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Still planning this a bit but wanted to go ahead and post. RSVPs open 10/17 and I will be manually moving folks off the waitlist

Join me on a Halloween excursion in the GWNF North River area! This will be a shorter, two day version of this trip from Brightside. I'm looking for hikers who are okay with a long Saturday with a 3 hour drive and a 17 mile hike. Also read this hike could be difficult to follow so hikers should come prepared to navigate with a map/caltopo etc (DM if you need help here)

You should be at Member rank to join this trip, please see here for more info.

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(copy + pasting some text from last trip)

Day 1 Saturday:

  • Leave EARLY 7am from Vienna metro station (North side)
    - I realize this is early for most Metro riders (myself included) but this is just how early I would like to leave. I recommend Ubering to metro station. If you do metro also make sure to check for metro maintenance. This is also just default meet up spot, open discuss alternative once get closer.
    - Plan get to the trailhead around ~11am
    - It will be a small parking area at the Timber Ridge trailhead on Tillman Road, just after Hearthstone Lake (https://goo.gl/maps/ZfQMbduWp6beYF71A)
    - Have \ ~7 hours of sunlight to hike 17 miles. Expect get to camp in the dark.
    - We'll climb to summit Reddish Knob. After taking in the view, we'll descend into the valley along a few forest roads and follow the North River Trail down to its terminus at Forest Road 95. We'll turn LEFT (where different from last trip) and hike a few miles along the road to our stop for the night at Camp Todd, with reliable water.

Day 2 Sunday:
- HIke out 11 miles
- In the morning we'll climb up Little Bald Knob on the Wild Oak Trail and then turn right, descending along Chestnut Ridge until we hit the Groom's Ridge Trail, which we'll take down to the cars. We'll decide whether we'd like to have lunch in Harrisonburg based on everyone's comfort level. Waffle House is an option(!!!)

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Resources

*NatGeo Trails Illustrated Map 791: Staunton/Shenandoah Mountain. You can get it from some DC area REI stores or from the NatGeo website: https://www.natgeomaps.com/ti-791-staunton-shenandoah-mountain-george-washington-and-jefferson-national-forests

Disclaimers

** 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/)
*** 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.*
    *I am a co-participant, not a guide or expert and have no formal training in navigation or first aid. I have been to this area before, but this is my first time on this route and on most of these trails

Related topics

Events in Vienna, VA

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