Christmas Morning hike

I exited my bed early (3am) and headed to the wonderful Shenandoah Mountains in the George Washington National Forest. It was Christmas morning and my wife was down in Texas/Oklahoma at my son’s in-law’s ranch … so I was alone, like many Christmas mornings (she regularly goes south to be with them and their bisons.)

The goal – High Tower Trail on the Virginia/West Virginia border. A moderate 3 mile-ish trek up to the peak. This endeavor gave me a deep satisfaction, but also taught me several lessons.

I was so close to the trail head when the heavens opened up with a deluge. I couldn’t find the pull off for the trail head’s parking lot … and Google Maps sent me to the wrong location, almost 2 miles into the state of West Virginia. It was raining so hard, I followed Google, but it led me to a driveway. Now, in the deep dark morning hours, and in the middle of a downpour, I circled the driveway of the wrong location several times.

A problem – no cell service. So round and round the wrong property I circled. Thanks to the off-line services of All Trails, I located the trail head.

I bundled up and put my rain shell on. Darkness was even more so due to the rain. Then, I headed up the mountain with a single, bright headlamp.

Weirdly, the rain let up by 10 minutes into the trek. I made it up to the apex, but I was 30+ minutes behind schedule and missed the sunrise – kind of. The clouds were still so thick overhead that the sun couldn’t be seen anyway.

The high tower, an old fire watch station, was an enclosed tower with two sections. The lower was a dark, stone-enclosed shelter for those hiking. The upper section was a window encircled room where on a clear day you can see mountain peaks in five different states. Today – just the two states in spitting distance that was divided by the crest of the mountain.

Within a few minutes, all vision became difficult as clouds set on the mountain top where I couldn’t even see the trail.

That cleared and I headed back to the FJ. And in a heavenly sense of humor, the sun broke through the clouds just in time for me to head down the mountain.

Some lessons –

• Plan Ahead … using offline resources, and using knowledge from my research on the area, I was able to find the trail head. Plan ahead. (memorize Scripture for when you will need it)
• Stay Flexible … I was late, I knew I wouldn’t make the mark by sunrise, but I didn’t let that ruin my hike. Sometimes, we just need to enjoy what we can and don’t fret about what we can’t.
• God’s timing is God’s timing … He is still there like the sun behind the clouds. And when He is ready to shine, He will. So don’t give up even when life is dark and cloudy.
• Take lots of pictures.