The lowest price that we paid so far. This was in West Virginia.

This was our last marathon driving day until we return home around Thanksgiving. We had 258 miles of mountain roads to traverse before reaching our first base camp in the Shenandoah National Park. There isn’t a straight shot from Ryerson State Park Campground to Big Meadows National Campground in Shenandoah. I forgot to download a google map for this area for offline mapping and there was ZERO signal at Ryerson and the surrounding area. So, we just found a road running east and hoped for the best. As we topped one mountain, a signal kicked in and google laid out a brutal but scenic route of back roads through tiny mountain towns. At one gas station with a strong cell signal, I downloaded the map I needed.

Starting in Pennsylvania, we passed through West Virginia, Maryland, then back through West Virginia, and finally Virginia. The gas prices kept getting lower along the way. The price went from $3.69 to $3.27 over the course of the day. Gas mileage on these roller coaster roads sunk to 12 mpg. 

The lush green rugged mountain vistas were gorgeous, but many of the mountain towns and villages were sadly depressed. It reminded me of the Ozarks. The mountain men were stereotypically bearded and blue-jeaned working men. All that I encountered, mostly at gas stations, were very friendly and called me “buddy” as they opened doors for me.

Skyline Drive, a National Parkway, runs north-south along the top ridge of the mountains through Shenandoah National Park. It is basically the northernmost extension of the famous Blue Ridge National Parkway. These roads are superb. They have very limited access. Skyline Drive spans a good 100 miles and only has four access points. There is no development, save the occasional overlook, hiking trailhead, and campground. It does cost a hefty $30 to access the road, however, that may be good for a 7-day pass. I didn’t pay much attention to the fees because our national senior discount card got us in for free.

Even with the overcast, the view along Skyline Drive is impressive.

Big Meadows is one of a half-dozen National campgrounds along Skyline Drive. It is right in the middle of the 100-mile Skyline run. It is also the main campground, complete with a visitors center, a big 1930’s lodge, and many rustic log cabins to rent. I didn’t know this when I made our reservations, I just went for the campground in the middle of the park. The campground is nicely laid out but primitive. The pads for RVs and trailers are tiny, preventing the big boys from setting up. The campground was about half full and we saw many cute European-style small RVs.  

We also saw many dinky tents that I swear wouldn’t accommodate my small 5’8” frame. The weather deteriorated rapidly just after we set up. The temperature sunk to 40º as a dense misty cloud accompanied by gale-force winds rolled in. I wouldn’t want to be in those tents tonight. We turned on our Alde furnace. V-Jer quickly became a warm glowing refuge.

The ceiling began to descend as soon as we set up at Big Meadows National Campground.

It was 2 pm when we were fully set up. The visibility plummeted to 6” in front of our noses. It wasn’t worth driving along Skyline, so we bundled up and explored Big Meadows. The bathrooms and showers were heated. That’s a plus. The lodge, about a mile from our campsite is really charming. It sports a bar, restaurant, and a chalet-style great-room with WiFi. The overlook from the great-room promises to be awesome once the fog lifts. We are at 3,500’, the highest campground in the park.

The park lodge, built by the CCC back in the 1930s, is a grand old building.

Views from the balcony deck of the lodge as the mist thickened.

We hiked another mile to the visitors center. It houses a nice little museum that told the story of the Park’s origins. Shenandoah was controversial. In the 1920s, people in the East were jealous of the great new Western Parks, like Yellowstone and Yosemite. How to carve out a section of land in the populated East was the stumbling block. The Shenandoah mountain ridge was identified as a possibility. That meant buying up many farms and moving people that didn’t want to be moved. The Supreme Court allowed the federal government to condemn all the land needed, allowing the forced displacement of the last few land owners holding out. It took years to gather the land. The CCC, during the Depression, built the Park’s infrastructure. We owe a lot to all the people of the CCC. They left a great legacy of public lands, trails, roads, camps, and park structures.

The 1-mile hike from the lodge to the visitors center was colorful even in a drab atmosphere.

The deer are as tame as in the St. Germain subdivision back in Wisconsin, but they certainly are not as well fed. Look at those ribs showing on this poor guy.

A poster at the visitors center says it all, “An Eastern Park in the Western Tradition.”

An example of the photos of the Park in the museum at the visitors center.

A unique display in the museum. Nice car!

The hike back to camp was a challenge. The cloud enveloping us had thickened and gotten much wetter. We couldn’t locate the path so we had to follow the road, dodging the occasional car that surely could not see us.

Defying the howling cold wet wind in toasty V-Jer was satisfying in its own right. I guess we didn’t avoid the remnants of Hurricane Ian after all.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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