Shenandoah Revealed
A New Guide Program Leads Visitors Deeper Into the Wilds

By Diane Daniel
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Andy Nichols knows that most visitors experience the woods and mountains flanking Skyline Drive in the way its name suggests -- from behind their steering wheels. And that, Nichols said, drives him bonkers.

"We've got to get people out of their cars," he said, gesturing like a preacher on a Sunday morning. Except it was a Monday, and for this sermon, at Skyland Resort, Nichols was reading from Map 10: Appalachian Trail and Other Trails in Shenandoah National Park, Central District.

With the arrival of warm weather, Nichols just might see his prayers answered. He's part of a new Shenandoah program meant to get more park visitors deeper into the woods, for a price.

Aramark, the park's independent lodging and food service concessionaire, is offering Outdoor Adventure Programs, a spring and summer series of guided outdoor adventures ranging from day hikes to overnight backpacking. Nichols and his 13-year-old Maryland company, Teamlink/Shenandoah Mountain Guides, are leading the trips.

They're not cheap. I signed up for one of the Trekking Adventure, which for $344 ($499 for a couple) includes two nights in Skyland's lodge, two lunches, a couple of souvenirs and two five-mile hikes. Subtract the extras, and each hike comes to about $50 a person. Hikes that, yes, most folks could pretty easily do on their own. But would they?

In Nichols's experience, many people won't. They're scared of getting lost or hurt, or they just don't know how or where to start. To some, the Appalachian Trail might as well be Tibet -- foreign, exotic, perhaps treacherous.

"We're here to hold their hands," said Nichols, 49, a retired Navy officer and a wilderness paramedic. "People are afraid. That's one reason they don't get out of their cars."

For folks who like their hand-holding to come without a price tag, park rangers do offer some free guided hikes, for up to two hours covering a maximum of two miles. But don't expect lunch or even personal attention.

Nichols, who radiates enthusiasm for the outdoors, knows his stuff. In briefing me for the adventure, he went over the route in detail, discussed my level of experience and physical condition, and offered me extra layers of clothing, just in case.

"We're going to start here, at the Pinnacles Picnic Area," he said. "You gotta see the apple tree there. The deer stand up and eat the lowest ones." Now there's some local intelligence I wouldn't have known without a guide.

Aramark offers a range of outings in this program, from rock-climbing instruction and backcountry camping to wildflower walks and inn-to-inn rambles. My own pair of day hikes was labeled a "trek" because we were dropped off at Pinnacle by an Aramark driver and then hiked back to Skyland. The difficulty rating of "moderately easy" was right-on for this mostly flat route with a few ups and downs.

Nichols's knowledge was abundant. I learned that the woolly adelgid, a fluid-feeding insect, is killing many of the park's hemlock trees by sucking their sap dry. Nichols, who grew up in Rappahannock County, pointed out scat he guessed was from a coyote or bobcat, and he made sure we stopped talking when a raven flew so close we could hear the wind in its wings. Having someone narrate nature was like springing for the audio tour at the art museum, only better because it came with food and water.

At the top of Little Stony Man peak (elevation 3,215 feet), we stopped for lunch. It was warm, and the views to the west were expansive.

Refortified, we headed up to Stony Man Mountain (4,011 feet). On the way, we ran into a Belgian couple who had gotten turned around. See what can happen without a guide?

By the time we reached Skyland around 4 p.m., we'd climbed 1,000 feet, hiked for about 3 1/2 hours and lollygagged for two.

The next day, my guide was Chad Heddleston, 23, one of Nichols's employees. This time we started five miles south of Skyland Resort, at the Upper Hawksbill parking area. We hoofed it 450 feet up (the trip's single steepest climb) to Hawksbill Summit, at 4,049 feet the highest point in the park.

With a cold front having moved in overnight and the wind howling, we quickly admired the brilliant blue skies and unusually clear views and then hastily descended into the woods. We stopped just below the Pollock Knob overlook, where Heddleston, bless his heart, whipped out a Thermos full of steaming hot chocolate.

By the end of the second hike, I was tired and my legs pleasantly sore. Sure, I could have done the hikes myself, but my two guides were great company, and the nature nuggets they imparted enhanced my time in the woods. For some of the other offerings, qualified guides and instructors are even more important.

Most of the outings are based at Skyland Resort, a roadside hotel run by Aramark. A few of them start nine miles south at Big Meadows Lodge. Unfortunately, as capable and competent as Nichols and his guides are, Aramark still has lots of bugs to work out, starting with the blank looks I got at Skyland's front desk when I said I had arrived for the trekking program. Our morning start was delayed because Aramark had given Nichols and me different meeting times. And when the lunches finally came, the promised hiking map wasn't included.

Yes, a few kinks are expected in any new program, but over two days, Aramark exceeded its quota. Had they offered a "we-don't-know-what-we're-doing-yet" discount, or even an apology, I may have felt more forgiving. (Nichols said the Aramark staff would undergo more program training.)

As for accommodations, my room in the Canyon building, which would have cost about $110 a night separately, was basic and dated. But the sweeping mountain view westward made it priceless.

In the dining room, Aramark is joining the "green" bandwagon by offering some menu selections featuring local fish and organic produce. Those were welcome and far superior to the such breakfast fare as frozen hash browns.

The dining room, with its expanse of glass, offers even more dazzling panoramas. Still, as Nichols will tell you, the best mountain views are from the trails.