Camping trip review
Overall the camping trip was smooth and uneventful. Tina and I left DC around noon-ish, got to the campgrounds around 4pm and then we all hiked down that fateful trail, this time with two more people (Heath and Pat) than we had last time. It was just as rocky and difficult as I remembered. It was an odd hike for me because I'm in better muscular shape than last time, but worse cardio. So the steep, difficult parts were easier but the long, plodding parts were harder. Not a surprise.
After about an hour we got to the spot where Jim blew out his knee, it looked pretty much the same. The two trees we used to fashion the tensioning getup were a little bigger, but that's it. We had a celebratory drink and then headed onwards to see the terrain we never reached last time.
Oh mah wee it was not easy terrain. There was a set of switchbacks that dropped you 100 vertical feet in a span of about 50'. They were killer. My knees, thighs and glutes were burning like nobody's business by the end of the switchbacks.
And then we came to two boulder-strewn creeks to get across. Was pretty easy for me, but Tina had some problems because her legs are short. No one fell in, so it is all good.
We eventually got down to the Red Creek (the 'bottom' of the valley between the mountain peaks), and decided we'd camp there instead of hiking another 1/4 mi and trying to cross the creek. It has been a very wet spring for WV and the creek had no dry crossings. Over the weekend we saw plenty of hikers cross, all of them having to change to shorts and water shoes (or barefoot) to cross the knee-deep frigid water. The water was so cold that while washing my hands, my hands went numb in about 10 seconds. Refreshing for washing your hands and face, but I imagine it'd be miserable on your feet during a wide crossing :)
Then we had the rest of the day to set up camp and putter about. Day two (Saturday) was more puttering about and a small day-hike. We tested out the radios I bought and they worked fantastic, FAR better than I expected. In this very rugged, vertical terrain they reached about a 3mi distance. Which is pretty amazing for a $50 pair of radios. I'll be writing up a review on some of my camping gear at some point, the stuff I hadn't had a 'real world' chance to test out. Some was great, some was only so-so.
Day 3 I woke up early, restoked the fire and we all packed up camp. Jim's knee and back were bothering him and he didn't want to make the 800' vertical climb (over a 1.5mi trail) from our camp to the top of the trail where the cars were. He looked at the map and figured heading down the trail for 3mi would be easier than up it for 1.5. A good idea in theory.
Tina, Heath and Pat went up to get the cars and I went down with Jim (couldn't let him hike alone), along the 'easier' route. I put that in quotes because it was NOT EASIER. I honestly believe it would have been easier going up than down. While the overall trail dropped 600 vertical feet over 3mi, it was not a nice gradual, constant slope. Instead there were a half dozen brutal 45 degree climbs up and down as the trail wound over 4 different waterfalls and creek embankments. Imagine climbing up 5 stories in a building, wearing 50# on your back and you get the idea. Hell of a quad and glute workout.
After many ups and downs over the first 1.5 miles, the trail did even out and get easy. We got down to the bottom of the trail just as the other 3 had pulled the cars up to the trailhead. Good timing, but man, down was NOT easier.
Dumped stuff in car, said goodbyes and we headed out. T and I stopped at the first McD's we could find and gorged ourselves. I had *2* Big Macs. I can't remember the last time I ate that much and McD's tasted so good. I was ravenous. I had only eaten a granola bar and a quart of Gatorade that morning.
An uneventful drive to DC to drop T off and then up I95 for me. Got home, fed cats, stripped and got into the glorious shower. 3 days of camping makes a stinky boy!
I then crashed around 10pm and slept like a log for THIRTEEN HOURS. I haven't slept like that in years. It felt so good. I even took an hour nap around 4pm on Monday :)
After about an hour we got to the spot where Jim blew out his knee, it looked pretty much the same. The two trees we used to fashion the tensioning getup were a little bigger, but that's it. We had a celebratory drink and then headed onwards to see the terrain we never reached last time.
Oh mah wee it was not easy terrain. There was a set of switchbacks that dropped you 100 vertical feet in a span of about 50'. They were killer. My knees, thighs and glutes were burning like nobody's business by the end of the switchbacks.
And then we came to two boulder-strewn creeks to get across. Was pretty easy for me, but Tina had some problems because her legs are short. No one fell in, so it is all good.
We eventually got down to the Red Creek (the 'bottom' of the valley between the mountain peaks), and decided we'd camp there instead of hiking another 1/4 mi and trying to cross the creek. It has been a very wet spring for WV and the creek had no dry crossings. Over the weekend we saw plenty of hikers cross, all of them having to change to shorts and water shoes (or barefoot) to cross the knee-deep frigid water. The water was so cold that while washing my hands, my hands went numb in about 10 seconds. Refreshing for washing your hands and face, but I imagine it'd be miserable on your feet during a wide crossing :)
Then we had the rest of the day to set up camp and putter about. Day two (Saturday) was more puttering about and a small day-hike. We tested out the radios I bought and they worked fantastic, FAR better than I expected. In this very rugged, vertical terrain they reached about a 3mi distance. Which is pretty amazing for a $50 pair of radios. I'll be writing up a review on some of my camping gear at some point, the stuff I hadn't had a 'real world' chance to test out. Some was great, some was only so-so.
Day 3 I woke up early, restoked the fire and we all packed up camp. Jim's knee and back were bothering him and he didn't want to make the 800' vertical climb (over a 1.5mi trail) from our camp to the top of the trail where the cars were. He looked at the map and figured heading down the trail for 3mi would be easier than up it for 1.5. A good idea in theory.
Tina, Heath and Pat went up to get the cars and I went down with Jim (couldn't let him hike alone), along the 'easier' route. I put that in quotes because it was NOT EASIER. I honestly believe it would have been easier going up than down. While the overall trail dropped 600 vertical feet over 3mi, it was not a nice gradual, constant slope. Instead there were a half dozen brutal 45 degree climbs up and down as the trail wound over 4 different waterfalls and creek embankments. Imagine climbing up 5 stories in a building, wearing 50# on your back and you get the idea. Hell of a quad and glute workout.
After many ups and downs over the first 1.5 miles, the trail did even out and get easy. We got down to the bottom of the trail just as the other 3 had pulled the cars up to the trailhead. Good timing, but man, down was NOT easier.
Dumped stuff in car, said goodbyes and we headed out. T and I stopped at the first McD's we could find and gorged ourselves. I had *2* Big Macs. I can't remember the last time I ate that much and McD's tasted so good. I was ravenous. I had only eaten a granola bar and a quart of Gatorade that morning.
An uneventful drive to DC to drop T off and then up I95 for me. Got home, fed cats, stripped and got into the glorious shower. 3 days of camping makes a stinky boy!
I then crashed around 10pm and slept like a log for THIRTEEN HOURS. I haven't slept like that in years. It felt so good. I even took an hour nap around 4pm on Monday :)