Venturing Into the Unknown: AP Staff Writer, Birdie Hawkins, Meets the Appalachian Trail for the First Time

In the past year, backpacking has become a hobby of mine that I have grown to enjoy immensely, for several reasons. Backpacking is a great outlet for me to get exercise, relax my mind, spend time with friends, and immerse myself in nature. But what I love most about going backpacking, is reaching your sought out destinations and enjoying the adventures that ensue along the way.

In my opinion, when you go backpacking, you want to make sure you've brought along good company. For my most recent trip, that included my best and funniest friends I have met in the Davis College, here at WVU.

Wildlife and Fisheries major, Jordan Roof, has been my ultimate home-girl (pun intended) since freshman year, when we met on our way to my first Ultimate Frisbee practice. I was so excited for her to join in the fun because it would be her first time backpacking. Funny-man CJ Peterson and I met last year while on our Adventure Patagonia trip. When he mentioned he would be able to join us, my excitement for the trip skyrocketed; it would be the first time we'd be backpacking together since our five day trek in Chile. Grant Stinson and I became good friends this summer as we completed our Wilderness First Responder certification for our Recreation, Parks and Tourism major (RPTR), and he has accompanied me on several of my adventurous outings this past semester.

L-R: Jordan, Ryan, Birdie, Grant, CJ

As you may be able to discern from their descriptions, this trip was bound to be something special. In addition to my fabulous hiking ensemble, I had been stoked to start the weekend because it was my first time hiking a section on the Appalachian Trail. According to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), “The Appalachian Trail is one of the longest continuously marked footpaths of the world.” Commonly referred to as the A.T., "the Trail goes through fourteen states along the crests and valleys of the Appalachian mountain range from the southern terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia, to the Trail's northern terminus at Katahdin, Maine." Many people enjoy the scenic trail for a variety of time durations, including a single day, weeks, or months. Because it is so long, the trail is noted by different sections. Hundreds of access points along the trail make it a popular destination for day-hikers. “Section-hikers” (like me) discontinuously hike different sections, piecing the entire trail together over years. The greatest accomplishment is that of a “thru-hiker” who continuously hikes the entire 2,180 miles. Only 1 in 4 who attempt to thru-hike successfully complete their journey (Appalachian Trail Conservancy).

Before we set out to drive to Virginia, Jordan and I went to pick up the gear we reserved from the ORC and had her fitted for a backpack. Brendan Powell, a friend who also happens to be one of those skilled individuals to have successfully thru-hiked the entire AT, helped us organize our gear and sent us off with well wishes, only adding to our excitement as we set off to begin our adventure. It was from here on, that neither Jordan or I stopped smiling.

Traveling from Morgantown to Winchester, VA, to pick up CJ, took a bit of time, and after pulling what seemed like 20 U turns, we finally reached the parking lot where we met Ryan Murray, Grant’s best friend, and fellow Adventure counselor from Camp Bethel. From the stories Grant had told me, which usually resulted in a nice abdomen workout from laughing so hard, I was ready to finally meet the infamous Ryan. His introduction was far from disappointing, as I watched him sneak his hand through the crack of Grant’s car window and shake CJ by his shirt collar to formally introduce himself.

The energy among the 5 of us was nearly palpable as we all laughed and used the car headlights to finish packing our packs. With our headlamps on and ready to go, we faced our first challenge: A four way intersection that lead into the upward sloping trail junction of Snickers Gap. Believe me, I am sad I did not get a picture of that moment; but I don’t think I’ll ever forget the adrenaline and laughter as we all barbarously scurried across the pavement at the first clear opportunity.

This is how I met my first white blaze, and I will never, ever, forget it.

Our weekend trip was filled with first-time experiences for me, and everything was a first for Jordan. She barely knew the guys coming into the trip, and I couldn't have picked a better friend to join me in the woods. Being November, the sun sets by 6 o’clock, so by the time we hit the trail, headlamps were required. It was my first time night-hiking on an unfamiliar terrain. CJ had previously hiked this section before, and Grant and Ryan have led numerous backpacking trips on the AT, so they were all familiar with the signage and had a good understanding of our route and mileage.

There is a great deal of logistical planning involved with backpacking, and this was my first trip I was not involved with any of it. Grant and Ryan offered to do all of the preliminary work because I had taken the initiative to plan and execute our last backpacking trip. It was a refreshingly nice gesture, but the days leading up to leaving Morgantown left me anxious as I had to challenge myself to not take control and know all of the answers.  

Ideally, the goal for the weekend was to hike a scenic and leisurely route along the AT. 

…As you may have guessed, that’s not exactly what happened.

Breakfast on Saturday morning was the launch of all head shakes, along with the smiles and laughs that accompanied them for the remainder of the weekend. Ryan, I figured out, is Grant’s logistical right hand man, and together they picked the section of trail because of the close location, low elevation, and reasonable mileage. The Appalachian Trail has a lot of “data,” which many hikers use, but that data is not always accompanied by a contour map. On his way to meet us, Ryan called his former Boy Scout leader and coach, Rob Lamar, an active member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Conservancy, who told him:

“Ooh, you’re hiking ‘The Roller Coaster.’”

Yes, I said, The Roller Coaster.

I kid you not, we ascended and descended six or seven mountains on Saturday. Continuously going  UP UP UP then DOWN DOWN DOWN.  [By the way, the sign in the picture reads: HIKER NOTICE! WARNING!! YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER THE ROLLER COASTER!!] If it weren't for the comedy troupe of friends I had hiking with me, I would not have been such a happy camper, or laughed as hard as I did when we discovered the "WARNING" sign.

But thankfully, I did have my friends, and found the challenge refreshing. After each mountain we'd summit, we’d hope that there would not be a next one--that we finally reached camp. Finding the strength to muscle forward, even when it gets tough and there is another mountain to go, for me, is the most rewarding part of backpacking. Fifteen miles of mild trail would have been fun, but fifteen miles of busting your butt and sweating in the cool November air—now that is an adventure. 

The second night we found ourselves alone at the campsite with an open shelter. The Appalachian Trail is supported by more than 250 three-sided shelters, which offer weather protection and other amenities, for hikers. I had never seen a shelter before, and prior to this trip, I had only camped in tents. Staying in the shelter was a really unique experience. Most backcountry campgrounds I have been exposed to are comprised of a cleared area within a wooded forest, and usually have an established fire pit.

When we finally reached the shelter after hiking all day, I felt like I arrived at a 5-star backcountry resort. There was an empty shelter with enough room for all of us, hanging posts for our packs, a large fire pit, separate picnic table and covered awning, a latrine, bear bag post, and signs for a nearby water source. I was blown away.

To make it all the better, shelters usually have a log book, a book where thru-hikers can note suggested maintenance improvements, comment on what they enjoyed about the location, or just write funny stories and doodle about their time on the trail.

As a writer, and fascinated reader, discovering the log book was one of my most memorable experiences on our weekend trip. The book was just freshly replaced, and my friends encouraged me to take it upon myself to write an entry for our group. My very first AT entry is adorned on the first page of the Sam Moore Shelter’s log book, where it will remain until its pages are completely filled up. To me, that is THE COOLEST THING.

Sunday morning we started on the trail bright and early, wanting to make the meet time for our shuttle, Rob Lamar, Ryan’s good friend. We stopped for lunch and explored an old cabin, which was both fascinating and beautiful. We met Rob at the trailhead of Ashby Gap when we finished. He animatedly greeted us, and told us great stories on the way back to where we parked our cars. We decided to grab lunch at the nearby Berry Ville Grille, where we concluded our great laughs and shared stories.

My weekend on the Appalachian Trail was unlike any other backpacking trip I have been on, but each adventure is inherently unique. It was hard to leave my friends as we all traveled in different directions to go home for Thanksgiving. It seemed as if all the fun had just begun, and as quickly as the weekend started, it came to an end. I am looking forward to my next adventure on the Appalachian Trail, and maybe if I’m lucky, all the amazing people who accompanied this great adventure, will join me again.

Are you interested in embarking on a similar adventure or styling one that fits to your liking!?
Grab your friends, or meet new ones through the Outdoor Adventure Club, and head to the Outdoor Recreation Center(ORC), located inside the WVU Student Recreation Center. The ORC is filled with just about any gear you would need, along with knowledgeable staff members, who can assist you in planning and learning how to use any of the rental equipment you may want or need. It's that easy!

"It's a big world out there. GO EXPLORE!"

Happy Trails to all!

-Birdie Hawkins

Paris and Brian's Great Adventure!

Recently, I had the pleasure of hanging out in South Park and interviewing two seriously awesome and hilarious friends, Brian Chang and Paris Winfrey, about their twenty-five day journey to Nepal to go visit this beast, the Annapurna, via the Annapurna Circuit.

 

Not a tiny mountain range.

 

You know when you have a conversation with someone and before you know it, two hours have gone by? That’s exactly how I can describe my time with Brian and Paris.  They answered the zillions of questions I had for them, and also kept me on my toes by constantly cracking jokes and bantering back and forth. Their laughter was contagious! Brian and I just met, but quickly bonded over our mutual love of musical theatre, traveling Europe, and red pandas. He’s also an amazing photographer – I am beyond excited to see his photos of Nepal. Paris and I have known each other since we were freshmen. We lived in the same residence hall and trained to be Adventure WV leaders during Spring 2011. Nowadays, our apartments are a thirty second walk from each other. He began our meeting by snatching my microphone and trying to sing the Star Spangled Banner into it. I’m glad that our friendship hasn’t changed much over the last four years.

Paris is studying business and economics at West Virginia University, and Brian works for the university. Although Brian is actually now Paris’ advisor (we teased Brian a lot about how he will hopefully write Paris a really great letter of recommendation after this trip), the two first met through Adventure WV. Brian was volunteering as an academic advisor on the first-ever Explore trip for Business and Economics students in 2011, and Paris was a leader on the trip. When I asked about how they met, Paris joked that it was “love at first sight.” I think anyone who meets these two buddies on their journey will find them as entertaining and intriguing as I do!

Read on to learn more about their travel plans for Nepal, what they think yaks look like, and what Paris and Brian are hoping to take away from the trip.

This photo was taken on Paris and Brian's first international adventure together! They did plenty of cool things on the Adventure WV New Zealand trip, including eating this ginormous plate of seafood.

 

O: Tell me about the trip that you are doing.

P: We fly out of Pittsburgh International on the first of July, and we will be landing in Kathmandu on the third of July. Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. From there, we’re going to be taking a bus or a plane, we haven’t decided yet. We were advised to fly. We heard it’s less sketchy than the bus ride.

B: It’s only two hours away, but the bus ride takes six hours.

P: [The bus ride takes] six to eight hours because of traffic and road conditions. From Kathmandu we’re going to be flying east to Pokhara. Pokhara is the base camp for the Annapurna, so from Pokhara, you can walk to the trailhead of the Annapurna and then hike from there…the [Annapurna Circuit] trek takes anywhere from fourteen to twenty days.

B: It’s July 1^st to the 25^th, so we’re going to try to have some leeway between.

 
This is a map of the Annapurna Circuit, the trail Paris and Brian plan to take. 

P: We have like four days to mess around with here and there. Once we get to Pokhara, we’re going to hang out there for a little bit…and then hit the trail. We’ll be trekking through the rainforest for probably the first six days. Once we get to Manang…that’s where we start to break the tree line and get into alpine stuff.  So, the leeches will be gone by then, hopefully. [Laughs] The way that the trek is laid out is there are villages every three hours on the trail, so you could stop in a city and just hang out for a day. We’ll be in fairly low elevation up until we get to that checkpoint before The Pass, and then once we get to that point, that’s a good place to acclimate for a day. There are some museums. After a day there, The Pass is like 18,000 feet at the highest point, so you camp out, and then head back down. There are only a couple days where we’ll be at super high altitudes. On the way down, one thing that we read about was that the place is becoming developed. They’re turning the trail into roads from both sides, and are going to eventually connect them. It’s controversial locally because they benefit from the commerce and ability to trade easily, but also the biggest part of their economy is tourism, and people are shying away from that area, to the Annapurna especially, because it’s becoming developed. Purist backpackers don’t want that experience. From what I hear, it’s kind of an unpleasant experience once you get past The Pass and you get closer to the end of the trek. It turns into a dirt road and there are Jeeps flying by, dust, and a bunch of stuff in the air.

O: How long would you have to deal with that?

P: I’m not exactly sure. I know the road is getting longer and longer each year. So, hopefully we don’t get there and it’s all road. [Laughs] So, we get to the road, back to Pokhara, chill in Pokhara, go to Kathmandu, get our tattoos, catch a plane, gone.

O: So that’s the whole trip?

P: Pretty much, yeah. Maybe a couple days in Istanbul. It’s one of our stops on the way over there. I’ve never been to an Islamic country. It’d be cool.

O: Are you guys both getting tattoos while you’re there?

B: I don’t have any! ...I think I’m more worried about cleanliness than anything. We did do some research on it though.

P: We checked into it. The studio is called Mohan’s. It’s one of the best in Nepal; everyone recommends it, so we’ll check up with them and probably see. I’ve contacted him over Facebook already, and he asked for designs, but I don’t have any idea of what I want yet. I’m just going to tell him, “Hey, we’re going to go on this trek for twenty days. When I come back, I’ll have this idea of what I want.”

B: Yeah, I want to live through it first and figure it out.

O: And, are there really leeches? What other kinds of crazy things did you hear about?

P: Japanese encephalitis! [Laughs]

B: That was on the whole list of things to get vaccinated for. The leeches are the big thing that we keep reading about.

P: They’re everywhere.

B: Apparently.

O: Is there any way to safeguard against that?

P: Leech check. Every five seconds. [Laughs] You can’t even feel them because they have antiseptic [when they bite you]. So that’s probably going to be the biggest hurdle. Also, the altitude is something we’ve been advised about. Having good cardiovascular fitness preemptively is good just because your body is able to adapt quickly, but if you’re in decent shape you could be just as good at acclimating as the next person. So it’s going to be a trial by error thing when we get there to see how we acclimate to the altitude.

B: Alice [Vernon, a friend of Adventure WV’s Director, Greg Corio, who has traveled Nepal] said if we get snappy at each other that’s when we know [we’re having problems with the altitude]!

O: What inspired you to do this trip?

B: It was a joke. [Laughs]

P: Well, after [we went on Adventure WV] New Zealand, we were so like “International travel! Oh my gosh! Let’s do it!!” And then we kept thinking of awesome places that we should go.

B: Something more epic. Something different. We talked about Machu Picchu in Peru.

P: I think it was you [Brian] who mentioned Nepal. Like, “Dude, I really want to go to Nepal. Look how awesome this is. Look at all these pictures.” All the sudden we were talking about it one day and we were just like, “Let’s do it.”

B: We were joking about Mount Everest and about how much it would take to get trained and certified to climb Mount Everest. We could either choose between the Annapurna Circuit or the Everest Base Camp 1 Circuit. We asked a few people, and they said if you want to see [authentic] Nepal, you want to do the Annapurna. Because, while you could do Everest, anybody who can pay enough can do Everest.

P: It’s definitely a more physical challenge to get to Base Camp 1, but like Brian was saying, the cultural experience is in Annapurna.

O: What other kinds of cultural stuff have you heard about?

P: They’re a completely eastern culture compared to us. They’re very minimalist – from my interpretation, obviously… but, these people in these mountain villages, they’re so far away from everybody. Pokhara is a city, and Kathmandu is massive, but it’ll take us twelve days to get to Manang [from Pokhara]. These people in Manang, if they want stuff, they have to walk this trail to get back to Pokhara to get anything. It’s just the most rural of rural.

B: I’ve traveled around a lot, but this is the first third world country I’m ever going to do. So that’s going to be different.

P: Yup. And one thing I was really curious about was their main, like, stuff you would go to Annapurna to buy for your friends. Like what they do, what they make well, what their crafts are. Nepalese rugs are very sought after. Buddhist prayer rugs are super expensive, even with the exchange rate they’re still like $1000. And they have really awesome leather, I guess. They have yak leather.

O: Yaks? I don’t even know what a yak looks like. I know it’s a beast…like a hairy cow.

P: Isn’t it like a llama, but with horns?

B: It’s more cow-ish. We joked about how hard it would be to bring a yak back through customs.

 

Dr. Seuss was almost spot on.

P: Dude, definitely. If I see a red panda on the way…

B: Oh, red pandas!  They’re from that area. And I am obsessed with red pandas.

P: I really think you should get a red panda tattoo. Just sayin’.

B: I’ve seen one before, I’m not sure that I want one. [Everyone laughs.]

O: What are the biggest things you want to take away from the journey?

B: A tattoo is definitely one thing I’d like to bring back. And, this is something that Forrest [Schwartz, Adventure WV’s former Assistant Director] said in New Zealand. “Nothing really means anything until you’re hurting after a hike.”

P: You can’t get anything unless you give something to the trip.

B: Any of these trips that I’ve done with Patagonia, with New Zealand - they were all life-changing in a different way. I think life is finding more about yourself every single time. There’s no one trip where you’re going to figure it out… I am excited for the unknown.

P: Any time I leave the routines I’m stuck in and do something completely different, travel, and experience all these new things, the one thing I always take away from an experience like that is a renewal of my soul. I really find myself when I’m in the wild. All the BS goes away and I can focus on what I want to focus on. And, like what Brian was saying, just being tested. Everyone wants to know that they have what it takes.

O: You realize you can do a lot more than you thought.

P: One word of advice that I got from one of my friends is that a lot of people go to Nepal and the reasons that they get hurt or don’t finish their trek is that they go to conquer it, to beat it, and the one thing he said to me was “Respect the Mountain.” You have to respect where you’re at, and understand that whatever the mountain gives to you, you have to deal with. I think one thing too, is being able to connect with nature again, as corny as that is. As the days go on, you’re slowly more aware and centered… I hope that this is a good personal time.

B: Yeah, and every day we talk, and we’re both struggling with our own things in our lives, and we’re so excited to get out there and get re-centered.

P: Being the only two people who speak English in our immediate distance, I think we’ll learn a lot about each other.

B: And aside from each other, we’ll learn a lot about ourselves in our own introspective way.

***

Follow Brian and Paris’ journey on their blog at ru5hh0ur.tumblr.com.

Wish them good luck on their travels today (feel free to leave something below in the comments)!

Oh, and expect a follow up interview upon their return on July 25th! These two are way too much fun for me to only interview once.

Namaste :)

Olivia

Adventure WV Babies, Weddings, and Graduations! Congratulations!

There are a lot of people who deserve a "Congratulations!" for achieving some special life milestones recently!

Welcome to the world, Elsie Marie!

1) Adventure WV's Associate Director, Nathan Harlan, 

and his family just welcomed a new baby, Elsie Marie Harlan, 

into his family the morning of May 28th at 6am! 

Congratulations to the Harlans!

2) Two of our past Adventure WV Odyssey Leaders, Jenna Hardy and Glenn Jansen, got married two weekends ago, on May 24th! They met while leading for Adventure WV in 2010. Isn't that cute? Look at them back in the day:

          Odyssey Leaders from L to R: Jenna, Leeanne, Glenn, and Pat.  All of them look completely stylish in Tye Die. 

             

And here they are on The Big Day!

Click here to see a video of their wedding festivities!

Finally, Adventure WV wants to congratulate everyone who has graduated from West Virginia University this year! We're proud of every single one of you.

We specifically want to recognize our Adventure WV staff members who have recently completed their degrees. Here we go!

Master's Degree Graduates

Angie Salerno - Master of Arts in Counseling

Jenna (Hardy) Jansen - Masters of Public Health

Audrey Metzger - Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology

                           



(Right: Audrey and WVU President, Gordon Gee!)















Leah Skrypek - Master of Secondary Education/Foreign Language (German)

Bachelor's Degree Graduates


Taylor Cope - Multidisciplinary Studies

(Right: Taylor and Cassidy, one of our awesome Explore leaders!)










Tess Stansbury - Dual Degrees in International Studies and Spanish

Tori Rothenhoefer - Nursing

Liz Minella - Athletic Training

Matt Walker - Dual Degrees in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism and English

Ian Murray - Chemistry with a minor in History

Nicky Linder - Dual Degrees in Television Journalism and Political Science with a Concentration in International Relations

Andrew Sealy - Television Journalism

Lane Horter - Public Relations

Conner Gould - Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology

Tom Grady - Sport and Exercise Psychology

Right: That's Tom and another Adventure WV staff member, Pat, during a leader spring break trip to Utah in 2011. 




Henry Liebermann - Forest Resources Management

Our Fall 2013 Graduates

Sierra O'Brien - Nursing

Natalie Snyder - Print Journalism with a Minor in Political Science

Hannah Vogt - Animal and Nutritional Sciences

Dan Sweeney - Television Journalism

What a bunch of smartypants, huh? We're really proud, and can't wait to see these Mountaineers (and all of our 2013-2014 graduates) go take on the world! Keep up the great work.

Life milestones are a special thing. Whether it be a wedding, baby, college graduation, high school graduation, dream trip, new job, new pet, or something else entirely, I think it's really important to recognize those big, life-changing events. Congratulations, everyone!

Olivia :)