Meet the Elderberries
By Eileen Bakke
Author Bio: Eileen Bakke is an avid outdoorswoman, long-time PATC member, and PATC donor. She lives in Arlington, VA with her husband and enjoys exploring cabins and trails throughout the region.
I was introduced to PATC in 2011 by our youngest son Peter, an outdoor educator who was studying for his Masters at the University of Virginia. Through UVA’s outdoor program, he learned about PATC’s cabin rentals. He rented the Johnson Cabin, a primitive cabin near Charlottesville, and invited my husband and me to camp and hike with him for the weekend to celebrate my husband’s birthday. He planned all the meals, hiking itineraries, and other activities.
After a gorgeous fall weekend of hiking, I was hooked on cabin camping and wanted to learn more about PATC. For Christmas I gave Peter and myself PATC memberships. Over the next six years, we rented numerous cabins and invited others to join us to celebrate Mother’s Day, family birthdays, and summer solstices.
Fast forward to 2021. I had become a PATC lifetime member, captivated by the organization’s mission to protect the AT, making the outdoors welcoming and accessible for everyone, as well as PATC’s strong volunteer and community culture.
During those years, Peter moved to Seattle, and my husband could no longer hike due to poor health. During the COVID lockdown, I longed for the respite and refreshment offered by the PATC cabins and surrounding hikes. In 2022 I rented the Glass House Cabin and invited several friends from church who I knew shared my love of hiking and “roughing it.” We spent a delightful weekend exploring the area and getting to know one another better.
We named ourselves the Elderberries, as we are mostly 70-something grandmothers who refuse to grow old. We plan a fall and spring “glamping” and hiking weekend each year and eagerly anticipate our time together. We have rented seven modern cabins in Virginia, and this fall we hope to broaden our horizons to a cabin in Maryland. While we are devoted to husbands, adult children, and grandchildren, there is something delicious about getting away with girlfriends to hike, tell stories, laugh, roast s’mores, and relax in God’s beautiful creation.
We look forward to exploring new cabins and new hiking venues. Each cabin is well appointed and meticulously cared for. We enjoy reading about the history of each cabin, poring over hiking maps, learning about the local flora and fauna, and adding our reflections in the logbooks. We marvel that every need is anticipated and provided for, and we celebrate the many PATC volunteers who make our stays so carefree and enjoyable.
I want to encourage anyone who thinks their hiking and camping days are behind them to join PATC and experience the beauty and respite of their nearly 50 cabins in four states. There are cabins for almost every group’s ability and size, from primitive to quite modern. There are cabins you can hike to and plenty more where you can drive right up to the front door.
You are never too old to have a new adventure! In the spirit of the Elderberries, keep moving, learning, and growing. We have “graduated” from tent camping and sleeping on the ground, but because of the great mission and work of PATC, we can still get out our hiking boots and backpacks, build an outdoor fire, and glory in the woods and trails so close to home and yet blissfully far from the traffic and noise of the District of Columbia area.
