The Wild Oak Trail

This weekend i set out for a lovely adventure. I had read about The Wild
 Oak Trail now the Wild Oak National Recreational Trail on the Virginia
 Happy Trails Running Club website and on backpacking sites. The trail is
 just over 26 miles long and sports around 8200ft of climb and descent,
 almost as much and as steep as my beloved Devils Path in the Catskills
 which is 25 miles long and has 9200ft of climb and descent. After a very
 early morning breakfast of an omlet, banana and some mate i began my long
 drive to the headwaters of the Shenandoah. The weather predictions were
 pretty dire so i was prepared to cut my run short or even do short hill
 repeats close to the car to stay safe. The drive there was pretty
 uneventful til i got off the main roads where the navigation got a bit
 tricky. Luckily i still had cell reception so i called Laura and she
 walked me through the drive using Google Maps. I stopped at the
 Stokesville Grocery and supply just a couple of miles away from the trail
 head and asked how far. The woman there said not far. I bought a really
 delicious piece of beef jerky and was on my way. After a couple of turns
 The Wild Oak Trail parking lot appeared on my right. There were 2 cars
 parked in the lot. I felt encouraged. At least there were other people
 out today. During the whole time i was on the trail i would see no one
 except when i got to Camp Todd. At the trail head i spent a very few
 minutes getting my packs together, putting on my all to insufficient rain
 gear and putting myself in a mode that was respectful of the trail and of
 the mountain. I knew if i was not respectful of the mountain that the
 mountain could really hurt me.

 The run began with me lightly and happily trotting off on a trail that
 felt quite easy and fun. Soon the trail came to the loop and i took off
 on the left fork of the trail.  The white exclamation point type trail
 blazes would be my comfort for many hours on this trail. I was very happy
 to see them. The trail began a gentle climb up lookout mountain and the
 rain continued. When the climb got more steep i began to walk keeping my
 heart rate to a reasonably good number for a long distance workout. At
 this point i was of the opinion that the trail was a very sweet place to
 be. I felt that the feeling would last for the rest of the run but i
 tempered my expectations a bit knowing that the weather was bad and that
 this trail was steep. As the trail climbed over Hankey Mountain i got
 a sense of the seriousness of the run but combined with that was a feel
 that it would go well. The scenery was ever so beautiful and the ridge
 running was amazing. It was difficult when the trail dropped down to
 forest roads and ran along them for a while. The single track on TWOT
 (The Wild Oak Trail) is just so nice.

 As i ran this run i was eating 1 packet of food an hour with an
 occasional extra. The packets contain 2 dates, usually medjool dates, and
 a couple tablespoons of unsalted raw almonds. I find this combination to
 be good fuel for me for moderately long runs. I supplemented the packets
 with a raspberry or huckleberry flavored Hammer gel here or there and a
 ate a piece or two of power bar. The power bars don't work that well.
 They give me a sugar high then low.

 Coming down off Hankey Mountain was trail then Forest Service Roads. The
 Forest Service Roads played with my head because there were not very many
 trail blazes on them and where they were blazed the blazes were often
 very faint. Needless to say, despite the fact that the Forest Service
 Roads offered easy running, i was happy to get off them. At the end of
 the Forest Service Road there was a gate and the single track trail
 resumed and the trail started climbing pretty seriously. At one point it
 was so steep that i was going around 30 minutes/mile but i did not care.
 I was still enjoying myself. I was a bit concerned because of the rain
 and wind and the fact that i was all wet in the weather. The concern kept
 me from lingering very much where there were views to take pictures. I
 just kept moving along whether running, shuffling downhill or walking. I
 had to keep moving. Near the top of the next mountain, which according
 the the map is around 4080ft i had to pause. A big thunderstorm had moved
 into place and lighting was striking the summit about a half mile away. I knew  how far away it was because i know how fast sound travels.

 The flash precceeded the boom by 2-3 seconds. It was not time to be up
 high. After just a few minutes the lightning moved on but the rain did
 not. It was very very wet and cold. There were little cores of ice in the
 very large raindrops. I summitted that mountain and enjoyed a short ridge
 run before starting down the other side. The running was pleasant while i
 stayed on the ridge. Despite all the rain, the rocks and sand that
 comprised the sweet TWOT stayed solid. There were just a very few muddy
 patches. After i left the ridge things changed. It seemed like the trail
 was routed through a dry creek bed which seemed to go on for at least 2
 miles. The creek bed was not dry. The best i could do was slosh quickly
 and carefully through the cold ankle deep. To add to the frustration of
 the water there were few trail blazes on this section. At least there
 were few unmarked trail junctions. After a good long time in the dry
 creek bed the trail began to follow a hillside some distance uphill from
 a small creek. As the trail got closer to the creek or gully i could see
 i was approaching a campsite. I crossed some more water and crossed the
 road and saw trail blazes going straight towards the North River. The
 blazes then directed me to the left. I followed the trail and the blazes
 disappeared. I sat on a stump and because the rain had lessened i looked
 at the trail narrative. The trail narrative from VHTRC says "Cross the
 road, cross the river and climb Little Bald Knob".  The river was
 absolutely raging. There was no way i could cross it safely. Or was there
 ? I went to where the trail goes to the river and i saw the grey white
 exclamation point blazes on the other side of the river. Well, at least i
 will try. I stepped into the river. Just about 4 feet into the river the
 water was up to my knees and threatening to throw me off balance. No Way
 ! I scrambled back to the bank. I tried again and came to the same
 conclusion. No Way ! It was the end of the trail for me. I would have to
 find another way back to my car. I had run 18 miles in the mountains at
 that point including about a mile or so of backtracking where i thought i
 was lost but wasn't.

 I walked to someone who was camping at Camp Todd and asked them how to
 get back to the beginning of FR (Forest Route 95). They said they were
 not sure but they pointed the way to Elkhorn Lake and the way to the West
 Virginia Border. I knew i did not want to go to West Virginia. I told
 them i knew the trail arced to the right over Little Bald Knob and
 Grindstone Mountain so i decided to go right. I only had the trail
 narrative because i was unable to get a map of the area at the local
 stores so i was not sure how far the run back to the car would be. There
 were a few intersections with other forest roads none of them marked with
 the FR number along the way. They had signs pointing how far to various
 camps and to the West Virginia Border. I knew i needed to go towards Lake
 Todd. So i kept going that direction when i found a sign for Lake Todd. I
 knew it was 8 miles from Stokesville to Lake Todd so what i thought would
 be a 3-4 mile run on FR 95 was a 9+ mile run. It was no big deal. Even
 though i was running through running water at times and even though i was
 wet i was nowhere near hypothermia. I had LOTS of water in my improvised
 5 liter water pack and i had lots of food. I could easily have gone 50+
 miles that day with the supplies and clothes i had on. The rain shell on
 the top was much appreciated and i wished i had worn a rain shell on the
 bottom too but i figured it would not do me much good if i ended up
 wading through a lot of water. I was wrong. The water resistant part
 would have helped.

 Every now and then i would see trail head parking and different colored
 exclamation point type trail blazes. Sometimes it would be raining and
 for a while the sun came out and there were the most glorious white puffy
 cumulus clouds. The run on FR 95 was very very nice. I ran most of it
 with the exception of a few of the steeper uphills. After a while i saw a
 trail crossing sign and a familiar friendly grey/white trail blaze. I had
 run that many hours earlier. The car would be coming up soon on the left.
 When i got the the car i went to the trail register and made a mark that
 i was out safely.

 It had taken me 8:01 to run and walk 27.41 miles of mountains including
 about 15 minutes at the river staring across wondering what to do. The
 run had 6500-7000ft of climb and descent.

 My overall impression of the trail is that it is a sweet sweet trail and
 i want to come back and do the whole thing when i can actually cross the
 river without risk of drowning. I loved the TWOT !

 At the car I took off my packs and hesitated before getting in. I found
 an old magazine to put on the drivers seat before i sat down. I was
 drenched. I got in and turned on the engine and turned on the heat. It
 took me a while to clean the water off my glasses after i put them on. I
 called Laura to tell her that i was safe and to tell her that i had
 survived a deluge of water. More was to come. I reversed the route i came
 in making one short wrong turn. I passed the cute Stokesville Grocery and
 Supply and drove down the North River Road. All along the road there were
 deep puddles of water. I seemed to be the only vehicle out there that was
 not a high clearance pickup or 4 wheel drive. When i got to the bridge
 crossing the North River there was water. I drove into it until i
 realized it was going to be way too deep at the bridge for my car. It
 even looked like there were parts of the bridge washed out. There were a
 couple of stumps on the bridge that had floated there. I backed up and
 waited. A local came along in a pickup. I expected him to just ford the
 flood. He just watched and walked towards my car. I got out and walked
 towards him. He told me to take Natural Chimney Road to get to rt 42. I
 thanked him profusely and turned around and went to Natural Chimney Road.  As i looked to my left i saw a the river raging and i saw other bridges
 overrun with high water. Natural Chimney had a much higher bridge over
 the river. At this point the landscape was beautiful, green and hilly.
 There were rainbows all around. When the rain did not come back rainbows
 would follow me all the way up from the headwaters of the S Shenandoah
 River to the Junction of the North and South Shenandoah River near RT 66.

 With my partners help in navigating i found my way back to 42 and then
 saw a sign for rt 11. I took that road. When i got to 11 i saw rt 81 and
 i saw a gas station a few hundred yards to the South. I turned South and
 went to the gas station. I filled up the car, got myself a big cup of hot
 coffee, a couple of cookies and a bag of chicken jerky. As i ate and
 drank on Rt 81 i felt a lot better. The warmth in the car helped. The
 bottoms of my feet stung from being in cold water and i did not know if
 they were blistered or if i just had a very mild case of trench foot.

 On the way back to 66 i saw the Southern Massanuttens, Bird Knob which i
 have run over in the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 (MMT) Training run
 #3. I saw the lovely Kerns Mountain which i ran over in the same run. I
 past the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds where the Old Dominion 100 mile
 run will start in June. I noted the proximity of the various hotels and
 motels the the fairgrounds. Woodstock VA where the fairgrounds are
 located is just a few miles South of where Rt 66 intersects rt 81.

 When i got on Rt 81 the weather was not so bad. There was one of the
 rainbows that had followed me all the way up 81. This was not to last. As
 i drove on i saw a ridge beautifully draped in white clouds. It was not a
 high ridge but it was just enough of a ridge to trigger condensation.
 Soon there was a bit of rain on the windshield. Then i saw a bright flash
 off in the distance like a flashbulb going off. It startled me a bit. As
 i got closer to that area. It started to rain more and more and lightning
 light up the sky. Sometimes there were enormous bolts going sideways
 across the sky. While the show was amazing the drive began to be an
 ordeal. The rain seemed to go on and on and i had to slow down a lot to
 keep from hydroplaning. Finally when it let up just a little i called
 Laura. She put in an order for Kabobs from our favorite Kabob house. She
 asked for her regular, veggie kabobs. I would have fish kabob instead of
 chicken because i had already had chicken that day. The short drive from
 Manassas to Herndon seemed to take forever because of the weather but
 really according to the clock, it was not that much time.

 When i got to the Kabob house there was the usual short wait while they
 cooked the food. I ordered us homemade salted yogurt drinks too. The
 kabobs came quickly but i had to wait a bit more because they forgot to
 make the drinks. After a wait that was very well worth it i left the
 restaurant with my order. Home is a couple blocks away. When i got home i
 gave my partner the food and quickly stripped of the sopping wet clothing
 and got into a hot bath. No blisters, just feet white and slightly
 burning from soaking in cold water. Nothing that dryness and some coconut
 oil wont fix.

 Getting into my nice dry nightgown never felt better and dinner never
tasted better !!!

It was a good day on a sweet trail but it was an adventure too.

The Wild Oak Trail Pix