Appalachian Trail 2026 thru-hike: Day 58-62

5 Days of our Shenandoah River trip! After hearing a lot of negative comments about Shenandoah National Park and being told by ridge runners about the large Norovirus outbreak, we decided to Aqua Blaze the Shenandoah River. While camping within the park, you’re required to sleep within the shelters and can’t tent camp. This is likely the reason for such large spread cases of Norovirus. In any case, we decided to Canoe down the river and ended up paddling a total of around 135 miles from Shenandoah to just outside of Harper’s Ferry. It was really such an amazing experience and a nice change of pace. Though it’s primarily sitting in a canoe it was far from easier than hiking through the park. Paddling uses so many muscles that have gone unused for months and the logistics are so difficult. There are portages around dams, resupplying difficulties, and slim camping sites. We also faced a low water year which had us scraping the bottom of the river often and sometimes needed to fully get out to pull the canoe through. Besides all of those concerns, the river was incredible. We saw beavers, muskrats, deer, bald eagles, blue herons, ospreys, just to name a few animals. It was also a lot of fun in general and having the ability to bring a cooler and eat foods we don’t normally get to camp with was a big plus. I would absolutely recommend kayaking or canoeing the Shenandoah River during your own hike or in general. Shenandoah, VA → Harper’s Ferry, WV Total Miles: ~135 Miles Thanks for watching! Please don’t forget to Like and Subscribe! It will greatly help me to continue making these videos in the future. Drop me a comment and I’ll make sure to respond when I have the ability to do so. #appalachiantrail #thruhike