We finally made it out to our first trip of the season!
Of course, with the COVID situation, we didn’t take as many springtime trips as we wanted, but luckily we got in one more chilly night before summer took over. We ventured into the woods towards the middle of May, a little trip to celebrate Jon’s birthday!
We took a few days off work, packed up our gear, and headed up to Caledonia State Park!
About Hosack Run Loop and the Quarry Gap Shelter
This 5.2 mile trail loops right off the Appalachian Trail, rated as moderate with a 915 ft elevation gain. It featured a cool shelter along the AT, jumping across little mountain streams, beautiful rhododendron tunnels, and even a rocky staircase!
Along the way, we passed by one of the shelters that line the AT. The Quarry Gap shelter is one of many that houses thru-hikers on their journey from Georgia to Maine. This shelter in particular is maintained by a man named Jim, the “Innkeeper,” who has managed the shelter for over 35 years! He and volunteers from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club keep the shelter tidy and even placed little decorations: a sun dial, a Hogwarts castle, little stone turtles, and yellow duckies.
Complete with a covered sleeping area, a swinging bench, a bear box, and a privy, this shelter makes for a comfortable overnight after a long way up the AT!
Here we met a few thru-hikers. They started the trail back in February, and didn’t want to stop despite the pandemic (I can’t say I blame them). One of them said he hiked the first 30 miles wearing blue jeans!
After chatting with the hikers for a while, we made our way to our campsite. We camped right off of the AT, about a mile through the trail.
These campsites were perfect! Jon and I love hammock camping, but our companions chose sleeping pads. The campsites accommodated both very well thanks to some close trees and a wooden platform.
We also all had cellphone service at this site. I try to stay off of mine when I’m on the trail, but the boys couldn’t resist getting in a few phone games.
We slept through a chilly night; the low dropped to around 34 degrees. Luckily, I slept cozily due to my new underquilt!
The next day, we packed up and hit the rest of the loop. The first half of the hike was a steep climb before making our descent on the second half. There were a bunch of little streams featuring rocky pathways easy enough to walk over, but some were small enough to simply hop to the other side.
Eventually, we made it through the trail and headed home. Overall, a successful first overnight of the season!
What I Learned
I never plan to go cold weather camping again without my underquilt! They say a layer underneath is worth two on top, and when I crawled into bed I warmed up within minutes! The downside is it takes up a lot of bag space; it ended up claiming a little less space than my sleeping bag, leaving me with little room for anything else. Maybe it’s time for a gear upgrade!
I also learned that I need to plan better for trips with big temperature shifts. Although packing heavily kept me comfortable overnight, the extra clothing layers I brought made my hike much more difficult. The temperature quickly rose to the 70’s, forcing me to stop partway through and take off some layers. The challenge was trying to stuff them back into my bag for the remainder of the hike.
Where should we go for our next adventure? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy camping!
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