Carol’s Passage on the App Trail

Carol DON’T Camp

Both Carol and I have always liked the concept of walking the Appalachian Trail. But, let’s face reality. We are never going to actually walk a significant portion of the trail. The main logistical challenge is of course…Carol. Carol can day hike with the best of them. However, at the end of the day…Carol DON’T camp. Evening requirements include a nice dinner, bed, heat or A/C, indoor shower and a functioning toilet. These requirements make long distance hiking on the App Trail quite difficult. But, if Carol wants to do some hiking on the App Trail…PugsleyTonks will find a way. After much research, allow me to present Carol’s Passage on the App Trail.

The soon to be famous Carol’s Passage is nestled within the Shenandoah National Park. It’s a leisurely, down and back, 2-day hike along the App Trail (about 18 miles). The unique aspect of Carol’s Passage is that at each end of the segment…there is a lodge. The north end is the Skyland Lodge, while south is the Big Meadows Lodge. So, no matter how you approach it, at the end of the day, you are at a lodge. Carol don’t camp, but she will “glamp” for brief periods of time.

The Departure

We chose to start our journey at the northern point, i.e. Skyland Lodge parking lot. Beyond selecting the appropriate section of the App Trail, the next most important factor was the preparation. Each of us was equipped with a backpack for our overnight journey. The main items required for our journey were lunch and water for the day, minimal extra clothing, and personal hygiene/chemical support items for Carol.

I must admit, Carol’s preparations were truly bear minimums. In addition to her essential daily jewelry, she actually carried less than 10 pounds of unknown chemical/cosmetic products. For full disclosure, there were also 2 hair brushes not shown above. In true Jack Reacher fashion, she counted on the lodge to provide soap and shampoo for the end of day shower. Amazingly, she only had the shoes she was wearing. To put these amazing accomplishments in perspective, in 40+ years of marriage, I have never done an overnight trip with Carol with only one pair of shoes and less than 20 pounds of chemical/cosmetic support. Be that as it may, other than being a bit cold, we had a wonderful day one of hiking.

Glamp Site

As I mentioned, this was a light 2-day, down and back, hike. So, at the end of our first day, overnight accommodations were necessary. As Carol don’t camp…we stayed at the national park lodge. And, as Carol repeatedly told me, the room at the lodge was only barely above the camping level. As testament to the bravery and endurance of my wife, I wanted to show the conditions that she survived.

It’s difficult to show the whole room in one picture. But, trust me, what you see is what we got. There was no TV. There was no Wi-Fi. The bed was only a double bed. The heater sucked. There was no key card for access…we had to use a real KEY. The bathroom was the size of an airplane lavatory. Despite these harsh conditions, we managed to tough it out and survive the evening. It will be a long time before I ever get Carol to go glamping again.

The Road Home

Mercifully, I will spare you a bunch of scenic photos from our return trip on Carol’s Passage. Suffice it to say, it was a much warmer day. The hike was beautiful and almost uneventful. I say “almost” because there was one remarkable sighting…

No, no, no, I am not talking about seeing Big Foot. That kind of stuff happens all the time. I want to direct your attention to the much rarer photographic evidence in the right hand picture above. It may be hard to tell, but that is a head. Or, more specifically, that is Carol’s head poking out just above a big rock. The age old question has now been answered…“Does a Carol pee in the woods?” As evidenced by this photo, I am here to solemnly swear that the answer to the question is…YES!…Carol DOES pee in the woods. This siting occurred on Day 2. There was no such siting on Day 1. I can not explain this discrepancy. As with Big Foot, there are just some things we will never fully understand.

Wrap It Up

So, jumping to the end, we safely and successfully completed our 2 day, 18 mile, round trip, journey on the Appalachian Trail. The 2,190 miles from Springer, Georgia, to Mount Katahdin, Maine, will probably always be more than I am willing to do. But, Carol and I will continue our random short visits to the Appalachian Trail. And, for those of you with significant others that are not willing to camp…remember Carol’s Passage on the App Trail. Have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoyed “Carol’s Passage on the App Trail” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

Here’s was a blog mission where I was preparing Carol for surviving in the wilds… https://travelingwithpt.com/fine-dining-in-danville/

If you want to tackle the Appalachian Trail, start here… https://appalachiantrail.org/explore/plan-and-prepare/