Brady has been asking a lot of questions about backpacking for the last year or so. We started to think he might be ready for an overnight, and even told him on some day hikes that any complaining about being tired would indicate that he wasn't ready for a backcountry trip. He sucked it up on all those hikes and earned himself a pack for his (half) birthday and a trip this fall.
We were originally thinking of doing Old Rag, but got a little nervous about Brady navigating the rock scramble with a heavy pack. We reevaluated and chose the AT / RipRap / Wildcat Ridge trail loop. The maps all claim it to be 9.8 miles, but we mapped it closer to 11. Not sure where we picked up an extra 1.2 miles!
At the car, putting on his pack for the first time. Smart enough not to comment on its weight!
We stopped at several rocky overlooks the first day...perfect spots for some rock scrambling and trail mix!
Back on the trail...
Brady wanted to take the first potential camping spot we found, but we encouraged him to keep going. It paid off and we found a spot that was perfectly perfect!
Brady and James in the "kitchen": a large flat rock for the camp stove with a log and several other rocks perfect for seats:
Looking back toward the bedroom area:
Setting up camp:
From the kitchen downstream to the campsite:
Brady loved just having some time to throw rocks and play around the stream
It got dark fast!!
This is a kid who needs more weight in his pack!
It was cold that night; thankfully we were prepared with warm bags and lots of layers. We think it got down to the low 40s.
Warming up with oatmeal and hot cider for breakfast:
Brady explored a bit more while James and I packed up camp. He had a grand time fighting off the invading t-rex...
For some reason, Brady was really excited about the water filtration. He kept asking when we needed to get more water. In the end, I think it ended up being much less exciting than he'd anticipated!
Waiting patiently for the last bit of gear to be loaded:
Here we go again...back on the trail about 10:00 am. We'd covered about 4.5 miles the day before, so still had about 6.5 to do today.
Not long after we started in the morning, Brady stopped for some help adjusting his pack. While we were stopped, we were lucky enough for a perfect bear sighting: he was on the other side of a creek, running away from us! Cool!
Lots of time on the trail meant we learned some new things about Brady. Like the fact that he can blow bubbles with gum. Huh.
We decided we really should have done the loop the other way, as today's views were few and far between.
Making our last trail switch onto the AT. We all agreed after about only three-quarters of a mile that we can't really fathom wanting to thru-hike the trail!
Fun...
The lack of great overlooks made it challenging to find a spot to break for lunch. We kept telling ourselves that we'd find the perfect spot at the top or around the next turn...but the turns kept coming and the "top" never quite materialized! We finally plopped down in a small clearing just off the trail. We were tired enough at that point (2:00!) that it seemed just perfect to us.
One bonus of covering so much ground in the morning was that we had just over a mile to go after lunch!
Look! Cars! The parking lot! We made it!
One proud backpacker!!
The full loop. We started and ended at green; spent the night at red:
Overall stats...(because we're nerds like that):
Ouch - the elevation change. What goes down the first day, must come back up the second...
