It was a good hike from Swift Run Gap to Lewis Mountain Campground (about 9 miles). The sun was shining, the trail was relatively easy, and there were several folks making their way to various points north. Gene hiked with me for the first three miles, which was really nice.
I got to Lewis Mountain about 12:30. I knew the drill from having been at Loft Mountain Campground last week—pick out a site, leave something there to claim it as your own, and then register. I found a site I liked with a good tree branch from which to hang my food bag, close to water and to the bathroom. I couldn’t leave without hanging the food so I set out to throw my rope up. The branch was a little high for me, but I was not to be outdone. I threw my rope once, twice, maybe a zillion times. Several times I hit the limb, about 5 times I got the rope over but the rock fell out without bringing the rope down far enough for me to reach. I threw from many different angles and even from on top of the picnic table. This was all to the amusement of the lawn mowing staff having their lunch at a table about 3 sites away. Finally, a kind hiker whom I had met earlier in the morning asked if he could help. One throw and the rope was up. Of course, he was about 2 feet taller than me and surely that must help. I wanted the rope a little farther from the tree trunk so he and I did a sort of “jump rope” swing from either end of the rope. I was walking backwards doing this maneuver, ran into the side of the picnic table and fell all the way to the ground (I’m sure much to the amusement of the lawn mowing staff still having their lunch.) No harm done and my rope was where I wanted it; I was happy.
After I registered and put up my tent it was time for my own lunch. I’m sitting there as content as could be minding my own business when a lady approaches me and asked, “have you been backpacking in this area much?” I could have boasted of my years of experience, but I chose to say simply “no”. She then proceeds to inform me “so I wouldn’t get into trouble” that my food bag is too close to the tree trunk and that the bears that sleep up there at night would get my food. She also pointed out a pole where I could hang my food for the very purpose of keeping it from the bears. None of this is good news to my ears. To my eye, the food bag was in about as good a position as it ever was and it is common knowledge that if a bear wants your food, he can probably get it no matter what. Plus, after all the effort of getting the rope up I really didn’t want to move it. And to think that those lawn mowing guys didn’t even mention to me about the food pole. Anyway, I thanked her and promised to do something about it. During the course of the afternoon, 4 park rangers came by and not one of them gave me a ticket, a citation, or otherwise indicated that my food bag was out of compliance with standard food bag hanging regulations. However, I had promised the lady that I would do something so I decided to make her really happy and put the bag on the pole. When I got the bag up I stopped by her site to ask if I had done it correctly. “Well,” she says, “to be perfectly honest, I’ve never used one before since I always have my car to store my food.” So much for the expert on food bag hanging.
This was to be a 3-day backpacking trip, the last one before leaving the area. However, severe thunderstorms during the wee hours of the morning unnerved everyone camping at Lewis Mountain Campground. High winds and almost continuous lightning and thunder for the better part of 2 hours took its toll on my fun-filled adventure. By 6 o’clock this morning campers and hikers were out of their tents and comparing stories of their overnight experiences. One hiker had spent the night in the men’s room. Weather reports of tornado watches and flood warnings for this morning got me on the phone to Gene requesting rescue from nature’s fury.
With severe weather forecasted for the remainder of the day, I was glad to be returning to the safety of my home on wheels. Two other section hikers also wanted a ride to their car at Rockfish Gap. We were happy to accommodate. We left as some hikers decided to race on up the trail to get as far as possible before the storm let loose again. Others were discussing renting a cabin for the night. As I write this on Wednesday evening just after a very nasty storm, I am happy to be off the trail and in my own living room. The trail will be there another day.
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