Summit by Sunrise, Breakfast at Big Meadows
The Hike from Hell
An E2 Noder Meet of Nietzschean Proportions
An Appalachian Trail Experience along Virginia's Blue Ridge Parkway
Saturday, May 22, 2004

Was mich nicht umbringt macht mich stärker. -- Friedrich Nietzsche

Please join us on Saturday, May 22, 2004, as we summit Hawksbill Mountain, the highest point in the U.S. Shenandoah National Park at 4050 ft.

Nietzsche wrote, "What does not kill me makes me stronger." Do you believe that about yourself? If you do, this philosophy will be put to the test on an otherwise gorgeous weekend as you and your fellow E2ers climb Hawksbill Mountain in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park.

You will climb 700 feet in less than a mile to the summit of Hawksbill Mountain before sunrise, watch as the sun comes up, scamper down the mountain, go on a forced march of 4-5 more miles along the Appalachian Trail through a section having some of the most breathtaking scenery of the Shenandoah Valley imaginable, sit on boulders with nothing below your feet but treetops, and then -- finally! -- sit down to a hearty breakfast at the Big Meadows lodge.

The beautiful Shenandoah National Park (SNP) in Virginia is 90 minutes away from Washington, D.C., and is about 45 minutes away from the University of Virginia.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 200 mile road that runs along the ridgetop of the spectacular Blue Ridge Parkway. To the east is Rappahannock County, a region of rolling hills and farms. To the west is the winding Shenandoah river and green quiltwork of small Virginia farms. The drive is beautiful in the fall and spring months.

The SNP is gorgeous in late spring. Wildflowers cover the high meadows and hillsides. You may see deer, small black bears, fox, chipmunks, and all manner of birds along the trail.

Details. I need details.

Friday, May 21

12:00 p.m. Check in time to your tent campsite at Big Meadows. (see reservations below) Check in at the ranger station. We have tents at the "walk-in" portion of the park. Take one of the tent campsites assigned to us. Drive back and pitch your tent and relax.

5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Dinner. Let's try to have dinner together and get to know each other. We have a cake for Borgette's birthday. Grundoon promises there will be singing. For the more musically challenged (ahem), we will be listening and appreciating.

After dark: A starlight walk through Big Meadows.

Saturday, May 22