by Jeff Alt
“Pie iron pizzas for dinner! Awesome! Thank you, Mom and Grandma,” I said, and Hug-a-Bug grinned and licked her lips in anticipation.
“We thought you guys would like this after your hike,” Mom said.
We filled in Mom and Grandma on all the details of our hiking adventure, while Dad and Papa Lewis assembled slices of bread into the pie irons, filled them with pizza sauce, then added cheese and our favorite toppings. They clipped the pie irons shut and placed them carefully over the fire. Within minutes, we had hot pizza for everyone. We all sat down at the picnic table while mom poured lemonade into cups and passed them around the table until everybody had a drink.
“A nice view, great weather, family, and pie iron pizza. What more could you ask for?” I exclaimed as I devoured my meal.
“Well, we still haven’t met up with the ’unknown relative’ that led us here,” Hug-a-Bug said.
We all had a deep suspicion that Papa Lewis’ cousin Nick was behind the decoding tip that led us to Shenandoah. Nick and his family lived nearby in Charlottesville, Virginia. Papa had shared lots fond memories of his Shenandoah adventures with us. Many of them were with his cousin Nick. Like most of our family members, Nick is a time traveler. Each branch of our family specializes in a specific geographical region or park and uses their own trade or skill to preserve and protect our wildlands for future generations. Papa Lewis explained that Nick’s branch has always been involved in protecting our family secret, and this includes secret codes. Apparently, ancestors from Nick’s branch were spies that helped America win its freedom during the American Revolution. I only met Nick, his wife Dolly, and their son Washington once at a wedding years ago. I was just five, Hug-a-Bug was two, and Washington was four. This was long before I knew about our family time-travel skills. Nick and Dolly, who are similar in age to Papa Lewis and Grandma, had always wanted to be parents, but weren’t able to have a child of their own. So, later in life they decided to adopt. They adopted a son, John, and nicknamed him Washington in honor of our first president.
When Cousin Nick isn’t exploring or protecting our family time-travel secret, he works for a top-secret government agency. We’re not supposed to know about it, but since we’ve all been sworn to secrecy about our own time-travel ability, Cousin Nick knows that we’ll never tell anyone. Besides, we don’t really even know about what he does; only that it’s a matter of national security.
Papa Lewis and Grandma contacted Cousin Nick and Dolly hoping to arrange to meet-up with them in Shenandoah. But they acted quite strange. They weren’t their usual selves and were very indefinite about meeting up with us. Papa Lewis had a feeling it had something to do with Nick’s work. Hug-a-Bug and I hoped that we would get a chance to spend time with Washington while we were in Shenandoah.
After dinner, we sat around the campfire and watched the logs burn down to smoldering red embers. Papa Lewis and Grandma were the first to go to bed. Shortly after, we secured all of our food and scented items in our vehicle and the rest of us zipped into the tent for the night.
We were all unsure of our plans for the next day, wondering if we would hear from Cousin Nick, and we were completely exhausted from the drive and hike. A cool breeze blew over the mountain and through the screen of the tent, which made for perfect sleeping conditions. I dozed right off and didn’t wake up until the smell of bacon and coffee wafted through the air the next morning. I sat up in my sleeping bag. It was early in the morning, and the tent door was unzipped. I could see Papa Lewis sitting at the picnic table beneath the dining canopy sipping his morning coffee, and Grandma was standing in front of the camp stove perched on the edge of the picnic table, turning bacon over in the skillet. I slipped out of the tent and joined them while Hug-a-Bug, Dad, and Mom slept.
Several small whitetail deer grazed just yards from our picnic table, apparently unafraid of us. Morning birds chirped. Other folks around us began emerging from their tents and campers and began to prepare breakfast. Billows of smoke and the faint whistle of propane stoves began to drift through the campground. Moments later, Hug-a-Bug, Mom, and Dad joined us at the picnic table. Grandma heaped the plates with scrambled eggs and bacon, and passed them around to us.
“Thanks for making breakfast, Grandma,” I said.
“Yes, thank you, Grandma,” Hug-a-Bug chimed in.
Dad grabbed some orange juice from the cooler and we all sat down to eat. There was something special about eating a meal outside in the open air with family, on top of a mountain, with deer grazing nearby, that made it feel like a little bit of heaven.
Little did we know that our tranquil mountain morning was about to change. Papa Lewis had three park maps stacked in front of him, and when everyone finished breakfast, he unfolded one of them and began studying it. We all gathered around. Since we hadn’t heard from Cousin Nick, Papa Lewis was planning to take us exploring to some of his favorite spots in the park.
“Shenandoah National Park is long and narrow, spanning miles. Skyline Drive is 105 miles long but the park is about 70 miles long (roughly Front Royal-Waynesboro) ’as the crow flies.’ The park is split into three sections: the South district, the Central district, and the North district. Right now, we are in the South District and there is a lot to explore. I left Nick a message and let him know where we are at in the park. I haven’t heard back from him. But, as I mentioned before, whoever is behind the coded message that led us here will contact us.
“Do you think your cousin Nick is the person who sent us the code tip?” I asked.
“He is capable of it, and this park is his area of expertise. Nick will keep you on your toes. He is always up to something. Nick adds an element to the adventure like no other,” Papa Lewis explained.
Before Papa Lewis could respond, our conversation was interrupted by the sound of an approaching electric motor. A golf cart zipped along the campground drive, pulled into our campsite, and stopped. A man and woman wearing tan National Park Service volunteer uniforms emerged from the golf cart and approached us at the picnic table.
“Good morning! We’re the campground hosts and we are looking for the Lewis and Clark clan,” the man stated.
“Well, good morning! That’s us,” Papa Lewis stated.
“We have something for you,” the woman stated holding up a sealed envelope.
I walked over and retrieved the envelope from her.
“Who gave this to you?” Dad asked.
“We don’t know. Someone slipped it under the door of the ranger check-in station with the note ’Please deliver to the campsite of Lewis and Clark.’ Your campsite is the only one registered under that name, so it was pretty easy to find you. Everyone up in the ranger station got a kick out of your camp registration name, by the way. The original Lewis and Clark duo were some true explorers,” the woman responded.
“Thank you!” Dad said, grinning.
The campground hosts hopped back on their golf cart and motored on down the road.
I quickly tore open the envelope and pulled out a typed letter.
Everyone gathered around me to read the note:
Dear Family,
Sorry for the delay in greeting you here in Shenandoah. You’re now in my backyard, and I would love to show you around. Well, it’s not really my yard, but I grew up here and Shenandoah is where I explore. I heard that some of you hiked into the park along the Appalachian Trail yesterday. The Appalachian Trail is only a part of exploring Shenandoah, and you’re about to discover what I mean. I switched our code system. Taped up under the front bumper of your vehicle is your new cipher code. Sorry for the secrecy. This is not only to protect our family time-travel secret; it has now also become a matter of national security. Here is your first destination:
ALVIBP OFSBO CXIIP
See you soon!
I got down on my hands and knees and ran my hand along the bottom surface of the front bumper until my fingers touched what felt like paper. I peered under the bumper and sure enough, there was a folded piece of
paper taped there. I pulled it free, unfolded it, and discovered our new cipher code:
“Is this for real? A matter of national security? Really?” Hug-a-Bug asked.
“We have to assume so, Hug-a-Bug,” Papa Lewis replied.
“Is this from your cousin Nick, or his son Washington? And how did he know we hiked on the A.T. yesterday?” I asked.
“It could be either Nick or Washington. I’m sure Nick has taught Washington everything he knows. Let’s figure this code out. I believe this is a Caesar Cipher. It’s one of the simplest and most common coding systems. To figure out each letter of the code, we need to match the cipher letters with plain text letters using our decoder sheet. We simply use the cipher code to convert each cipher letter in the message to the plain text letter above it and this will allow us to decode the message,” Papa Lewis explained.
I followed Papa Lewis’ advice and deciphered each word. This is what I got:
Plain: DOYLES RIVER FALLS
Cipher: ALVIBP OFSBO CXIIP
“Where is Doyles River Falls?” I asked Papa Lewis.
“We are just a few minutes from the Doyles River Falls Trail. I hiked that trail years ago with Cousin Nick. We can take the A.T. from our campsite to the trailhead. Think of Shenandoah as a tree; the Appalachian Trail and Skyline Drive are the trunk, and the 400 or so miles of other trails are the branches. The Appalachian Trail only covers 101 miles of over 500 miles of trail right here in the park. The A.T. thru-hikers who walk the trail in one season have too much ground to cover and usually miss most of these other Shenandoah gems. It looks like we are on a new quest. Are you guys up for the challenge?” Papa Lewis asked looking at all of us.
“I’m in,” I said.
“Me, too,” Hug-a-Bug replied.
“Of course,” Dad stated.
“Sounds interesting,” Mom answered.
“Let’s get going,” Grandma said with a smile.
Papa Lewis gave Grandma a hug. She has had difficulty with her hip and knees for some time and has not been able to hike with us. Her willingness to come along let us know that she must be feeling better.
CHAPTER 6
A CIVIL WAR RENDEZVOUS
In minutes, we had our daypacks outfitted with water, food, and gear. We grabbed our trekking poles and everybody slipped their packs on. The A.T. looped around Loft Mountain Campground so we simply walked out of our campsite and onto the Appalachian Trail. When we reached the A.T., we headed south. In a short while, we came to a trail junction. It was marked by a cement post with aluminum bands wrapped around it. The aluminum bands on the post indicated we had reached the Doyles River Falls Trail.
“All trail junctions in Shenandoah are marked with these posts. Always check the posts to make sure you’re going in the right direction,” Papa Lewis instructed.
We turned left onto the Doyles River Falls Trail and continued on. The trail descended rapidly. It was a hot summer day, but it was still cool under the canopy of the trees. After a while, the trail widened and we could hear the gurgling of a mountain stream. Tulip poplar trees towered over us as we descended farther down the mountain. We crossed a wide gravel road which our map indicated was Browns Gap Road, a horse trail. We continued on.
“Remind me to tell you about that road on the way back up the mountain,” Papa Lewis said.
We passed a small waterfall and kept walking. A short while later, we came to another cement trail post that indicated the upper falls were nearby on the left. We stopped for a few minutes to take in the view of water rushing over a small cliff before merging with the lower falls. Then we walked on a little farther and reached the lower falls. Everyone took off their packs and sat down to enjoy the view. White water poured down over ancient rocks and pooled near where we sat before flowing on down the mountain.
“The A.T. hikers will miss all these amazing waterfalls in Shenandoah unless they leave the A.T. and hike one of the park’s side trails. There are many more of these stunning waterfalls in the park,” Papa Lewis stated as we sat there enjoying the view and the sound of the waterfall.
“This is amazing! Now I see what you mean about missing the gems of Shenandoah if you don’t veer off the A.T.,” Hug-a-Bug said.
“Now would be a good time to eat a snack before we hike back up the mountain,” Dad said.
Everyone unzipped their packs and dug out something to eat. I pulled an energy bar from my pack, tore open the wrapper, and wolfed it down while also guzzling water.
“Papa Lewis, I don’t get it. We came all the way to Shenandoah National Park at the request of an unknown family member who we think is either Cousin Nick or Washington. We travel here and get a secret message that leads us to this waterfall. This is extremely beautiful and I’m glad I had the opportunity to enjoy this...but what does this have to do with national security? Why are we here?” I asked.
“Bubba Jones, you’ve asked the question I think we all want to know the answer to. I know Cousin Nick, and he does things for a reason. I’m sure we will find out soon enough.”
After we all finished our snacks, we stood up, put our packs back on, and retraced our steps back up the mountain. We let Grandma set the pace. She moved slowly, but it was good to have her along on the trail. The climb back up was strenuous compared to the hike down to the water fall. We reached Browns Gap Road and stopped. There was fresh horse manure on the road, indicating recent use. Moments later, Papa Lewis caught up to us and stopped. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief tied to the shoulder strap of his pack.
“Well, Papa Lewis, you said to remind you to tell us about this road,” I said.
“This is a horse path now, but at one point in history this path was a toll road, and you had to pay to pass over the mountain. This mountain pass, along with a few other mountain gaps in Shenandoah, played a strategic role for Thomas ’Stonewall’ Jackson during the Civil War.”
“Who was Thomas ’Stonewall’ Jackson?” Hug-a-Bug asked.
“Jackson was one of the most successful Civil War generals. He was known as the ’lightning bolt of the Confederacy.’ He was completely outnumbered by the Union Army, but he used the Blue Ridge Mountains to confuse, outmaneuver, and defeat the opposing army.”
“Wait a minute. Did you say ’Confederacy?’ The Confederates lost the war. How can he be one of the most successful generals?” Hug-a-Bug asked.
“The Confederate Army relied on the Shenandoah Valley for food and supplies. Jackson only had an army of roughly 17,000 men. But he was able to move much faster than the larger Union Army of over 45,000 soldiers. He used the present day Shenandoah National Park, then simply known as the Blue Ridge Mountains, to hide his troop movements and confuse the enemy. Even today, his war strategy is studied worldwide because of the success of his tactics.”
“How can you look up to the general of an army that fought to keep slavery?” I asked Papa Lewis.
“The Civil War was a sad time for our country. The fact that we had slavery here in the free world is horrible. Today it is hard to believe that slavery even existed. Over 600,000 soldiers died during the Civil War. That’s almost more deaths then all other U.S. wars combined. I’m so glad that the Union won the war. Otherwise, this great country might still be divided, and slavery, sadly, might have continued. Just prior to the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was elected, and he was opposed to slavery. The southern states profited big-time from slave labor and did not want Lincoln interfering with this industry. Slaves worked on sprawling southern plantations which were owned by wealthy people. When Lincoln took office, eleven southern states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy. Virginia was one of those states. If you lived in one of the southern states, your loyalty was split. The country was divided. Families were torn apart by the question, ’Do you support your state or do you support the Union?’ It wasn’t long before war broke out. Able-bodied men were required by the laws of their state to enlist. Brothers, cousins, fathers, and sons fought alongside
and against each other. Most of the soldiers who fought for the Confederacy didn’t own slaves. Many families on both sides lost fathers and sons on the battlefield.
“Jackson, like other officers in the Confederacy, was originally an officer in the United States Army. ’Stonewall’ was a nickname he earned from his battlefield tactics. The way Stonewall led his army to victory on the battlefield is the reason he is viewed as successful, regardless of whether his side ultimately won the war. He was shot by his own men by accident in 1863, and the Confederacy didn’t do very well after that. Some historians believe his death was the reason the South lost the war, and almost all historians believe that Jackson was one of the most successful generals the Confederates had,” Papa Lewis explained.
“What do you say we go back and see what it was like in Shenandoah when Jackson’s army came through?” I suggested.
“I figured you would want to do that. Only a few small battles occurred in what is now Shenandoah National Park. Most of the fighting that took place in this region happened down in the Shenandoah Valley and elsewhere. Let’s go back to early June 1862. That is one of the times Jackson crossed his army over the Blue Ridge on Browns Gap Toll Road and rested up before he led them to battle near Richmond, Virginia,” Papa Lewis explained.
We all gathered around in a circle on Browns Gap Road. I said, “Take us back to June 10th, 1862.”
A gust of wind blew. Everything went dark and then our surroundings completely changed. Large sections of the forest we had stood in moments ago were now cleared pastures with horses grazing in them. Rows of canvas tents lined the road and continued up a grass-covered hillside to the lawn of a log home, then continued on as far as the eye could see. Long wooden rifles were stacked in circular bunches in front of the tents. Men in grey uniforms were everywhere. Smoke billowed up from fire pits, emitting the smell of roasting meat, and metal coffee pots sat on iron grates over fires, steam swirling from their spouts.
