Appalachian Trail, VA - Elk Garden to Fox Creek

Our whole family has been wanting to overnight on the Appalachian Trail for about 5 years and this year, we finally made it happen. After dropping a boatload of money at REI to outfit 4 of us, we were finally equipped and stoked for our first hike. Heading out from the Charlotte, NC area, we needed to decide where to go. We have a lot of options in this area since we can get to many beautiful trails in 2 or 3 hours. Little did we realize what a totally amazing hike we were about to select.

Elk Garden to Fox Creek

Many thanks to Eric Explores for this great blog post about Elk Garden to Fox Creek. After reading many a blog and trail site, this is the hike we chose. We bought a Mount Rogers trail map at REI and tried to map the trip based on Eric's detailed post.

Parking

After studying the map, we figured out we could park one car at Fox Creek off of Route 603 and drive from there to our starting point at Elk Garden on Route 600. The sign for the Fox Creek parking lot is hard to spot - expect to see a small AT sign at the foot of a gravel driveway. There's room for about 15 cars. We were there July 4th weekend and there was plenty of parking. The lot at Elk Garden is larger and easier to spot. There's a nice latrine at Elk Garden.

Honestly, the view from the parking area at Elk Garden was a fabulous foretaste of the beautiful vistas we would experience over the next 2 days. The weather was perfect - no heat, no humidity.

Starting our first overnight hike on the AT! Left to right - Grace (17), Zane (17), Cathy (52), Grant (21) and Allen (60).

Day 1: Elk Garden to Thomas Knob

And we were off! The kids quickly left Allen and me behind as they powered up the trail. And I do mean UP. The first 5 miles, frankly, were up, up and more up. I was nervous about blowing out a bad knee, so I took every "stair step" with my good leg - which had the affect of a) making the quads on my good leg quiver with unfamiliar use and b) making Allen feel like he was hiking with someone on crutches (he confessed later.)We were both quickly appreciative of the trekking poles we had invested in! The poles really helped us use all arms and legs to slog upwards.

After a couple hours of hiking what felt like nature's stairmaster (after all - we were headed up to Mount Rogers - Virginia's highest mountain) we popped out into a beautiful bald and saw our first herd of ponies.

Taking a break to enjoy the view. 

Sighting our first herd of ponies. 

The ponies are very friendly. This one seemed to want a snack. 

After a rest and a few minutes petting the ponies, we got back on the trail and climbed to our destination - part of the trail just past the Thomas Knob shelter where we had read there were plenty of nice campsites.

Our hike had started a bit late in the day - we didn't set off from Elk Garden until almost 3p. We arrived at Thomas Knob around 7p, so a good 4 hours of hiking and about 5 miles on the trail. We didn't take the trail to Mt. Rogers since many other blogs said there really wasn't anything to see up there. The views from the trail we were on were spectacular enough. Plus, it was getting late - we needed to find a camping spot and set up before it got dark.

Finally at Thomas Knob! And check the view!

We didn't snap a pic of Thomas Knob Shelter, but this is the view from the back of it.
The spring is down in that fenced area below. The water was cold and refreshing!

The kids went ahead of us and found a spot back in the woods to the left of the trail. We had to move quickly to get our hammocks set up for the night and build a fire. We chose a spot with plenty of trees surrounding a fire circle. The trees would not only provide a good spot to set up all 5 camping hammocks, but also protection from the wind. As the sun dropped rapidly, so did the temperature. We were expecting the low 50s even though it was July - and we weren't quite prepared to be cold. By the time our hammocks, bug nets and tarps were set up, it was dark and we had a very difficult time finding fire wood. Doh! Newbies...

Lesson learned: arrive to your campsite with plenty of daylight so you can set up your camp, find fire wood, prepare your dinner and enjoy the stars.

Day 2: Thomas Knob to Fox Creek

The next morning, we enjoyed hot coffee from our french press, and grits or oatmeal to pack the start with carbs. With fresh water from the spring back at Thomas Knob, we set out for our hike that would continue along the AT, connect with the Crest Trail and then back to the AT at the Scales.

Allen and I were a little dismayed to start the trek with more upward climb. Hadn't we reached the top last night?? But the climb didn't last long and we soon found ourselves enjoying the most wonderful hike and views. And we also came across even more beautiful places to camp about a 30 minute hike from Thomas Knob. So, if you're going, be sure to get some water at the Thomas Knob spring and keep going along the trail until you go through the next stile and then look for the great campsites.

The next stile after Thomas Knob points you in the direction of some beautiful campsites. 

One of the great campsites past the stile. There were ponies and steer at this one. 

Uh... yeah. This was the cow hanging out at the campsite above. Yup.

Be sure to walk around every sign post and read ALL the signs. We wanted to hike across the Crest Trail.

Wild ponies and cattle were released in the Grayson Highlands a long time ago and their grazing balances the ecosystem of the grassy balds. The views up here were just fantastic and no amount of words or pictures can do it justice. But we snapped quite a few photos trying to take home just a piece of the experience. Indulge me here.

At this point, we were on the Crest Trail and this is what we saw for hours. 

Be warned: The Crest Trail is dirt and loose rocks and much of it downhill (YES!).

We came across more ponies and cattle on the Crest Trail. And we took plenty of time to enjoy the views, the photo ops and the ponies.

Coming across another herd on the Crest Trail. Wow.

Yup - you can pet them.

This little guy was adorable and Grace said the mama has diva hair. 

We briefly entered a wooded area and took a break for lunch filtering some of the water we brought all the way from the Thomas Knob spring in our Platypus filtration system (what a great purchase). We had not seen any other springs along the way. On a great big rock, we enjoyed our homemade beef jerky and a trail mix of nuts, raisins and M&Ms.

Using our Platypus filtration system, the water is in the
bag up  on the tree and gravity pulls it through the
filter on the tube into the water bottle. 

After a lunch break, there were more views to enjoy! The kids were long gone by this time and Allen and I were on our own for the day.

Muggin' the camera in the Grayson Highlands. 

Finally, we arrived at the Scales where the Crest Trail connected with the AT. We took a turn north to get back to the Fox Creek parking area at 603. We think we had hiked 8 miles to this point and had 5 to go. Little did we know we were about to do another hour and a half up, up, up. The kids told us we could have avoided this uphill climb by catching a connector trail about 3 miles back on the Crest Trail. But, we think some horseback riders gave us some bad advice. 

The Scales - where they used to weigh livestock. Don't walk along the dirt road here
 like Grace and Zane did and got lost for a couple hours. Get back on the AT. 

Yeah, so THIS is the sign for the AT. See, Grace and Zane? This is where you took a wrong turn.

After that, we didn't take many pictures because we were either slogging UP a hill or walking down the other side where the trail was a heinous stretch of roots and rocks and we were just about dead and wanted to get back to the car. The one bright spot was a 40 minute rest at the Old Orchard shelter where we happily enjoyed fresh, cold water from the spring. I even took the opportunity to wash my hair. And when I insisted on washing Allen's hot, tired, sore feet from a cup of cool water I brought from the spring (he didn't want to take his boots off at first) he fell in love with me all over again. 

All in all it was a fabulous 2 days and all 5 of us loved it. Grant powered through day 2 in about 4 hours and slept at the parking lot while he waited on the rest of us to arrive. Grace and Zane got lost, but somehow wandered to 603 and made it to the parking lot. Allen and I did day 2 with our overweight, out of shape selves in about 6 hours. And even though some of it was huffing and puffing, the views at the top were worth every step of the climb. All of us look forward to our next backpacking adventure.Where will the trail take us next...?

Homemade Beef Jerky in Oven

How To Make Homemade Beef Jerky in Oven for Backpacking

Before we set out for our first overnight on the Appalachian Trail, I did a ton of research on how to make homemade beef jerky. We don't have a dehydrator, but I saw that we already own something that would do the trick - our oven! So, here's the recipe I used and how I did it:

Alton Brown's beef jerky recipe

I bought about 2.75 pounds of london broil for about $19 at my local Earthfare where we get the best meat. Brought it home stuck it in the freezer for a couple hours to make it easy to slice. Don't freeze it all the way, of course. Just get it nice and firm. Then, Allen sliced it paper thin (maybe a little too thin - but it worked fine.) Grace mixed up the marinade and we put it all in a zip lock bag to marinate. I couldn't get back to it the next day, so it marinated 2 days before I had time to dehydrate.

For the dehydrating process, Grant and I layered the meat in a single layer on paper towels. So it was paper towel, meat, paper towel, meat, etc. That way, we could press down on the whole stack and absorb the marinade.

Then, we spread the meat on wire racks - the kind we use to cool cookies. I only have 1 big one and 2 little ones, so I was going to take 2 rounds of dehydrating. I put the oven on warm - which is 170 degrees in my oven. Then, I propped the door open with a cork as I had seen as a suggestion somewhere online. And that's it. After 2 hours, voila! Beef jerky - and it was super tasty! For the second batch, I put the oven on autocook and set it for 1.5 hours and went to bed. The oven went off by itself and I figured it would stay warm long enough to finish the process.

Sorry - I don't have pics. Didn't think about doing a blog til we were on the trail. Next time...

New River Trail State Park, Virginia

We've been threatening to escape the noisy fireworks that go all night in our neighborhood near Charlotte, NC on July 4th for about 8 years. This year, we finally did it and a week before the July 4th, I was able to reserve the last available tent site at New River Trail State Park in Virginia.

Best 4th of July ever! Somehow we scored the BEST site in the Mill Race Campground over July 4th weekend. It was SO beautiful and you can camp right beside the river.

We spent 2 nights at this VERY nice state park and used it as a testing ground for our brand new backpacking gear before leaving the park on Saturday for our first overnight on the Appalachian Trail.

All 5 of us slept in Eno's hung near the river. Plenty of trees for your hang!

Mill Race Campground

This campground is for tent campers only - so you won't have to deal with noisy RVs. If you're a car camper accustomed to a bath house, don't let the "primitive" sites scare you away. They have very nice latrines a short walk away. If you don't mind missing a shower or two, you'll do just fine.We warmed a little water on our camp stove and were able to wash up and wash hair at our campsite. Other people bathed in the river - but something about that doesn't seem actually clean to me.

Mill Race Campground offers very nice wagons that you can pull to your car to help tote all your gear down to your site. Easy peasy.

Canoeing and Biking

Just a few steps away from the campground, the park has a very nice camp store at Foster Falls where you rent bikes and canoes. We paid $35 per canoe for the shuttle upstream and LOVED floating down the river for about 2 hours. Peaceful, easy and beautiful. And after we canoed for 2 hours, we rented bikes and biked about 8 miles on the New River Trail - an easy trail with about a 2% grade. But, the canoeing was WAY better than the biking - you get a way better river experience for a lot less energy!