DC UL Backpacking

Part II of my Tuscarora Trail section hike. I'm going to have to start biting off bigger chunks if I have any hope of finishing this, so here's the next 4 sections. Going Northbound this time in order to hit shelters both nights!

Our call time is 3pm on Friday because the setup is going to take a while. We'll once again drive 3ish hours from Grosvenor to Colonel Denning State Park to drop one or more vehicles, then shuttle an additional hour to Cowans Gap State Park to begin hiking. We'll have 5 miles in the dark to reach Burd Run Shelter, hopefully at a reasonable hour.

Saturday is a 22-mile day, mostly on dry ridges with a fair bit of elevation change. The trail was extremely rocky in Sections 1&2, and while I don't expect this part to be quite as bad, it's still Rocksylvania so I'm sure we'll deal with some. Midway through the day there's a 2-mile roadwalk, with the option for a side-trip into the town of Spring Run for lunch. After that we climb back up to the next ridge and follow it up to Tuscarora State Forest and the Fowler Hollow Shelter.

Sunday leaves us with 14 more miles, cutting across the grain in the morning and then back on the ridge of Blue Mountain up to Colonel Denning.

This trip is open to all Members but be forewarned that it'll be a tough hike. The Tuscarora is rugged, overgrown, and lacking in reliable water. If the weather turns cold in the next two weeks I may also add a winter rating.

Links:

• CalTopo
• Map
• Guidebook
• Weather

Disclaimers:

• By RSVPing to this trip or any other DC UL trip, you agree to the terms of DC UL's Liability Waiver
• All Members and Veteran Members must be current on annual dues before attending a trip (Applicants do not need to pay dues). Annual dues are $10 minimum, and any additional amount will be donated to the City Kids Wilderness Project (suggested donation $5): PayPal Link
• Carpool: As per our carpool policy, riders should pay drivers $0.10/mile.

** Maddie here - I’m typing on my phone so this is 99% plagiarized from the last DCUL trip here in 2020 with some updates based on their trip report. This was one of the last trips before Covid so hopefully repeating it does not unlock any dark powers. This is a really long drive but the photos from the trip report really sell it so hopefully we have some takers. Since there’s already a trip posted and this is a busy time of year for people, I do reserve the right if there are only like 2-3 of us signed up, or spots open up on Mark’s Tuscarora trip, to move this to a later date and just go on that trip instead. **

DC UL is no stranger to Fork Mountain in the Gauley Ranger District of the Monongahela National Forest. But it doesn't look like we get out to the Pocahontas Trail too often. And we're not alone -- the Pocahontas Trail is one of the least visited trails in this area. In this 33-mile loop, we'll cover sections of these two relatively remote trails which feature dense coniferous forests, fortressy boulder fields, the falls of Hill Creek, and many opportunities for tasteful Pocahontas jokes.

-----------------------THE PLAN--------------------
We'll meet up on Friday evening at 4 PM at the Vienna Northern Park & Ride lot and drive to the Summit Lake parking area (https://goo.gl/maps/Y3zGudVjaFFckRyd8). On the way, we'll grab a quick dinner at Sheetz along I-81. It'll be the dead of the night when we arrive at the parking lot, so we'll camp at the AT-style shelter near the trailhead.

After sleeping in a bit, we'll start our Saturday journey clockwise along the Pocahontas Trail. We'll arrive at the Falls of Hill Creek around lunchtime, and then camp at the sites around Bearwallow knob (dry camp). A water source should be less than a mile down Big Run Trail, so factor that in.

In the morning, we'll continue clockwise along Fork Mountain Trail and onto the North Bend Trail, which will take us along a 2.5-mile roadwalk back to our cars. Afterwards, we'll head to somewhere in Richwood, WV, possibly THE OAKFORD POOL HALL LLC? before going back to vienna.

-----------------------THE DETAILS-------------------------

All of this amounts to a 1/22/10 split. Elevation gain is pretty minimal, but the boulder fields will surely slow us down. For more granular directions, check out this Midatlantic Hikes post: http://www.midatlantichikes.com/cbc-2.htm

DC ULers always bring maps. Get them here:
Printable map (click through to JPG, which can't be linked here for some reason): http://www.midatlantichikes.com/cbc-2.htm

-GPX (Thanks to Bryan): https://caltopo.com/m/N3KM

Expect the weather to be standard W1, with micro-spikes possibly coming in handy. Historical weather data for North Bend puts the temp range between 25-45*F.

-----------------------THE FINE PRINT-------------------------
It's going to be December, y'all. And so be prepared to hike 22 miles in about 8 hours of daylight. And then there's always the possibility of snow. If you're not sure if you have the appropriate gear or experience winter camping, talk to me after you sign up.

By RSVPing to this trip or any other DC UL trip, you agree to DC UL's liability waiver (https://www.meetup.com/DC-UL-Backpacking/pages/Liability_Waiver/).

As per our carpool policy, riders should plan to pay drivers $0.10/mile. This is a long drive, at nearly 500 miles round trip. If $50 is too steep for a weekend of fun, talk to me and we'll figure something out so that you can still come.

To pay your dues via PayPal, use this link: https://www.paypal.me/JenniferAdach/10. $15 ($10 + recommended $5 donation to city kids wilderness project)

Since Kyle had left us to carry on the PATC cabin tradition, I wanted to book a cabin for a nice weekend of hopefully wintery hiking. But as luck would have it, both Jones and Corbin cabin are closed for the season so we’ll have to try something new. I’ve been to this cabin with 11 other friends (and everybody did not hate each other afterwards) so I can say that the good news is, it will probably be warmer inside than the usual cabins. The bad news is that will be because this is a pretty small one room cabin with 4 bunk beds next to each other dorm style. So if you want to have some nice bonding time with up to 11 of your best DCUL friends, come and join us! I will start this at 8 but there are 4 double beds so if anyone has a buddy or partner they don't mind sharing a bed with, let me know and we could add a couple more.

The plan is to meet at Vienna at 4, drive down and hike in about 4 miles on Friday to the cabin, do about 20 miles of hiking on Saturday and enjoy post-hike merriment, and then on Sunday spend the morning lumberjacking for wood to replenish the cabin wood supply and then hike out. I will post some ideas for the saturday hike as we get closer.

The cabin does have a wood stove; however, you should still treat this as winter conditions and have everything you would need to stay safe without the wood stove. You should also have some form of shelter (tarp, emergency bivy, etc) to bring with you on the day hike in case of emergencies. And finally, bringing a fun food or drink to share with the cabin on Saturday is also encouraged.

The Fine Print:

See DC UL's winter rankings here: https://dculbackpacking.com/about/tripranks/

Cabin cost: Please pay me $14.50 for the cost of the cabin, venmo is @Madeline-Beaudry and paypal is @madelinebeaudry1

Maps: DCUL'ers have maps! Some options:

• GPX: to be posted
• PATC Map 11 (PATC store link)

Waiver: By RSVPing to this trip or any other DC UL trip, you agree to these guidelines and to DC UL's waiver liability terms (https://dculbackpacking.com/about/liability-waiver/)
COVID-19 policy: https://dculbackpacking.com/about/covid-19-guidelines/

Dues: Members and above, don't forget to pay your annual dues. You can check if you need to pay dues by seeing if the current year is listed next to your name in your DC UL profile. Applicants do not need to pay dues for their first trip. To pay your dues via PayPal, use this link: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/JenniferAdach/15 ($10 annual dues plus a $5 suggested donation to City Kids Wilderness Project.)

Carpool: As per our carpool policy, riders should pay drivers $0.10/mile. From Vienna, that is roughly $25 for this trip depending on the route

If you opt for skiing, additional costs could include ski rentals, day-use fee, food, and rider fees.

We have three cabins so there will be 24 spots. Each cabin has space for space for eight people: two rooms with queen beds and two rooms with twin beds.

All rooms will be shared. If you'd like to guarantee a room for yourself (no roommate), you can reserve one for $209 for the weekend, subject to availability.

How do you sign up?
Send Jen your payment via PayPal (http://paypal.me/JenniferAdach)--please use the pay friends/family option to avoid fees being taken out. Once we have your payment, your spot is confirmed. If I do not have payment from you within two weeks of your RSVP, you will be moved to the waitlist. There will be no refunds, but you can transfer your spot to another person. There usually is interest, and I can help you connect with people.

By RSVPing for this trip, you acknowledge that you’ve read our COVID-19 guidelines (https://dculbackpacking.com/about/covid-19-guidelines/) and that you agree to DC UL's liability waiver terms. (https://dculbackpacking.com/about/liability-waiver)