A strenuous 2-night, 31.5-mile out-and-back backpacking trip. This trail was originally constructed by the famous Vanderbilt family in the 1890's as a direct path linking their oversized house with their hunting lodge near Mt. Pisgah.
After a 2Hr 45Min drive I started hiking around 12:45pm on Thursday, May 12, 2022. I started hiking with a bag of fresh grapes pictured in the photo.
At the beginning of the hike there are a couple of gates that travelers must pass through.
Several sections of this hike have scarce drinking water, so the dogs and I took advantage of the water when it was available.
Despite seeing few fellow hikers, the entire trail is well-maintained. This is likely due to the fact that the trail intersects with the Blue Ridge Parkway numerous times.
There is also a large volunteer support team that maintains the trail. A big thank you to these folks.
The "Shut-In" Trail derives it's name from the shut-in foliage canopy that enshrouds the path. This is an interesting name selection to me in light of the fact that nearly all trails in this region are similar in their canopy cover. In the sections where the trail intersects the road there are clear-cut areas that show the scenic mountain view.
It is remarkable how close the trail is to the road throughout it's duration. Several times on the hike when I thought I was in a secluded area of the woods, there would be a car that would fly by relatively close by. To me this experience is unique to this trail. Despite the proximity to the road, the traffic was not a problem.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is at the top of this hill, but you would not know that unless you either saw a vehicle or directly saw the road.
A view from a few feet above the previous photo.
The trail/road intersections are all well-marked.
Throughout this trip I listened to several albums, podcasts, and Solid Gold Sunday Night oldies shows on the Apple iPod Nano 7th Generation. This helped distract me from the painful inner thigh chaffing and foot blistering I was experiencing throughout the journey.
I pack a full 3-liter Camelbak and a Nalgene bottle on my backpacking trips, and I typically start looking for water sources once my Camelbak is depleted so that I can use the Nalgene bottle as an emergency reserve.
I filled up my water twice during this excursion. During this pictured fill up the Camelbak was depleted and the Nalgene was still full. However, on the fill up the following day my entire water supply was depleted.
Another photo showing my first water fill up point.
Much of the terrain on the Shut-In Trail is steep.
Upon summiting one of the two most long and strenuous mountains I noticed several concrete anchors. While I don't know what these were used for, I do know that the radio propagation from my 2m portable amateur radio was very good, and I was easily able to speak with several people on a couple repeaters I found by scanning. Unlike other hikes I did not program any repeaters into the radio before embarking on the hike.
Millie and Mabel were well-behaved on this entire hike, although Millie's age and arthritis were a struggle for her toward the end of the hike.
One of my two Kenwood TH-K2 2m mono-band portable transceivers. On this hike this was the only radio I brought. This rig is rugged, simple, and the battery life and receiver sensitivity are very good. Also, I prefer using old-school FM-only equipment.
Another of the many Blue Ridge Parkway crossings.
...with an excellent view of the mountains.
This was my first backpacking trip in half a year, and I was a bit unprepared because I forgot to pack several items including:
-
The fuel for my stove. The photo above encapsulates how I felt at the campsite upon realizing this.
-
A Firearm
-
Spare batteries for my GPS.
Millie is guarded in unfamiliar locations. I feel protected when she is with me.
On the other hand, Mabel is quite content to nod off and sleep.
Without the stove's fuel my dinner consisted of freeze dried soy powder.
Yes, it was just as unappetizing as it sounds - and I had the opportunity to embrace my inner soy boy in the process.
I often don't set up my tent because I don't want to be bothered, but on the first night of this trip I thought it would be a good idea - which proved to be a good idea since it did rain overnight. This photo is a long-exposure shot. It is actually a lot darker outside than it appears.
A selfie from inside the tent just before I went to sleep on Thursday night. I also made a contact on the ham radio from this location.
Mable generally prefers the comfort of the tent while Millie prefers to be a guard dog outside.
I actually had a good night's rest on Thursday evening. I had hiked for approximately 8 hours on Thursday, and I debated making this my turnaround point, but I ultimately decided to stay the course and trek on to Mount Pisgah on Friday Morning.
On Friday I hit the trail around 8:30, and it was foggy and intermittently rainy. This was the (lack of a) view from one of the road intersection overlooks. The ~5-mile trek to Mount Pisgah was strenuous and hilly, and there was no drinking water availability.
The view from one of the trail/road intersections.
The turnaround point at Mount Pisgah. We left the campsite at ~8:30 and arrived here at 12 Noon. While I briefly debated turning around at the campsite, I am glad that we decided to maintain the original plan of hiking to Mount Pisgah.
A wider view of the turnaround point at Mount Pisgah.
The road is scenic.
Once the fog cleared on Friday the scenic view was once again available.
Upon reaching the mountain top with the concrete anchor structure Mabel decided to take a nap in the foliage. I incidentally removed several ticks from her during and after the hike.
At he second water fill up point both dogs and I were ready for much needed hydration.
Between this point and Saturday morning I did not take any photos, but we hiked continuously. Once it became evident that we would not be able to reach the car before dark I decided to throw down my Thermarest and sleeping bag on the trail since there were no campsites in the area. I decided to not set up the tent since I was tired.
There was approximately 7 miles from Friday Night's campsite and the car, so I knew that Saturday would contain a reasonable hiking distance.
At around 4:00am Saturday morning the rain started. Not wanting to set up camp just a few hours before having to tear it down I decided to start walking. The dogs an I hit the trail by 4:30am.
It was dark, foggy, and continuously raining for a couple of hours early Saturday morning, and a couple of times throughout this section of the hike I saw mysterious glowing eyes illuminated in the distance by my head lamp.
Eventually it brightened up and I was on the home stretch.
There was sporadic rain throughout the trip, and the humidity was always high. Like most trails in this region nothing dries once it becomes wet this time of the year.
A sign near the starting point of the trail.
At 8:15 I reached the car. Total hiking time on Saturday morning was four hours. The dogs and I made it home by noon.
Map of the trail. This hike was an out-and-back, and each way was 15.8 miles. I forgot to save Thursday night's campsite into the GPS, but it was likely a couple of miles west of the mountain top with the concrete anchors.