EDITED MO: W2 SNP Hazel Country (~35 miles)

**MAJOR CHANGES! Pocahontas loop is postponed, we are now doing a central SNP loop for anyone interested and meet at Vienna at 6pm since we don't have to do a mega long drive anymore **

OK so it's allegedly going to be snowing for the next 5 days straight in WV and I am scared of driving in the snow so we're gonna change it up and do this DCUL loop in central SNP where it should be snowing less. I'll get the permit on Thurs. It's usually like $7-9 per person. This will be much milder weather than our original plan, but be advised! It will still be below freezing pretty much the whole time and may snow on Saturday so be prepared with the winter gear. Sorry for all the changes! Thanks for bearing with me!

Meet at Vienna Metro North Parking at 6:00 p.m. on Friday night.

Driving Directions: From Vienna Metro North Kiss and Ride to the SR 681 Broad Hollow Trail Parking Area (Side of Road): We'll consolidate vehicles as much we can.

Hiking Plan: https://caltopo.com/m/MDK9 (Thanks, Karan!)

Weather

Friday Night:

Park, walk down SR 681 a short distance to enter SNP at Pine Hill Gap and camp within park boundaries along the Pine Hill Gap Trail. No more than 0.5-0.75 miles of hiking.

Saturday:

Hike up Pine Hill Gap Trail (2.8) to turn left on Catlett Mountain Trail (1.2) then continue to Catlett Spur Trail (1.1), then left on Hazel Mountain Trail (1.8), then down and around Buck Ridge Trail (2.6), back up Buck Hollow Trail (2.7), to the AT via Meadow Spring Trail (0.7), and then take the AT all the way NOBO (4.0) to Pass Mtn Hut, our home for the evening.

Sunday:

Back track to Hazel Mountain Trail (5.1), take Hazel Mountain Trail 1.6 miles to White Rocks Trail (2.2) and turn left on Hazel River Trail (1.4) to come back up on Sam's Ridge Trail (2.0), and finish down Broad Hollow Trail (2.1) to our cars. And then we can have a nice lunch at Apple House or somewhere in Front Royal

Please have either the PATC or NatGeo maps of SNP, or the CalTopo track downloaded. DCULers have maps!

----------------THE IMPORTANT WARNINGS-------------------

You need to be in good physical shape for this trip. There will be big miles and elevation gain. The weather may get very cold.

Carpool passengers, 10 cents/mile = $13 for this trip

Oh, and I’m just a co-participant on this trip, not a guide or an expert. I have no special training, such as organizational, medical, or navigational. If you sign up and can’t come, please let me know—don’t ghost. You are officially on the trip if you both RSVP on Meetup and meet me at the Metro. Otherwise, you are doing your own trip until you make physical contact with me and I recognize you as a co-participant. I’m open to questions.

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. 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.)