Hey Pointers! How were your weekend trips?

This adventure blogger is spending Monday morning swallowing copious amounts of Vitamin Advil following a two-day, 20-mile journey into the furthest reaches of Shenandoah National Park in northern Virginia. These leg joints and muscles seem to absorb the physical demands of backpacking more and more the older I get, and this trip with its scenic rewards seemed to grind pretty hard. In summary – waking up this morning turned out to be a difficult painful endeavor.

And it seems today more than in years past, extra work awaits during the post-hike aftermath. Cleaning the gear and washing the clothes has always been part of the chores, but as we become more sophisticated and in touch through technology, the post-hike work can seem as stressful as an actual job. There are photos to download, blog posts to write, Twitter status updates to compose, GPS waypoints and tracks to manage … What would Earl Shaffer think about it all?

Someone just give me a relaxing cup of hot coffee. And another pill of Vitamin Advil.

Ah, well. If we didn’t love it, we wouldn’t do it, right? Check back today and later in the week for trip reports and information about the less-visited portions of Shenandoah. We earned our turkey dinner for certain. Tales of harrowing adventure, tales of chasing ghosts, tales of following ferocious bears, exciting gear reviews …

And I’m announcing this week when the new Compass Points blog will be launched. Friend Compass Points at Facebook to be among the first to find out, and if you become our Facebook friend, you’ll see it first, too. Looking great so far.

See you back here later today.