A Writer on the Mountain

Cover Story | by Laura Emery, Field Editor A Writer on the Mountain

Meet Deirdre Conroy, winner of the Virginia Outdoor Writers Association/ Cooperative Living Collegiate Writing Award.

t’s not easy to describe the wonder “We’re pleased that Deirdre Conroy A sophomore at Virginia Tech, Conroy of standing at the summit of a enjoyed her hiking experience on Old Rag is pursuing a double major in Wildlife mountain, gazing out into the clouds Mountain, and we encourage other Conservation and Literature. With career that wreath its peak. The view is outdoor enthusiasts to explore all that our aspirations of becoming a ﬁeld scientist, majestic, a sea of rippled peaks unfurled park has to offer,” says Claire Comer with Conroy hopes to combine her love of iIn waves across the horizon. the U.S. National Park Service. writing and outdoor recreation through Northern Virginia’s Deirdre Conroy wildlife conservation research and writing has experienced this feeling many times, of grants and research proposals. on multiple mountains. But it was her Conroy is vivacious and full of passion experience on Old Rag Mountain, a for the outdoors. She works part-time for great mass of exposed granite east of Venture Out, a resource center for outdoor the Blue Ridge crest in Virginia’s excursions at Virginia Tech. Her outdoor Shenandoah National Park, that inspired recreational interests include horseback her to transform her wonder into words. riding, kayaking, rock climbing, trail Conroy, 19, is the winner of this running, caving and backpacking. “In O year’s Cooperative Living Collegiate T becoming a caver, I have gained new O H

Undergraduate Writing Award (for best P knowledge about myself and my limits,

Virginia-speciﬁc essay), part of the R and have acquired a new appreciation for E M E

Virginia Outdoor Writers Association’s Virginia,” she says. A

(VOWA) annual writing contest. R The Virginia Outdoor Writers U A Conroy vividly describes her arduous L Association is a coalition of writers, 13-mile hike up Old Rag Mountain in Deirdre Conroy photographers and video/ﬁlm producers her winning essay, “That Old who strive to increase knowledge and Mountain.” Judges selected her essay ‘In becoming a caver, understanding of the outdoors through from among dozens of entries their craft. “The writing was very written by students at Virginia colleges I have gained new enjoyable. It came pretty naturally because and universities. I was just writing about why I enjoy The Old Rag Mountain hike is one of knowledge about myself outdoor recreation so much,” Conroy the most popular hikes in the mid- explains. She expresses appreciation to Atlantic region, with many breathtaking and my limits, and Cooperative Living magazine and VOWA panoramic views and one of the most for the opportunity to share her passion challenging rock scrambles in the have acquired a new with others through her writing. Shenandoah National Park. Old Rag If you’re a high school or college student Mountain soars 3,284 feet above sea appreciation for and would like to enter the 2016-2017 level, and over 100,000 people visit the VOWA writing contest, visit the website at park’s most popular peak each year. Virginia,’ she says. www.vowa.org and click on contests. www.co-opliving.com September 2016 | Cooperative Living | 15 That Old Mountain by Deirdre Conroy

There is a melancholy in the fields of among the boulders. There was a There is a unique peace and the Virginia countryside in the morning, quiet in the woods, a feeling that we stillness earned by an early morning a feeling almost bittersweet in its were up even before the birds. I hike, different from the regular hustle familiar ache. struggled between staring up to the and bustle of the forest by daylight. In As the cover of night inches away, glowing pinpoints of stars in the sky, the rosy dim, we reverted into a the grass changes from an aqua back seeing them as a map of sorts through primitive, natural state of movement. into deep green as the sun burns off the darkened woods, and watching Instead of words, we used body the morning fog. my footing along the technical single- language to communicate twists in It must have been around 4 a.m. track path. the trail. The only thing to break our when we set off, coffee mugs clutched focus was the steady crunch of leather in our palms, trying to slow the early Peaceful boots on the gravel underfoot. October chill from sucking all of the I had thought getting up quite that feeling out of our fingers. The car ride Morning early would be a rough start, but the began sleepily, heads supported by Hike movement in the crisp air had a spaghetti-weak forearms, but gradually feeling of rightness to it. My mind felt we grew more buoyant and excited as sharp, my legs strong, the weight of we flew down empty stretches of my pack nonexistent. We followed highway. We howled into the milky one switchback after another, until my morning sky. heart rapped against my ribcage. Part of me always longs for the We stopped to catch our breath at beauty of twilight to stay, although my a small, unassuming break in the love for the richness of the morning trees, only to be astounded by the K R coloring in autumn battles that longing. A view in front of us. It was a ruddy, P

The contrast between the spiraling A gorgeous impressionist painting N O I reds off the trees against the stark, T smeared across the backdrop of the A N dewy green of the grass is enough to Blue Ridge Mountains. In that H A make one blink to steady the focus, O moment, I could truly imagine their D N and swoon in the vibrancy of the late- A magnitude in the years when they N E year shades. H gave the Himalayas a run for their S

F O

We set off into the dark. I imagined money. I could sense the amazement Y S

how we looked from a distance — the E of the ﬁrst Anglo settlers setting T R

little orbs of light from our headlamps U eyes on these mountains for the ﬁrst O C bobbing away into the trees. As it was time. I could see the history of S O my ﬁrst time up this particular trail, we T Appalachia steeped in the folds of O H were careful as we picked our way P their ridgelines.

16 | Cooperative Living | September 2016 www.co-opliving.com The awe ripped goosebumps It was a ruddy, gorgeous heart and psyche, inspiring a passion across my skin. My friend sensed my for the wise, wild places out there. amazement, having felt it herself on I hold in myself the tribulations and her first trip up the mountain. Hiking impressionist painting successes of hikes, rafting trips, and up the trail in the dark was enjoyable campouts in the comforting groves and and challenging enough, but smeared across the secret hideaways of one of the oldest following the top of that ridge, mountain ranges in the world. At the climbing across the boulders and backdrop of the Blue end of my days, it will not be financial canyoning between them was another triumphs or business awards that I will experience entirely. Boulders the size remember as the important moments, of Mack trucks and crevasses as wide Ridge Mountains. In that but I will recall standing at the summit as football fields have a way of of Old Rag, or whooping off cliffs into making a person feel insignificant. moment, I could truly the deep waters of Cedar Creek, of Counteracting that was the glory of laughing alongside the campfire with the breathtaking views earned after imagine their magnitude friends in the heart of Hazel country. scaling rock faces and traversing In the same way that those old canyons. By the time we scrambled to rugged mountains hold the stories of the summit, my hands were chalky in the years when they my coming of age, I am now equally and scratched, my knees were tired connected and present in the book of from the extensive uphill, and I was gave the Himalayas a stories contained in the Shenandoah’s hungry, but I felt the deep and age-old landscape.  grounding satisfaction that only run for their money. challenging and extremely rewarding outdoor ventures can render. Shenandoah National Park As I gazed over the valleys of panoramas of the timeless valleys of With over 200,000 acres of stunning Shenandoah, I was struck with the Appalachia. Old Rag is not unique in wilderness, rolling mountains, cascading waterfalls, shady forests and quiet hollows, realization that hundreds had stood in this effect. White Oak Canyon is Shenandoah National Park is a haven for the same place before me, and many relentless in elevation gain, but hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. The park would follow. The magnitude of the stunning with its waterfall-carved features more than 500 miles of trails, environment, as well as the humbling canyons paralleling the trail. Angels including 100 miles of the Appalachian nature of the experience was enough Rest is not a casual climb, but the Trail. Take a hike, meander along Skyline to inspire me to seek out others that overlook at the summit lives up to its Drive, or picnic with the family. would challenge and impress me in impressive title. Dragon’s Tooth truly In August, the National Park Service the same way. That morning evoked exemplifies the dignified ferocity of celebrated its 100th birthday. The in me enough passion to last a some saber-toothed beast. centennial celebration helped kick off a lifetime of adventure. The memories built on these trails second century of stewardship of America’s The mountains have that effect on a are the ones that the little nagging national parks and engaging communities through recreation, conservation and person. They will tear you up, riddle voice in the back of the brain wakes up historic-preservation programs. you with countless numbers of for, urging consciousness into www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm switchbacks and steep climbs until awareness. They are the ones that build www.facebook.com/ShenandoahNP S you are about ready to quit, and then personal assuredness and a comfort in 540-999-3500  quietly reward you with epic the land. They work their way into your