Hiking Shenandoah National Park – Summer Backpacking in Virginia
For this episode we not only do a summer visit to Shenandoah National Park, but also add another member to the crew, Mike’s 8 year old son. This will be his first hike, and hopefully we don’t scare him off with the whole “endless walking and hard work” thing.
Our specific area for this backpacking trip will be the South District of Shenandoah National Park, in the Federal Wilderness Area along Trayfoot Mountain. The time frame is late summer, August to be exact, which is exactly why we chose this region. The North District tends to be the more popular area of Shenandoah, due in part to it’s higher elevations, along with the close proximity to Washington, DC. To use an analogy, the North District would be Virginia’s version of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range, while the South District would be, say, the Carter-Moriah Range.
Okay, so what I’m trying to say is: I’m not messing with that in peak season, but I’ll gladly come back in the Fall when I can have it all to my greedy self. In the mean time I’ll stick to my favorite summer solution – less traveled Wilderness Areas. Skyline Drive, which runs the entire length of the park, provides convenient access to just about all the trails in the park. It also comes with a $15 admission fee for cars. Not bad for a scenic drive, but a little steep for some trail head parking. Thanks to my cheapness and a little research, we’ll be entering the park via the terminus of a rural state road that butts up against the southwestern boundary with parking space for two or three cars at the end of SR661.
All backcountry camping requires a permit. These are free and available at each Skyline Drive entrance station, via self registration. We grabbed ours from the Rockfish Gap entrance station at 2:30 am. You can find the permits in a wooden drawer on the backside of the Ranger Station. Very convenient!
A big part of this trip was not just visiting the Shenandoah Valley, but also a bit of training and hopefully a fun first time hiking experience for Mike’s son. We began at 6:30am by following the Paine Run Trail (a foot and horse trail) from the parking spot towards it’s intersection with the Appalachian Trail, which would make up the first half of our loop hike. We passed up the only shelter on this trip, Black Rock Shelter, as a camping location, but it was much appreciated for it’s excellent reliable water source. From there we trekked along on the Furnace Mountain Trail to link up with Tray Foot Mountain Trail. This would take us back towards the car along the ridge of Trayfoot Mountain. Running a bit heavier on mileage than anticipated, we finally set up camp at the Southern base of Trayfoot around 5pm. This put our total mileage for day one at 18 miles, and ironically, pretty close to the car. The upside was that we had a short and easy hike out the following morning, which gave us time to explore the entire length of Skyline Drive by auto. But you’ll have to catch that in the next video…
Trail Head Parking Info via National Parks Service:
GPS Coordinates: 38.196763, -78.767869
PAINE RUN Rt. 661 Foot, Horse Trail
Fair access; parking for 3 cars at private turn-around at end of
Rt. #661; No public access from Rt. #614. NOTE No Parking in
turnaround weekdays, 7am to 4 pm during school year to
accommodate school bus turn around
My Hiking Gear List:
Nemo Losi 3p Tent (Split between Mike and I)
EMS Long Trail 70 Backpack
EMS “Stuffer” Jacket
EMS Pack Cover
2 ReVive Solar ReStore chargers for video camera, phone, etc
Osprey 2 liter Nalgene Bladder for hydration
Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System
1 Liter Disposable Plastic Water Bottle
Taurus 740 Slim Sub-Compact Pistol
Swiss Gear Trekking Poles (Cork Handle Model)
Therm-A-Rest Z-Lite foam sleeping pad
Sea To Summit Toaster Fleece Liner (used as stand-alone sleeping bag)
EMS Packable Pack (9oz Daypack that also makes a decent pillow!)
Sunscreen
Brunton Classic Compass
Beef Jerky, pop-tarts, trail mix, snacks etc
Mountain House ProPak Chili Mac n Cheese
‘Light My Fire’ Spork
Homemade Ultralight Cookset – video:
Instant Coffee!
1 oz bottle of Ben’s Max 100 98% DEET insect repellent
Sea To Summit ‘Insect Shield’ Mosquito Head Neat (Luckily the bugs weren’t bad though)
EMS Camp Cap (synthetic fast dry, & lightweight!)
EMS Convertible Camp Pants / Shorts
EMS ‘Velocity’ synthetic lightweight long sleeve shirt
Nike ‘Pro Combat’ synthetic tee shirt
EMS synthetic socks
Garmont Zenith Mid GTX Hiking Boots
4Sevens Preon 2 Flashlight
Princeton Tec Byte Headlamp
Leatherman Squirt Ultra-Light Multi-Tool
SOG Blink Spring Assisted Knife
Some of Mike’s Backpacking Gear:
Gregory Palisade 80 Backpack
DeLorme PN-60 Handheld GPS
Therm-a-Rest Self Inflating Sleeping Pad
Big Agnes Sleeping Bag
….and other gear choices similar to mine, but different brands etc.
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That was way too much for anyone unconditioned, let alone a little feller, guys.
I learned how to hike with kids his age, with my sisters kids. The trick is, to stop often, like every 20 mins and let them rest for 5 mins. They recover fully and fast! It's amazing! You can't push them to keep going at a steady pace like adults. It doesn't work. Stop for them often just for a couple mins and I'm not joking, they will keep fully recovering, like they haven't even been on a hike at all! Then walk circles around you. That's the trick to hiking with kids. I learned this real fast when I took a couple of them with me on a longer hike. At first I tried to keep them going cus I knew we only had so much time before daylight, but once we stopped for a few mins, I saw how fast they recovered and it was like they hadn't even been on a long hike at all. We kept doing that, and they remained fully refreshed while I was slowing slightly and they kept right full 100% of energy that way and that's when I learned you could take kids on pretty much any amount of miles like this because they will fully recover in just a few mins and only need 5 mins every 20 mins to keep walking right at your same pace. It was amazing once I learned what they needed. Totally different style than adults need so if you do what they need, they'll make any hike look like…child's play lol.
Hey cool. He needs to get his boy out more often. I guess if he was 8 then he must be 16 or 17 now, 8 years latter.
Just wondering what type of camera you have that zooms out so far?
Especially with little ones on hand keep yersour ability the smell things that are different. Musky smells, the
Smell of warm cucumbers indicate that copperhead snakes are very close. Be extremely careful reaching into berry patches snakes can be just about anywhere. See with munchkins it's better to be safe than sorry.
Great job Nicky no more a Noob. Now you need a trail name
The problem with being in the zone is you miss a lot of scenery which is why you go on these isn't it? Unless you're a hard-core hiker who is only there for milage and to say you did the trip.
He did good and no whining. Bravo!
Crazy to think Nicky is 16 now!
Love this one!
Hi to Nick! He did good! We did that as kids in Colorado! Lot's of fun!
You got to give it up for the kid, 8 years old and walking 18 miles with a 15 lb pack on, little dude earned my respect
Would love if you checked out my first vlog of my weekend in Utah (also have one coming out on my trip to Shenandoah). If you can spare 3 min thatd be great! Any feedback and a sub would be appreciated! Will be posting a lot of high quality stuff!
https://youtu.be/VcJIBwKSmcU
working on all they videos guys.! "move-it" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nice son mike !
Hi, Shawn 👍🏻👍🏻 Awesome hiking and camping adventure and 👍🏻👍🏻 for Nick for hiking 18 miles on his first hiking adventure, y’all had some nice scenic vistas and the trails were very clean. I’m glad Mike decided to bring his son, great experience to enjoy the great outdoors !!! Thanks for sharing, enjoy and have a Blessed Sunday !!! Danny
This is awesome! Great age to introduce the backpacking scene. That look at 28:48 was priceless. I took my 8 year old nice on a backpacking trip that went up to 10,000ft. My brother and I both took turns carrying her gear just like Mike was. I feel for Mike!
I've been following for a few months, just am getting to this older videos. I haven't seen Mikes kid in any other videos so I'm assuming you guys scared him off lol. Hope not. 18 miles awesome job for the kid
mike seems all pissed off lol. classic dude. he looks like a young Chris Cornell. love ur vids man
hey sintax! how was the cell phone service on the trail?
Great video! I was there just last weekend and did a video too! Maybe you want to check it out ☺️
No cheeseburger time?!?
Tree around 17:30 probably a lightning strike
Ha ha funny! You're killin' the kid with 18 miles though! 🙂 Good work, Nick. Nice scenery.
Way to go Nick!
PS Mike looks too jacked to be 180. Maybe its the camera.
It's far away from new england, but you should backpack Big Bend.
bushwalking is discouraged in no trace philosophy …
Hey man great video and as a blogger I did a blog network about your hiking trip.
Dj's Travel & Outdoor Adventures
http://tinyurl.com/njql5rx
Thanks for sharing.
lol it's amazing how much a hearty meal can improve morale, especially Mikes!
10:31 "Kill the boy, Jon Snow" LOL Nice job you guys.
Hey Nick good job bud, thats a big accomplishment, keep it up.
really impressive, I remember my first hike on the at was 7 or 8 miles with the boy scouts when i was 12 and a lot of us were pretty miserable haha
Mike looks pissed! Haha
what is mike's channel called
Great job nick !!!! Awesome video thanks for sharing.
Hey sintax77 I've been watching your videos recently when I finally stumbled across this one which is in my own backyard it takes me 30 mins or so to get the skyline drive/SNP and I'm not trying to hate but I thought you couldn't have a fire there?
Also check out the water falls near South River Outlook. We hiked one yesterday and it was simply amazing. Love your videos and I'm subscribing after I finish writing this!
could you recommend a backpacking trail that's about Miles with places for a tent, places where you are allowed to fish (with or without permit), and preferably have a fire (but its not 100% necessary) either in the White Mountains in NH or Shenandoah in VA. thanks
@sintax77 Hope you guys have started eating those pack-it gourmet meals. Those things are soooo good!
Serious props up to Mike's boy Nick. 18 miles in a day with full pack is serious legit, regardless of age. Kudos to him for sticking through it.
So, I was trying to find a nice loop in Shenandoah as a first bigger solo backpacking experience. I bought a map but all the trails seem to go into the AT. Any good loop suggestions or only out and backs?
Thanks for sharing all these awesome videos! By the way, your son asked about what three blazes would mean, and this actually does exist! Perhaps not on the AT, but three blazes on side trails and other park through trails signifies the beginning or end of a trail. One example I can think of off the top of my head is the Mill Creek Trail in French Creek State Park in PA. I've seen it elsewhere, too.
Do you always carry a gun?
When taking kids I find it wise to take more than one. This way they can entertain each other and also utilize the buddy system. In other words, be less if a burden.
Great video! Awesome kid! Cool father!