Weeklong trip on Appalachian Trail in Southern Virginia

Backpack the Appalachian Trail for a week on South-Central Virginia, just north of Roanoke. Strenuous hike due to distance, length of trip and some climbs. Need to be an experienced backpacker for this trip. Total of 57 miles, with climbs of 1,000 to 2,000 ft, depending on the day.
· Sat, May 11: Drive to End point, stage cars, drive to start, Hike from US220 to Fulhardt Knob shelter with 1500 ft climb. 5 miles
· Sun, May 12: Longest day, but not much climbing. 1,000ft drop, 500 ft climb to Bobbet’s Gap Shelter. 13.5 miles
· Mon, May 13: Easy day to recover, relatively level hike to Cove Mtn Shelter. 6.5 miles.
· Tue, May 14: Re-supply day. Will have staged one car halfway, so we will pick up second batch of food. Relatively level. 7 miles
· Wed, May 15: Biggest climb of day. 2,000 ft climb up to Cornelius Creek Shelter. Short distance of 4.9 miles
· Thu, May 16: More climbs of 500’ and 1,000 ft as we climb up to Thunder Hill Shelter. Short distance again due to climbs – 5.3 miles
· Fri, May 17: Start to head down. One 800’ climb near end of day, then start down to Marble Spring Campground. Total of 6.9 miles. May push on 5.5 miles downhill to Marble Springs Campground, so Saturday is only 2 miles out.
· Sat, May 18: Start downhill. Drop 2000 ft to US201 to exit. Total of 7.4 miles (or 2 miles if we pushed on Friday)
Weather could be cold or warm, so as we get closer, we’ll need to watch the weather and pack appropriately. Expect to be rained on at least one day of the trip, so make sure you pack your rain gear.

Hike limited to 15 people. Hike Leader is Kevin Drevik (856) 630-2485 or kdrevik@aol.com.