We went into the woods for one day, not two. Not a total surprise, since we waited until the last minute to call and all the campgrounds were full.

We picked the 9.4 mile Sugarloaf circuit from our Potomac Appalachian Trail Club guide (Circuit Hikes in Shenandoah National Park, a great little book). It was actually a figure-8 of two loops, the first over Little Hogback and Hogback crests, and the second loop down to Piney Branch.

Five hours later, we were changing into dry clothes in the parking lot. A woman got out of her car and turned to another hiker just coming off the Appalachian Trail. "Excuse me," she asked, "but does that trail go anywhere?" "Yeah, like, Maine and Georgia," would have been my smart alec response, but she didn't ask me.

See some photos from our hike in Shenandoah National Park today.