Camping Kennedy Peak

Last weekend, on an unseasonably warm February day, we hiked up Kennedy Peak. We started in weather warm enough for single-layer clothing, and woke up the next day to snow covered mountains.

We traveled up from the lower parking lot off of Rte 675 (also used for access to Stephen’s Trail). We were under the impression, due to some signage we had seen the previous time, that we  were no longer permitted to park along the road at the original trailhead. (This signage has since been removed as of 2/13/2022 so we made a bit more of an effort than we otherwise needed to, but that’s okay)

The incline on the Massanutten trail over the first mile is steep by comparison to the rest of the trail and, while I’m always up for a challenge, keeping pack weight down to a “minimum” was a good idea.

I carried just the essentials. A tent, baby food, a headlamp, extra layers, my sleeping pad, and water. (And I guess the baby counts as an “essential item” right?)

Had I soloed this hike – I would have had to front-carry Gohan. There was zero room left for any sleeping bag, unless I strapped it to the bottom of the pack. And I would have had to pack an extremely light amount of food for myself.

Phil carried our food (MREs) and the double-mummy bag. Dwight lucked out and carried his own stuff, and an aluminum kettle.

The dogs carried their own bags. Gimli has a blue Outward Hound brand pack (found on Amazon for around $35 new) which is a decent budget pack for someone’s who’s either starting to take their dog hiking or (like us) need to wait to invest in a nicer, more expensive pack like the one Èowyn has from RuffWear (around $80).

As the sun went down, we approached the top. A few minutes later we were setting up camp.

We pitched the tent right in the opening of the fire tower. The downside to this is not being able to stake the fly ( Or maybe I didn’t improvise enough) and this causes a few condensation issues by the time you wake up, but I’ve found it to be worth the experience.

As the night went on, I went to the top of the tower to get some shots of the night sky. I have a small mirrorless Canon camera with a 10-20mm lens that does pretty well with low light, long exposures. The light pollution hits you from both sides onf the mountain (On one side you have the town of Luray, and the other, the town of New Market and I-81). The night sky was so dynamic and beautiful.

Around 9PM snow started to fall as we prepared our MREs. I built the dogs a shelter using a tarp and some spare wood (I used to camp, just me and Eowyn, in the tent together but 3 full sized humans, a baby and two dogs is a little much)

Around midnight the precipitation got a little too heavy to just hang outside so we laid down for the evening. Gohan had fallen asleep already with his last bottle and fruit squeeze and Dwight had passed out pretty quickly as well.

Around 4AM I heard some rustling outside the tent and went to check it out. My shelter for the dogs had fallen under the weight of 3-4 inches of snow (at that time). Èowyn, the husky, would have been fine; that’s her element. But Gimli (AmStaff) was freezing. I lifted their big asses up into the tower/tent area and they snuggled for a bit. Wasn’t long before Gimli was talking in his sleep and Dwight was sleep-talking back. (*Gimli snore, followed by Dwight’s mumbles*)

At 6:30 AM I was ready to see some sunrise action, but judging by my experience two hours prior, I doubted that I would get the opportunity as the sky was still incredibly dense with clouds and fog.

Regardless, I woke up to a spectacular scene, about 4-5 inches of snow-covered-everything, and complete silence.

Sunrise or no sunrise however, the morning views didn’t disappoint. We hung around, ate some breakfast, and enjoyed one another’s company for a few hours.

As we packed up we experienced some absolutely astounding views at camp. And as we made our way down, the clouds started to clear up a bit.

Views to the East towards Luray were increasing surreal as the town below started to become visible again.

Fun fact: Sometimes in an attempt to let the behavior be its own punishment (ie. Packing jeans even when being told to pack something synthetic and not cotton) punishes the person doing the punishing. In this case, the absorption of cotton caused a lot of 11 year old frustration which then caused the tantrums that THEN caused it to take the better part of an eternity to get down. Not that we minded all that much. The more time outside, the better.

For the most part, the way down was easily manageable. We went from about 4-5 inches at the top to about 3-4 at the bottom. Rocks were a little slick but it was a minor obstacle.

It’s truly amazing, how much the trails change appearance with the seasons and weather conditions. When we started the ascent, standing in the forest you would have sworn it was about to shake off the past winter and start blooming. Instead we stood in pure wonderland, silent and clean. Not even your own footsteps could be heard. Nothing to hear but mother earth.

When we got back to the upper lot, much to my family’s dismay, we COULD have cut off a mile (each direction) and a few hundred feet of elevation gain by parking there instead. By that lot, there’s a consistently incredible view of the valley if you detour left a bit. (It requires no hiking but where’s the fun in that?)

Cutting back towards the trail, we began our decent and I passed by a few views I had neglected to notice on the way up. It made me thankful we had taken this way. This part of the Massanutten Trail switches back and forth along a clearing for telephone/electric poles which creates 3 very nice areas to view the snow covered valley.

One mile past the upper lot, we arrived back at the car. The eldest child collapsed. Maybe with gratitude, maybe with irritation. Even to this moment we aren’t sure.

The entire trip was such a great adventure, and even our preteen agreed that “he wished he could have stayed a week” after he had a chance to warm up.