What Happens When You Oversleep...

Our group hike today took place at White Oak Canyon in Shenandoah National Park, a steep hike with views of beautiful waterfalls. I, unfortunately, didn’t make it because I completely overslept. I had set my alarm for 5:30am, and in fact, set TWO alarms and didn't hear either of them. I subsequently missed two phone calls from my carpool at 6:15 and 6:30 wondering where I was. I didn't hear or feel the phone ring, and it was on my bed, six inches from my head. Guess I must have been really tired...

So when I finally woke up at 9:00, I had an "oh crap!" moment (except I don't think I used the word "crap"). Once I figured out what happened, I realized I still needed to get one more training hike in before my big trip. I called my buddy Patrick who agreed to hike the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls with me. We started out around 11:15, and the weather was okay -- overcast but very humid. We made it to the steep part of the rock scramble before it started to rain. I took a few pictures before I had to put my camera away. Check out my photos here.



It let up a little bit until we stopped to eat along the river around 12:30. In the meantime, my friends Scott and Julie had called to say that they would meet us on the trail, coming from the opposite direction. We had just finished our snack when suddenly the sky opened up and it started to really come down. There was thunder and lightning, so we got the heck off the rocks and headed into the shaded trail. After a few minutes of hiking, we crossed a small runoff stream. I hopped across and landed on a rock with all my weight on my left foot, which slid down off the slick rock. I pitched forward and caught myself with my hands -- otherwise I would have come down hard on my right knee and probably banged it up pretty badly. Fortunately, I walked away with only a scratch.

A few minutes later, I was talking to Patrick as we rounded a corner and I heard someone say, “Yeah, that’s Maya.” Julie and Scott were crouched beneath an overhanging rock, waiting for us and trying to avoid the pelting rain. Apparently my voice carries, even in the wet woods. So the four of us made our way back to the trailhead and the towpath and the rain died down. While on the towpath, we saw all kinds of animals -- water snakes, turtles, huge fish, deer, and blue herons. We even spotted an owl just off the trail. It was making hooting noises while sitting in a tree, then it took off and flew through the woods. I didn't think I could get my camera out in time, so I just stood there and enjoyed watching the beautiful bird.

We made it halfway down the 1.5-mile towpath when it began to POUR. It wasn’t SO bad until the lightning strikes got closer and closer. We sought shelter under a wooden bridge with some other hikers to wait out the lightning. Of course, with the cold wind blowing and water drizzling off the bridge, we didn’t exactly stay dry or warm. After about 10 minutes or so, we decided just to head for the parking lot, about .4 miles away. Needless to say, we were completely soaked by the time we finished. One thing I learned is that waterproof boots, when worn in a rainstorm, make really good buckets!

So special thanks to Scott and Julie who will probably never hike with me again (at least, not without foul weather gear) and to Patrick, who has hiked with me under worse conditions. :) After hiking Old Rag last week, the rock scramble on the Billy Goat Trail was a piece of cake. I have one more week before the Rockies – I think I’m ready!!