This weekend was my first backpacking trip. I've car camped. I've hiked from camp. I've kayaked to camp. But I've never hiked with a full pack and camped ... in the cold. So this was a first. And the part about camping in the cold ... well it may be the last. I froze! I crawled into my tent around 7:30 Saturday night fully clothed. I have an REI sub-kilo +15 sleeping bag and a Big Agnes Seedhouse 1 person tent. The tent is clearly not a four season tent. It may not even be a three season tent. It's mostly mesh on the inner tent. But the sleeping bag should have been warm enough for a fall night in the mountains. Well, my core body was warm but my legs and feet were like ice cubes. In between rubbing my feet to keep the circulation going and tossing and turning on the little therma-rest sleeping pad I slept maybe three hours. And I'm sure my camping companions loved hearing me whine about the cold and lack of sleep the next morning. If this was a class, like Backpacking 101, I'd probably get a D+.

The other gear failure was my new backpack. I bought the REI Quick UL 45 Backpack. I bought this as an ultra-light replacement for the backpack I used for rock climbing. At 2 lbs 9 oz it's very light. Unfortunately one area where they skimped to get the weight down was the hip belt which carries the weight of the pack. It has a lot less cushion than my older backpack and the very back of the hip belt is hard which seemed to dig into my back. And the straps seemed to cut into my chest. So it's going back to REI today.

So I really wasn't converted into a winter backpacker this weekend. And this wasn't a real backpacking trip. We hiked White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run on Saturday. Then we drove to the trailhead for the Old Rag hike and hiked in about 1/2 mile and set up camp for Saturday night. Sunday we packed up our gear and took it back to the cars and met up with the Sunday hikers for Old Rag. So I only hiked about 1/2 mile with the new pack. I'm glad I tested it out on a short hike like this instead of waiting for a really hard core backpacking trip.

The White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run hike is a hike I've done several times. It's one of the most beautiful waterfall hikes in the Shenandoah. Total elevation for the hike is 2450 feet and the guide online says it should take five hours with a half hour for lunch. Or hike leader Dennis told me he used to hike this trail alone in 2 1/2 hours as a cardio workout. That should give you an idea of the pace he likes to hike. I could tell from the beginning of the hike that I would be far behind Dennis if he didn't stop at regular intervals. Fortunately he's also quite patient.



We took the Cedar Run Trail up and the White Oak Canyon Trail back down stopping at the waterfalls as time allowed. It's a beautiful hike but I didn't see anything new since I've done the hike before ... until we crossed over the bridge. That's when Dennis and I ran into the barefoot hiker. I had never seen anyone hike barefoot. Unfortunately he was gone before I could take his photo and it probably wouldn't have been polite. My first thought was that the barefoot hiker was some vagrant or homeless person but I have since learned that there are clubs for Barefoot Hikers. Interesting.



Sunday morning the four of us that camped overnight, Dennis, David, Amy and I, carried our gear back to the parking lot and met up with five other hikers for the hike up Old Rag. This was my first time hiking Old Rag ... which is pretty amazing since it's the most popular hike in the mid-Atlantic region ... or so says the online guide. The total elevation change for Old Rag is less than the White Oak hike and it doesn't have waterfalls but what draws people to the hike is the almost one mile rock scramble with narrow passages between huge boulders and several spots requiring actual climbing. If you're afraid of heights or have poor balance this hike could make for a long miserable day. But the panoramic views of the Shenandoah mountains are well worth the pain. Photos from the weekend are HERE.

-Susanita