, on the second time and finally did find the road. Now, as those who have been to the park would know, it's pretty well impossible to outright miss one of entrances into the park. However, in this particular case it turns out that there simply is no entrance to the park from the West; Skyline Drive has an overpass there, and the only ramp is on the Eastern approach. Nice to know...
On Skyline, it was pretty straightforward: drive South to Loft Mountain. But that wonderful view we were hoping to enjoy? The one that's absolutely amazing at night with the stars out and the distant lights in the valley below? Not so much. Fog had rolled in, and we counted ourselves fortunate to see the road, forget the scenery. Oh, and deer are kind of crazy this time of year. So, yeah... we spent the next hour or so crawling along at 20 mph peering along for mile markers and deer. And then, once we reached the Loft mountain campsite there was the difficulty of locating Elwing's car and thus knowing which campsite was ours. When we finally rolled in it was I believe rather close to 2 am. Brian and Elwing had, of course, arrived hours prior and had set up both their tent and their canopy.
Mika had driven much of the way and was exhausted. She was inclined to sleep in the car. I've been lead to believe (I now suspect erroneously) that this is a Bad Idea in cold conditions. Something to do with the air flowing under the car leading to it the vehicle being chilled; I am beginning to believe that the extremely effective wind shelter makes up for this. However, I was going to put up the tent, and we were going to sleep in a tent that night. It was hardly the first time I'd put up a tent in the dark. So, with lantern and tent, I set forth.
Now, in addition to it being foggy, it was also quite windy. And lanterns really aren't all that great for light, to be honest. Between lack of light and wind, I was getting rather annoyed. I returned to the SUV and turned on the headlights - and the brights. One thing I'll say for the RAV4: when you turn on the brights, you get BRIGHTS. It does a reasonably good impression of the ship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. So, at least able to see, I proceeded to set up the tent. On the plus side, a 2-pole dome tent is rather simple to set up even for one person under adverse conditions. On the minus side, Loft Mountain campground consists of a thin layer of soil over rock. I had a bit of trouble getting stakes into the ground at all. Remember that for later too...
I got the bedrolls laid out - Mika and I both have self-inflating foam pads; I had a medium-weight standard sleeping bag and several blankets, and I had loaned my mummy bag to Mika, along with several other blankets. Confident that our shelter was more than sufficient, Mika was relocated to the tent. I didn't have much trouble getting warm and getting to sleep; she was unfamiliar with the mummy bag and had considerably greater issue.Still, morning came (too soon) and we had done well enough for the night.
It was a cold and windy morning which we hoped, mostly in vain, would warm up. Mika and I were responsible for breakfast, a point which I'm sure resulted in some concern for Brian and Elwing when they went to bed and we were not there. The plan was to make fried potatoes and scrambled eggs, the latter using egg powder which had been purchased from REI. I have of late been trying to minimize my use of a cooler when camping. While I enjoy proving that I can indeed make excellent meals while camping, the fact is that a cooler is a pain in the ass, and anymore I'd like to prove that I can make good food without all that hassle. So, we've been trying to plan camp meals which can be made on a propane stove and without a cooler. The eggs had been made in the past and proven to be quite serviceable as well as rather quick. I was actually more concerned about the fried potatoes, as potatoes can sometimes take a while to fry.
It should be mentioned that while we were cooking, a park ranger came by. He pointed out that we had some nocturnal visitations; significantly there were several piles of bear droppings, including one next to one of the tents, and another actually under the canopy. Now, I know that the bears at Shenandoah are the smaller black bears, but frankly bears are basically large furry tanks, and I am quite aware that they can pry open a car if they do so desire. I would have been happier had we been provided bear boxes at the campsite, but we were not.
At any rate, the potatoes were done quite quickly. However, the eggs which in previous attempts had set within moments of touching a hot skillet, simply would not cook! We were stirring those silly things for most of an hour until we realized that although the propane canister was able to maintain a flame, it was not putting out any heat. One tank swap and five minutes later, and the eggs were done. We found that McCormick's "Spicy Montreal Steak" spice blend actually complements eggs and potatoes quite well - though isn't all that spicy in that application (I am informed that when used on steak the salt is absorbed and it does have considerable kick).
With breakfast done and dishes cleaned, we loaded into the SUV and headed down to the camp store - as much for a respite from the cold and the wind as a desire to purchase anything. We did however buy several loads of firewood (you cannot bring your own firewood into the park, and while they do allow you to pick up deadfall, who wants to be hunting for firewood in the cold and wind?), as well as a water bottle and a few other minor things. We also enjoyed some hot chocolate in the SUV before braving the cold once more.
We then opted to take a hike, basically walking the circumference of the mountain. It was surprisingly pleasant once we were int he trees and thus out of the wind. Sadly, the fall colors had long faded to disappointing browns. In retrospect this should have been our warning that we had utterly missed moderate Autumn weather in favor of Winter, but that's how retrospect works.
We returned to the campsite, where Mika and Elwing erected the tarp Mika and I had brought along one side of Brian and Elwing's canopy in order to act as a windbreak, while Brian got a fire going. Brian got the fire going not a moment too soon, as just when we got the food on the fire the fog came rolling in. We determined to enjoy our dinners; I grilled chicken with barbecue sauce for myself while Mika, Brian, and Elwing had steak, and all of us had baked potatoes. Most importantly, Elwing mulled several bottles of wine. Thus fortified, we cleaned up such as was needed and retired to our tents for it was by then both dark and cold, not to mention rather foggy and exceptionally windy. We told ourselves that we had only to stay through the night; in the morning we would make a simply breakfast, break camp, and spend the rest of the next day in relative comfort.
It was not to be. Around 11 pm, I woke from a fitful sleep due to water misting on my face. Mika was also unable to sleep, being rather cold and needing to make use of the latrine but unable to find it in the heavy fog. The tent, meanwhile, was spasming around us, the stakes having been pulled out - this had happened once before, while I was cleaning up dinner dishes, but we had thought them secure. Thus ensued significant discussion. In essence, we could not both leave the tent as it was only our weight which was keeping it on the mountain at all. The absurdity of this was eventually realized, and we decided that we would not stay in the camp for the rest of the night.
And so, I stayed in the tent and packed things up such as I could while Mika ran our gear to the SUV. I was at several points uncertain if my weight alone was sufficient to maintain the tent; by the time we were done it was obvious that our tent was not capable of handling the conditions, and so I came to truly appreciate the difference between a geodesic dome expedition tent and a simple dome tent. Around the time when we had vacated our tent, Brian and Elwing came to the same conclusion and began their own process of taking down their tent. We abandoned them briefly to make a run to the bathroom at that point, and returned to assist with the canopy.
Sadly, both the canopy and the tarp were a complete loss. The framework for the canopy had bent and collapsed, entirely losing the canopy in the process. The tarp, being well-secured to the framework, had snagged on the table and ripped. Several items under the canopy had been damaged as well, most notably Elwing's propane lantern whose globe had shattered. We recovered what we could, mostly rope and stakes - though not all of either - and threw away the rest as well as we could manage. We were, sadly, unable to put the canopy framework in the dumpster as it had bent such that it could not be folded up. Elwing wanted to keep trying to disassemble it, but was persuaded by incipient frostbite.
As the route Mika and I had planned to use, North on Skyline Drive, would have been quite treacherous under those conditions, Brian and Elwing guided us out through the Thornton Gap, and back to civilization. And so around 3 am on Sunday Mika and I arrived back home tired and hungry. Mostly tired. Also in severe need of hot showers.
Of course, some would take this as a lesson to not go camping so late in the season. Us? Mika got her own mummy bag last week. I'm looking for a good expedition tent and a better tarp. Half of camping is enjoying the great outdoors. The other half is proving that you can.
Mika and I had desired to go camping several times this year. However, by September we had only been camping once, and that was "cabin camping", which hardly counts at all. So when Brian and Elwing invited us to go camping we were quite interested. As a bonus, it was at Shenandoah National Park, one of our favorite destinations. It was even in the middle of Autumn, right when the leaves would, so we thought, be turning; Shenandoah is rightfully renowned for beautiful fall foliage.
The plan was pretty straightforward. Mika and I, and Brian and Elwing, would pack up in our respective vehicles and drive to Loft Mountain in Shenandoah on Friday night, eating dinner somewhere along the way and setting camp late in the evening. We would spend Saturday lazing about, hiking, etc. On Sunday we would have a simple breakfast, pack up, and head North to Skyland where we would take a horseback ride then enjoy lunch at Skyland's excellent restaurant before heading home.
Now, it's worthwhile to briefly discuss the layout of Shenandoah for those who have not been. As a National Park it is one of the most beautiful spots int he country and quite likely the world. Shenandoah runs along the length of part of the Blue Ridge mountains, overlooking the Shenandoah river for which it is named. It is very long from North to South, being over 100 miles along that axis, but is exceptionally narrow, in many places only a mile wide from East to West. This results in something which is terribly obvious from a map but really must be experienced to understand intuitively: that just because you are in the park does not mean that you are anywhere near J. Random Location which is also in the park. For example, Big Meadow and Lewis Mountain, two of the more popular parts of the park, are almost an hour's drive away from each other - and both of those locations are in the North half of the park!
Fortunately, it's relatively difficult to get lost in the park, as the only road of any consequence is Skyline Drive, which runs the entire length of the park. It's also one of the most scenic roads on the continent, full of numerous incredibly overlooks and views. Thus, if you begin at the Northern terminus of the park and proceed South, you are almost certain to see wonderful and awe-inspiring sights. You're also almost certain to zoom right by your destination unless you're paying close attention and the weather isn't too foggy. Remember, the Park is in the mountains. In fact, it is the mountains, and weather can be pretty extreme. Remember that for later.
Mika and I had also determined to kill two birds with one stone. I was seriously considering the purchase of a Toyota RAV4, and the best way to see if it was the right vehicle would be to test it in the conditions I had in mind. So, on Friday afternoon we rented a RAV4, loaded it up, and headed out. Unsurprisingly, we ended up on the road considerably later than desired. Still, we got on our way. Our plan was to head west to Luray, which is right at the North end of the park, enter the park there, and enjoy the view along Skyline Drive as we headed South. It was a good plan, really... it simply completely failed to happen. I was remiss as navigator and did not notice the entrance to the park, resulting in us going some distance out of our way and ending up taking 81 South along the Western side of the park until we reached a gap which would allow us admittance.
We thus proceeded back East through the gap, confident that we'd get on Skyline Drive. This confidence was quite unjustified, as the first indication that we'd entered the park was the sign proclaiming that we were leaving the park! Somehow, in defiance of geography and geometry, we had managed to pass through the park without crossing Skyline Drive. We turned around and tried again, on the second time and finally did find the road. Now, as those who have been to the park would know, it's pretty well impossible to outright miss one of entrances into the park. However, in this particular case it turns out that there simply is no entrance to the park from the West; Skyline Drive has an overpass there, and the only ramp is on the Eastern approach. Nice to know...
On Skyline, it was pretty straightforward: drive South to Loft Mountain. But that wonderful view we were hoping to enjoy? The one that's absolutely amazing at night with the stars out and the distant lights in the valley below? Not so much. Fog had rolled in, and we counted ourselves fortunate to see the road, forget the scenery. Oh, and deer are kind of crazy this time of year. So, yeah... we spent the next hour or so crawling along at 20 mph peering along for mile markers and deer. And then, once we reached the Loft mountain campsite there was the difficulty of locating Elwing's car and thus knowing which campsite was ours. When we finally rolled in it was I believe rather close to 2 am. Brian and Elwing had, of course, arrived hours prior and had set up both their tent and their canopy.
Mika had driven much of the way and was exhausted. She was inclined to sleep in the car. I've been lead to believe (I now suspect erroneously) that this is a Bad Idea in cold conditions. Something to do with the air flowing under the car leading to it the vehicle being chilled; I am beginning to believe that the extremely effective wind shelter makes up for this. However, I was going to put up the tent, and we were going to sleep in a tent that night. It was hardly the first time I'd put up a tent in the dark. So, with lantern and tent, I set forth.
Now, in addition to it being foggy, it was also quite windy. And lanterns really aren't all that great for light, to be honest. Between lack of light and wind, I was getting rather annoyed. I returned to the SUV and turned on the headlights - and the brights. One thing I'll say for the RAV4: when you turn on the brights, you get BRIGHTS. It does a reasonably good impression of the ship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. So, at least able to see, I proceeded to set up the tent. On the plus side, a 2-pole dome tent is rather simple to set up even for one person under adverse conditions. On the minus side, Loft Mountain campground consists of a thin layer of soil over rock. I had a bit of trouble getting stakes into the ground at all. Remember that for later too...
I got the bedrolls laid out - Mika and I both have self-inflating foam pads; I had a medium-weight standard sleeping bag and several blankets, and I had loaned my mummy bag to Mika, along with several other blankets. Confident that our shelter was more than sufficient, Mika was relocated to the tent. I didn't have much trouble getting warm and getting to sleep; she was unfamiliar with the mummy bag and had considerably greater issue.Still, morning came (too soon) and we had done well enough for the night.
It was a cold and windy morning which we hoped, mostly in vain, would warm up. Mika and I were responsible for breakfast, a point which I'm sure resulted in some concern for Brian and Elwing when they went to bed and we were not there. The plan was to make fried potatoes and scrambled eggs, the latter using egg powder which had been purchased from REI. I have of late been trying to minimize my use of a cooler when camping. While I enjoy proving that I can indeed make excellent meals while camping, the fact is that a cooler is a pain in the ass, and anymore I'd like to prove that I can make good food without all that hassle. So, we've been trying to plan camp meals which can be made on a propane stove and without a cooler. The eggs had been made in the past and proven to be quite serviceable as well as rather quick. I was actually more concerned about the fried potatoes, as potatoes can sometimes take a while to fry.
It should be mentioned that while we were cooking, a park ranger came by. He pointed out that we had some nocturnal visitations; significantly there were several piles of bear droppings, including one next to one of the tents, and another actually under the canopy. Now, I know that the bears at Shenandoah are the smaller black bears, but frankly bears are basically large furry tanks, and I am quite aware that they can pry open a car if they do so desire. I would have been happier had we been provided bear boxes at the campsite, but we were not.
At any rate, the potatoes were done quite quickly. However, the eggs which in previous attempts had set within moments of touching a hot skillet, simply would not cook! We were stirring those silly things for most of an hour until we realized that although the propane canister was able to maintain a flame, it was not putting out any heat. One tank swap and five minutes later, and the eggs were done. We found that McCormick's "Spicy Montreal Steak" spice blend actually complements eggs and potatoes quite well - though isn't all that spicy in that application (I am informed that when used on steak the salt is absorbed and it does have considerable kick).
With breakfast done and dishes cleaned, we loaded into the SUV and headed down to the camp store - as much for a respite from the cold and the wind as a desire to purchase anything. We did however buy several loads of firewood (you cannot bring your own firewood into the park, and while they do allow you to pick up deadfall, who wants to be hunting for firewood in the cold and wind?), as well as a water bottle and a few other minor things. We also enjoyed some hot chocolate in the SUV before braving the cold once more.
We then opted to take a hike, basically walking the circumference of the mountain. It was surprisingly pleasant once we were int he trees and thus out of the wind. Sadly, the fall colors had long faded to disappointing browns. In retrospect this should have been our warning that we had utterly missed moderate Autumn weather in favor of Winter, but that's how retrospect works.
We returned to the campsite, where Mika and Elwing erected the tarp Mika and I had brought along one side of Brian and Elwing's canopy in order to act as a windbreak, while Brian got a fire going. Brian got the fire going not a moment too soon, as just when we got the food on the fire the fog came rolling in. We determined to enjoy our dinners; I grilled chicken with barbecue sauce for myself while Mika, Brian, and Elwing had steak, and all of us had baked potatoes. Most importantly, Elwing mulled several bottles of wine. Thus fortified, we cleaned up such as was needed and retired to our tents for it was by then both dark and cold, not to mention rather foggy and exceptionally windy. We told ourselves that we had only to stay through the night; in the morning we would make a simply breakfast, break camp, and spend the rest of the next day in relative comfort.
It was not to be. Around 11 pm, I woke from a fitful sleep due to water misting on my face. Mika was also unable to sleep, being rather cold and needing to make use of the latrine but unable to find it in the heavy fog. The tent, meanwhile, was spasming around us, the stakes having been pulled out - this had happened once before, while I was cleaning up dinner dishes, but we had thought them secure. Thus ensued significant discussion. In essence, we could not both leave the tent as it was only our weight which was keeping it on the mountain at all. The absurdity of this was eventually realized, and we decided that we would not stay in the camp for the rest of the night.
And so, I stayed in the tent and packed things up such as I could while Mika ran our gear to the SUV. I was at several points uncertain if my weight alone was sufficient to maintain the tent; by the time we were done it was obvious that our tent was not capable of handling the conditions, and so I came to truly appreciate the difference between a geodesic dome expedition tent and a simple dome tent. Around the time when we had vacated our tent, Brian and Elwing came to the same conclusion and began their own process of taking down their tent. We abandoned them briefly to make a run to the bathroom at that point, and returned to assist with the canopy.
Sadly, both the canopy and the tarp were a complete loss. The framework for the canopy had bent and collapsed, entirely losing the canopy in the process. The tarp, being well-secured to the framework, had snagged on the table and ripped. Several items under the canopy had been damaged as well, most notably Elwing's propane lantern whose globe had shattered. We recovered what we could, mostly rope and stakes - though not all of either - and threw away the rest as well as we could manage. We were, sadly, unable to put the canopy framework in the dumpster as it had bent such that it could not be folded up. Elwing wanted to keep trying to disassemble it, but was persuaded by incipient frostbite.
As the route Mika and I had planned to use, North on Skyline Drive, would have been quite treacherous under those conditions, Brian and Elwing guided us out through the Thornton Gap, and back to civilization. And so around 3 am on Sunday Mika and I arrived back home tired and hungry. Mostly tired. Also in severe need of hot showers.
Of course, some would take this as a lesson to not go camping so late in the season. Us? Mika got her own mummy bag last week. I'm looking for a good expedition tent and a better tarp. Half of camping is enjoying the great outdoors. The other half is proving that you can.