Corbin Cabin Camping

Corbin Cabin

In the wee hours of the morning on June 4th we hopped a plane to the U.S. for our first R&R since moving to Cairo. We had big plans. After a year and a half of desert and dry heat we were cabin bound! The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club maintains a group of cabins in the Mid Atlantic region and we had reserved Corbin Cabin, named after George Corbin who built it and raised his family in the woods of what is now Shenandoah National park.

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A stream ran along side the cabin, actually I believe it is technically a river, where we drew our water for cooking, drinking and bathing. We were looking forward to green trees, trail running and creek crossings. We found all of that, and a whole lot more. We arrived to a cabin that appeared not to have been used in over a year complete with cobwebs & spiders on every window, a swarm of bees living under the eaves of the roof and a rattle snake that had taken up residence in the chimney. We checked the log books to see when the cabin had last been occupied and were surprised to find that a family had left that very morning! What's more, entry after entry in the log book gushed about how fabulous their stay had been. I began to feel inept as a camper.

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Attic sleeping loft

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Main living area (with flash on)

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Main living area with flash off--in the middle of the day

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Kitchen

We are outdoorsy folks, and I'm not just saying that because we shop at Backcountry.com and wear North Face outer wear. Our honeymoon was 10 days of back country camping in Glacier National Park and our home leave between Georgia and Egypt included a 5 week cross country trip during which we camped in a tiny 2 person backpacking tent at National and State Parks along our route. We have some trail cred, just sayin'.

One of the most interesting things about this cabin, however, is that it was once a families home. The Corbin family has quite a bit of history in the area and Seth came across a binder of old photos and newspaper articles from the time when Skyline Drive was being constructed as well as a book of stories about the mountain people who once populated this forest. It was truly interesting to be living inside of this history for one week.

Another cool thing about the cabin was the number of brightly colored butterflies who hung around just off the front porch. When we would come back from a run or hike and put our sneakers out on a large rock to dry a few of these butterflies would inevitable use them for a perch.


This little guy is nearly camouflaged on my sneaker

Due to the dimness of the cabin's interior and the extremely high temperatures we spent most of our time outside, suing the cabin mostly for a place to cook, store our gear and eat away from (most of the) bugs. We spent the first night in the bunk room, but after that we snoozed in our hammocks suspended between the trees along side the river.

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Bunk room

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Sleeping hammocks



Zipped in to these hammocks was the most comfortable place to be. Swinging under tree canopy with the breeze moving above and below we were cool and comfortable. The last night we were there a thunder and lightning storm past of the Blue Ridge Mountains and we were treated to a spectacular display in the night sky all while remaining dry thanks to the canopy and a favorable wind. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life.


Unfortunately, while statuesque, the deer were way to used to humans

Old Rag Mountain

On our second full day at the cabin we decided to hike a well known mountain in the area that neither of us had ever climbed before. As Seth was training for a 40 mile trail race in West Virginia he decided to run the 10 mile loop to Old Rag, while I drove on ahead and met him in the parking area. It was a scorcher. The temperature ended up being just north of 100 F that day. After arriving at the parking lot soaked with sweat (he literally rang out his socks and shirt) Seth refilled the bladder in his pack and we set out for a 9 mile circuit hike, which the park literature predicted would take us a bit longer than 6 hours.

We scoffed at the trail description of "strenuous hike" and "boulder scramble" as we made great time up the trail. That is, until we were within 1,000 ft. of the summit. The boulders began with large slabs that we could easily hop up on and across, but quickly became narrow passages between huge rocks that we had to hoist ourselves up out of and down in to. Following a series of blue arrows across an otherwise confusing jumble of boulders we picked our way slowly across several false summits only to realize that we were not there yet.


From atop one of the "false summits" D'Oh!

The heat continued and we began to conserve our water. We passed several groups who had also under estimated this climb and the heat with empty water bottles in hand and we realized that we were at least in better shape than some. We made it to the top and didn't stop for a photo. It was too hot and we were too tired. The trail began to descend and immediately became cooler and easier. We made it back to the car in 4 hours.

Luray Caverns

The next was forcast to be more of the same high temps. Seth had one of his usual strokes of genius and suggested we head for the much cooler underground world of Luray Caverns. Of course, this would mean a hot and sweaty hike out from the cabin to the car with a whopping 1,000ft. elevation gain over 1.5 miles, but it was worth it. Luray Caverns is one of the natural wonders that we have lived near for year and would probably never make the trip out to see unless, that is, we were living in a bee/snake/mouse infested cabin in the woods on a 100 F day.


Underground lake


Wishing well-the water is greenish blue from the copper in the pennies



All in all it was a truly memorable trip. We decided to cut it short by a few days and return to Arlington for showers, air conditioning and window screens. In the future I think we will save our cabin camping for the months when night time brings frost.