GWNF – Winter Run
Nov 8-11, 2007
This trip was solely to relax and enjoy the camping experience.
We camped on Kephart Run, all the way at the end of the trail, which is equivalent to approximately twenty-two minutes of bumpy, winding forest service road that never ends. By the time we got there on Friday evening and settled in our camp chairs, it was six o’clock and absolutely dark.
On Friday morning, we woke up bright and early at 9am and started our day with a great breakfast and coffee. We took a leisurely run on Dry River (getting stuck twice in the process) and a ride up Second Mountain which turned into a night run on Gauley Ridge. Please note that my expert mapping skills saved us from spending the night, freezing our asses off, in the woods. Okay, so that’s a little exaggeration, but remember kids, just because the map says the road is there, doesn’t mean it is. Oh…and it started to SNOW!
For Saturday, we once again woke up late and decided to travel to Crabtree Falls. It turned out to be a lovely drive, with colorful trees and winding roads. The trail was fun, although we didn’t get to finish it before dark and decided to turn around and head back to camp. The hunters were roaming the trail threatening to shoot us if we didn’t leave. Well, not really threatening to shoot us, but implying they’d be hunting and one said “you sure got a purty mouth, boy.” Okay, maybe not that either, but they wanted us gone. You could tell.
Sunday we awoke early and departed.
The trip was fun and relaxing, even in temperatures just above 32 degrees with no showers. I haven’t been that happy to take a hot shower in quite some time.
Things I know because of this trip:
Pictures to follow…..
We camped on Kephart Run, all the way at the end of the trail, which is equivalent to approximately twenty-two minutes of bumpy, winding forest service road that never ends. By the time we got there on Friday evening and settled in our camp chairs, it was six o’clock and absolutely dark.
On Friday morning, we woke up bright and early at 9am and started our day with a great breakfast and coffee. We took a leisurely run on Dry River (getting stuck twice in the process) and a ride up Second Mountain which turned into a night run on Gauley Ridge. Please note that my expert mapping skills saved us from spending the night, freezing our asses off, in the woods. Okay, so that’s a little exaggeration, but remember kids, just because the map says the road is there, doesn’t mean it is. Oh…and it started to SNOW!
For Saturday, we once again woke up late and decided to travel to Crabtree Falls. It turned out to be a lovely drive, with colorful trees and winding roads. The trail was fun, although we didn’t get to finish it before dark and decided to turn around and head back to camp. The hunters were roaming the trail threatening to shoot us if we didn’t leave. Well, not really threatening to shoot us, but implying they’d be hunting and one said “you sure got a purty mouth, boy.” Okay, maybe not that either, but they wanted us gone. You could tell.
Sunday we awoke early and departed.
The trip was fun and relaxing, even in temperatures just above 32 degrees with no showers. I haven’t been that happy to take a hot shower in quite some time.
Things I know because of this trip:
- Fish DO die when they are frozen.
- It costs $10-$15 to enter Shenandoah National Park (depending on what time of year it is.)
- Degaussing ships is required to keep them from setting off magnetically sensitive ordinances.
- Birds can land on high tension lines, but water pops. Still haven’t figured that one out.
- The difference between a class III misdemeanor and the actual punishment is $4,500 and imprisonment of up to 6 months. (Don’t ask.)
Pictures to follow…..
Labels: camping, Crabtree Falls, Dry River, girl jeep, GWNF, jeep, Kephart Run, mud, tj
posted by Michele at 5:33 AM
1 Comments:
Awesome! I was down at Smith Mountain Lake visiting my grandmother this summer and took my Jeep. I wanted to go to GWNF but I didn't know anybody down there to go with. I did find a nice little service road going up the mountain on the west side of the dam, though. Really would love to do GWNF sometime, though--we don't have ANYWHERE to wheel here in northwest Ohio.
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