12th Annual Linville Gorge Trip!

“Mr. moonshine,

How much snow is on the ground there?

In what condition is Old NC Hwy 105?”

“Spammy and JB - keep me updated! Will check this thread to make sure the plans are still on by Friday. I know I have been MIA, but Eric, baby in utero, and I might come out and crash your party Friday or Saturday night. ;D”

“Linville, Linville, Linville!!!”

“road conditions about same as last yr.same camp site right next to the hyway.campsite will hold 10 cars and 2 across road.
Lonewolf,give me a hollar if ya wanna come back over sometime soon”

“Thanks moonshine.

If road conditions are what they were last year, Old NC Hwy 105 (it's actually a gravel mountain road) will be slippery in places, especially the hills. All-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive recommended. Otherwise make arrangements to leave your vehicle at parking area along the road and carpool the rest of the way to avoid getting stuck.”

“Mr. moonshine,

What about the snow/ice on the trails? Should I consider bringing my snowshoes? ...crampons?”

“Thanks, Moonshine will do”

“Do you think my front wheel vehicle with chains on it will make it up the mountain?”

“Just checking in! I havent been at work since Thursday part weather part economics so I may be later arriving on Friday than I thought! Im sure i will have alot to catch up on when i go back! See yall friday!”

“u can try crampons,but even the best pair on the market tend to fall apart here,u can easily park at the falls parking and shuttle or hike the 2.5 miles to site.very cold thurs and fri night.38 and foggy today.if ya have a sled theres some good sledding on the road at night.overall trail conditions a lot better than last yr with little blow down and 5 in or so of snow”

“yes windi you'll make it fine”

“From Trubrit.
I am bringing plenty of food if any would like to partake. Fri Night I have Italian beef, Ham and Turkey Tortilla sub wraps (Fresh)
Sat Morn, Bacon ,eggs,sausage patties, Mushrooms, Sausage gravy, (someone near please bring some fresh biscuits.) OJ.
Sat evening, Mongolian beef, Chicken noodle thick soup, Steak and veg thick soup.
I also picked up a load of Trail mix bags You can have for a buck a piece.
Bottle of Captain and I have a case of 36 Diet cokes. Brandy for the trail flask ! LOL
Oh I also have some great Angus beef burgers and buns. Bring cheese if you want it on your bun.
I am bringing a whisper quiet genny for the cooking and food warmers.
Three 20 gallon water containers.
I dont mind shuttling anyone if the snow is a problem.
see you there.
Trubrit.”

“Wow, looks like trubrit will have enough food for everyone.

Crazygurl, you gonna be there Sat.?”

“I am waivering...more towards the possibly not. :-( Can't yall do this in the spring! LOL”

“sunshine and 44 today ,2 have arrived and we r going skiing at Sugar all day today,the road is just packed snow.”

“gosh i can't wait to get there. i worked all day yesterday at the hospital. spent the night in a hotel near the hospital, and now i'm back at hospital for a twelve hour shift today. i'm really gonna need a vacation after this week!”

“btw, where the heck has fridge been lately? he'd not signed up for this trip nor did he come to last years trip... whats up?”

“Weather forecast looks decent. I'll be arriving Friday by 12 noon.

If nothing is scheduled for Friday PM, I'll be doing an afternoon hike.

Thanks again moonshine for the road and trail conditions info.”

“We will be there Saturday, late morning. Thanks for the updates!”

“Hmmmm, do I want to drive 8hrs in this weather. Not a very smart move. I am out! Yo bear!”

“most likly this trip would be a 12 hr drive given the road conditions! NOPE! Yo bear!”

“roads clear from here to Wooster Ohio.friends drove 450 miles 7.5hrs in a 1998 2 wheel drive ford van.be careful,drive safe”

“I talked to spam early morning and said I might be able to get there and eat breakfast with you all at the restaurant. I'll be at SORUCK this weekend NOC.”

“Moonshine. woster to linville clear roads. I will relook at this. So I am a possible!Yo bear!”

“they came 77 to 81 to 11w to 19e to 194 to 221 to 183.must have 4x4 or chains and know what your doin to get the last2 miles of Kistler.or park in the flat and walk or shuttle up road.the melt during day will refreeze at night of course.”

“I'm planning on leaving around 6 am CST Friday, should put me there @ 3pm EST. Looking forward to a weekend away! See yall then!”

“weather report is saying 4-8 more inches of snow tomorrow?!?! Is that true?

Last 2 miles of Kistler, keep moving slowly and you can make it. Stop and it's hard to get traction. At least that was my experience last year.”

“OK, I am making this trip. I should be arriving between 4 and 5pm. I have a 4x4 so if anyones in the parking area, wave me down. I will be in a Burgundy 4Runner.”

“sunshine and 20 this morning,lots of wind lastnight,I havnt heard of or seen anymore snowfall”

“Moonshine, how much snow do you have on the ground?”

“some spots are a ft some bare,campsite is about 6,the wind really blew it around,and with the sun and warm up prolly only b around 4 on the trails”

“Thanks to work, I'm out for this trip. Everyone have fun and post pictures!”

“Going to have to opt out on crashing your car camping party. Its been too long for Linville. My heart is sad. Prolly best though since this baby belly doesn't fit into any of my gear anyway.”

“and the numbers drop...

gettin' on the road in about an hour or so...”

“Hey I'm back home! Jackie aka Snapshot and I took a side trip on the way home to see Tom's Creek Falls. It was beautiful with the ice and snow. Jackie will have some photos posted later on Facebook and I will try to make a link for them .We had a blast as always and it was great to meet a few new folks!”

“It was great seeing some of the familiar faces, as well as meeting some new faces.
Had a awesome time!

Now find me on facebook...I can't find anyone”

“Had a lot of fun,hope to see ya out on the trails”

“pics or it didnt happen”

“Got back about 1 hour ago. Had a great time. It was good to see those that I knew from past trips again and great to meet all the new people. Trubrit, thankyou for all the delicious meals you cooked us, they were tasty. Spam, once again thankyou for organizing the trip and for getting the firewood. Moonshine, thanks for leading the hike. Acbabe says hi to everyone and was sorry she missed out on the good times. Hopefully next year she will come.”

“What a beautiful place! Can't believe I have missed this trip all these years. I will definately go back again, maybe as early as this spring! There are so many trails to explore.

I really enjoyed catching up with old friends, and making new ones. Thanks to Spam for organizing this again, and for playing his music. Can't wait until next year. :)”

“Nice pics!”

“what trail did you guys do?”

“someone correct me if I am wrong but we went down the Babel Tower trail to the Linville Gorge trail and came up the Bynum Bluff Trail and back to camp.
last edited: 1/16/11 5:36:34 PM”

“Great pics and trip reports! I had this trip on my radar, but after digging out ourselves here at home, I was sick of snow. And just got back from a meeting and it looks like I will be back at work real soon, gotta get out more for sure.”

“Pure Jealousy, looks like it was a great time”

“Awesome pix crazygurl, thanx for posting'em for Trubrit, that's one character that I really wanted to meet! Next time. I'm like karo, man what a whopper digging outa this one. I gotta get a scrape-blade system, or a nice oldie redneck truck. Kids had school Saturday and today, to make up for our many missed snowdays.

Spam ole fellow hate that I couldn't make it, I'll see ya sometime. Your pimped out ride do good up around Linville?

I'll post a thread later asking what I should get, Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, a Toy ..... what? I wanna good older farm truck 4x4 that will get up my driveway and bedamned of 14" of snow. If ya gotta awesome answer that's more'na sentence, save it for that thread plz.”

“well Ape there is this F150 over the bank here in Linville along Kistler,it may belong to a TTr but im still not sure on that...lol maybe someone else can explain more”

“Monday evening here in Virginia Beach ...arrived this afternoon -- visiting a friend for a few days before heading home to PA ...when I get there I'll post some of the pix I took.

Had a great time ...nice hike on Saturday ...good weather ...some old friends and some new ones ...warm around the campfire ...more snow on the ground this year was nice.  Sunday after a great b'fast w/ everyone at Famous Louise's I headed over to the east rim, hiked the short trail up Hawksbill, surveyed the places hiked this year and last year, and enjoyed the sunny views before firmly placing the 12th Annual into my memory.

Kudos to: TrueBrit for his generosity and some really good grub; Creek Dancer for the delicious apple crisp; moonshine for his extensive knowledge of the gorge and for leading the Saturday hike; of course Spam for organizing the whole thing again this year; and the Creator for making such wonder-filled places to marvel at and enjoy.”