DC UL Backpacking

Come join me for a DCUL Happy Hour at Fire Works Pizza in Arlington to celebrate the onset of Autumn, discuss October trips (4-State Challenge), learn about the club, and meet fellow members!

-Willy Wonka

I've been told that a good way to train for the Four State Challenge is to do a 30-mile day. So come with me as I do a 30-mile day if you, too, are training for the Four State Challenge or just want to do something crazy. (This trip is VMO not because of the total miles but because we are doing them all in one day, unless you want to modify it on your own.)

Here's the plan:
1. Drive to Wolf Gap Recreation Area on Friday evening and camp at the campsites there, which are first come, first serve. You must be physically there to claim a campsite. (There are dispersed campsites that I've seen on nearby roads if for some reason the campground sites are full.)
https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/10158515
2. Saturday, do a 30-mile loop/lollipop that includes Big Schloss, the lesser-visited Little Schloss, and Halfmoon Mountain. We'll be one valley over from Trout Run Valley, an area that gets a little less love from DCUL but has its own charms. People can modify my 30-mile route to do 20 miles, 24 miles, or something else, but would need to be self-sufficient in doing so.
3. Camp at Wolf Gap again on Saturday night. Sunday morning, find breakfast and drive home.

I'm setting the number at 5 for now as that's how many I can drive and I don't have much bandwidth to coordinate carpooling beyond my car. I might increase that if there's interest and someone else can drive/organize another car of people.

Caltopo (this is a placeholder showing the approximate area/route, which I will update later to a 30-mile route by adding on some miles on trails at the northern end of the loop): https://caltopo.com/m/58HNL