Nighthawk 2: Back on the Trail

The view from Little Calf Mountain, near the southern end of Shenandoah National Park.

More than two months since I left the trail, I am finally back out along the Appalachian Trail, this time about 800 trail miles to the north. Tomorrow I begin the real deal, backpacking from somewhere in Shenandoah to some point north. How far I will go is a question for another day. 

I started off with two days of slackpacking back into the swing of things. The hiking was slow and the temperatures warm, but I knocked out another 12 miles along the trail. I'm staying in a hotel tonight, but tomorrow night I'll be sleeping out on the trail somewhere. Most likely I'll be starting somewhere to the north of Turk Gap, the place I finished my second day of slackpacking. The bear that I had to scare away in the parking lot can rest easy.

When I begin the trek north I'll do so with a trail name. Thanks to my several nights of night hiking I had to do in Georgia, I earned the name "Nighthawk" by Clever Girl (aka my sister Erin) and others. Somehow I missed this the first time around, but fortunately Erin reminded me of it. It's a really cool name, and I can't wait to sign in to the trail shelter logs as Nighthawk.

Please stay tuned to this blog, as there will be plenty of updates as I move towards Harper's Ferry. Also, please forgive the ducking typos, as the posts beyond this one will be made on my phone.