Until now, we had been limited to overnight trips since I was neither willing nor able to carry the extra weight of my pup’s food and water for multiple days. Doctor’s orders – he wasn’t allowed to carry weight until he was a year old. On September 17th, my pup finally reached his first birthday. A few days later we set off for Damascus, Virginia.
Early last spring, I had spent a night at Grayson Highlands State Park and driven through Damascus. I thought this would be a great spot for the pup’s first backpacking trip. I had met Steve at Mt. Roger’s Outfitters my first time through and called him up to arrange a shuttle. My plan was to get dropped off north of Damascus and do a 40+ mile trek back into town…
Day 1: After spending our first night at a campsite in Cherokee National Forest, we headed to MRO to catch our shuttle. I enjoyed the 45 minute drive chatting with Dave as he drove us up to Fox Creek. He made sure to point us south as he sent us on our way.
We got on the trail around 11am and hiked a little over 10 miles, making for a fairly easy and short first day. Our first major stop was at Scales – A large grassy meadow where people gathered in the past to sell their horses. The Forest Service uses controlled burns and cattle and horse grazing to keep the area bald. At 4,650 feet with flat open spaces, it gave us our first incredible view of the trip. As usual, I think it’s hard for photos to really capture what I saw, but I’m sharing a few to give you an idea of what it was like.
After hanging out at Scales for a while, we went back into the trees, through Rhododendron Gap, and eventually to our first campsite near Thomas Knob Shelter. A large part of this first day was spent on bald grassy highlands with breathtaking views. Camping near Thomas Knob was no exception. We had clear skies to watch a sliver of the moon rise and the stars come out.
Day 2: We spent the morning watching the clouds roll through as we broke camp and collected water at the nearby spring.
Our next destination was Mt. Rogers, where a short walk off trail took us to the highest point in Virginia. The climb up top takes you into a spruce-fir forest, one of only six in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Back on the trail, we hiked through our last stretch of grassy fields and saw the wild ponies for which these highlands are famous. We made a couple of stops to rest and get more water, which were some of the last times I took photos on the trail.
As the evening drew near, I decided we would camp near the next road crossing. We reached the road and found ourselves looking directly into a cow pasture. The trail appeared to go straight through, but it was hard to see where it picked back up again. While the sun set, I went on a short adventure into the pasture with a growling and barking dog at my side. I was too busy trying to avoid the cows trotting towards us while controlling my dog and I wound up losing the trail. I decided it was best to go back and camp on the north side of the road. I was able to push my pup under the barbed wire and find a gate I could climb over. We had passed an established campsite before reaching the road and we backtracked to spend the night there.
Day 3: At first light, we woke up and broke camp. I fed the pup, had a small snack and we were off to face the cows. We had better luck this morning and after entering their territory we met another group hiking with a small dog. Directions to pick up the trial at each end of the pasture were exchanged and off we went.
After hiking a couple more miles we came to Lost Mountain Shelter. We filled up with water and I got my proper breakfast of oatmeal and coffee. By this point, the pup was taking full advantage of every stop I made. He was no longer whining to keep going like he did on day one, but instead would plop right down as soon as he realized we were stopping.
He wasn’t the only one that was tiring. I had started having knee pain half way through day one, and by day three it was severe. We wound up covering 21 miles this last day. It was a tough day to say the least. I rationed the last of my acetaminophen and took breaks when I couldn’t take the pain. We walked through the forested mountains, going through rhododendron tunnels, walking along flowing water, and hiking up peaks and down scree covered switchbacks. As I limped along, my faithful companion stayed by my side, clipped to my pack. Never pulling, always following my lead.
At sunset we reached a point where the Virginia Creeper Trail (a bike trail) met the AT. There were great campsites here, but I made the decision to carry on. There would be rain the next morning and after such a tough day I just wanted off the trail. We jumped on the Virginia Creeper and walked an easier flat four miles, in the dark, back into Damascus. At a National Forest campground, I took one of the best showers I’ve ever had and snuggled up with my pup in the tent until 10am when the rain stopped. It was perfect.
At four months of age, small enough to stuff into my sleeping bag, I took this little guy on his first camping trip. I stopped going on longer hikes so I could get him used to the trails. He saw his first snow, learned how to cross water, and got used to a small pack. Then at seven months, we went on our first overnight with his Auntie. He got used to longer car rides and learned how to swim. For nine months I focused on teaching him what I thought he should know and bit by bit I’ve been showing him everything I love to do. Now he’s all grown up and has proved himself capable of going on any of my adventures. He’s ready to take on the world with me and you better believe I am going to take full advantage of every day I get with this guy.
Aspen's Adventures 