North Fork Trail II

“On Thursday last week, a college buddy of mine and I decided to call off work on Friday and go hiking somewhere. I've been itchin' to go back to the North Fork Trail in WVA after a stellar adventure there in December with Skully, Buddur, Gonzo & HOI.

We set off at 6:00 Thursday night after intense last minute packing (spontinaity rules!). We arrived in the area at about midnight, and found no hotels open, so we headed 60 miles out of our way to Harrisonburg Va to shack for the night. It turns out that there was a college commencement ceremony the next day, which meant the hotels were mostly booked. I never thought I'd say this.... but.... thank god for Shoney's. Marlin, the late night check in guy was able to get us a room (even with all the Jesus music blaring in the background).

The next day, we set out for the trail. We had only one vehicle, and this wasn't a loop trail, so I banked on parking the car at the end of the trail, and finding a ride to the trail head by hitching.

Didn't work. We hitched for an hour, and all my efforts at flashing the leg were for not. We ened up getting a ride from a local guy named Jerry (a hunting guide) from a local gift shop. $30 and many stories later, we arrived at the trailhead.

Day 1 - beautiful day, clear, no wind and no bugs - 68 degrees tops. Perfect hiking conditions! We logged 8 miles and called it a day.

Day 2 - Up at the crack of dawn. My buddy and I have a quick pace, so we were able to log 14 miles before we had to shut it down at 2:00. A mjor rain/hail/snow storm rolled in out of nowhere. This was the first time I was using my Walrus Trekker Tarp, and it proved itself big time. I've never been happier with a piece of gear than that tarp on Saturday. It kept the rain out, yet we were still able to cook, stretch and keep all of our gear dry, and watch the storm! We also saw an Albino deer earlier in the day. The weather cleared that night and we polished off a bottle of merlot under the stars.

Day 3 - Beautiful day. I got some amazing pics. The views on this trail are spectacular. Logged about 7 miles and was at the car by 11:00. We scarfed down a few hotdogs, caught up on the Indians for the past three days, and headed home.

I plan on going back this fall. So far, everyone who has hiked this trail loves it.

Peace - out

BB”

“bb....

i have been thinking about purchasing one of those walrus tarps (mostly based on birch and sassa's recommendations)....

did you use trekking poles to shore it up with?

did you have to fiddle around with it much to keep the rain out??

glad you got to return up to the north fork....did you stash water??

what a great trip!!”

“Sounds like a fun trip!

After 10 days on the trail and a dead battery at the end, I tried hitching with pctpacker (64 yo at the time). No one would pick us up, so he said "I saw this in a movie once" and hid in a shady area across Hwy 395. I got picked up 15 minutes later.”

“Good going on the tarp in the snow storm. Tried it and don't know how you do it.

The merlot seemed apropos.

Peace,

tekdude \o/”

“Hmmm...BB, I don't know why you had trouble getting a ride after showing your leg. Works for me every time ; )

Sounds like a great weekend! I assume the spring was running this time of year so you didn't have to stash water? I'm glad you were able to get some good clear views. Be sure and post the pics for the rest of us poor hike-less saps.”

“Gonzo: I tried a few different things with the trekker tarp. Day 1 I used my poles as the main structure to rest the tarp on, and didn't use the awning (It was like a normal tent). Day II - I bungeed the tarp to two trees and used my poles for the awning. It worked great!

I used these great bungees that Supertroll uses. And the trekker tarp came highly reccommended from Budder, Sassy and Birch..... it was a great combo.

Skully - we still had to pack in water.... that combined with the Merolt was pretty tough, but worth it.

BTW - We are planning on hiking the trail again in the fall when the leaves are changing. I'll keep ya'll posted, maybe we can get a trip going.

BTW2 - If Snownymp showed her leg now, I'd prolly drive all the way to CA to pick her up :)”