Spring Break Pt. 1

As most of the kids at my school were heading to the airport for the Bahamas and Jamaica, myself and two buddies from the rugby team were double-checking all of our gear for the hiking trip into Shenandoah National Park. After a fair amount of research we decided on doing a 20-mile loop called Furnace Mt. Trail. That was the plan, originally.

We meet at my house at 8 the next morning, load up everything in my truck and hit the road. We're excited to finally be doing it instead of talking about it. About an hour into the two and a half hour drive I realize I forgot my jacket. When you are hiking in the winter in the mountains, that is one of the worst things to forget. Somehow, I did it.

I wasn't about to turn back, I'll figure something out I said. We pull onto the trailhead running alongside Madison Run, a beautiful Virginia brookie stream. I could tell the water was a little low, but that was no big deal. The real fishing was supposed to start when we got to Paine Run on the second day. We head up the gravel trail and look for our 'pull off'. We see a cut trail and decide to take it. Five hours later after bushwacking through thorns and crossing Madison about 8 times, we decide to call it a night. We'll just head due South and hit the trail tomorrow.