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TexasEd
06-28-2010, 14:46
Looking for advice on hiking NOBO starting at Dickey Gap in August.

We went from Dickey Gap to Damascus last August and loved it. Now we want to see how far north we can get in Virginia before we get too old. :)

We'll be hiking 4 or 5 days. We easily handled 12-20 miles a day on our trip last year.

Briefly looking at a crude online map it looks like we should go to Partnership the first day ~14 miles
Davis Path the second day ~14 miles
Knot Maul on the third ~ 11 miles
try to make Jenkins on the 4th ~ 19 miles? It looks like mostly ridge running.


Should we get off before Jenkins at the Burkes Garden Road or go the extra day and get off at Laurel Creek/Suiter road?

Are these legs too short based on the terrain? I don't think we would mind stretching it as much as 70 miles this time

I can't find the way-point listing I had last year which showed the road crossings as well as the shelters with distances. If you have a link that would help me out. My brother has the map, but he lives in Virginia and I live in Texas.

Are there better campgrounds than others?
Up to date info on water sources?
Blue Blaze trails we should look into?

I got some great advice here last year!

Thanks,
Ed

Kerosene
06-28-2010, 14:56
The trail from Dickey Gap to Davis Path is pretty easy in general, and then gets a slight bit tougher going north.

Your first two days are easy; if you get an early start you could make it to the Chatfield Shelter, which would give you about 21 miles for the first day. Note that the Davis Path Shelter no longer exists, but you can tent there. You've got two major climbs between Knot Maul Branch and Jenkins shelters, but the trail is smooth and the grades reasonable. I recall that there is a campsite down the mountain between Chestnut Knob and Jenkins shelters.

I'd take the extra day and get out at the highway to Bland/Bastian.

TexasEd
06-28-2010, 15:03
Thanks!

We would prefer to tent out and not use shelters when possible.

I read stories about Partnership getting very crowded and pizza delivery. I think we would want to keep going if that is the case, especially the first day.

Cookerhiker
06-28-2010, 15:05
Looking for advice on hiking NOBO starting at Dickey Gap in August.

We went from Dickey Gap to Damascus last August and loved it. Now we want to see how far north we can get in Virginia before we get too old. :)

We'll be hiking 4 or 5 days. We easily handled 12-20 miles a day on our trip last year.

Briefly looking at a crude online map it looks like we should go to Partnership the first day ~14 miles
Davis Path the second day ~14 miles
Knot Maul on the third ~ 11 miles
try to make Jenkins on the 4th ~ 19 miles? It looks like mostly ridge running.


Should we get off before Jenkins at the Burkes Garden Road or go the extra day and get off at Laurel Creek/Suiter road?

Are these legs too short based on the terrain? I don't think we would mind stretching it as much as 70 miles this time

I can't find the way-point listing I had last year which showed the road crossings as well as the shelters with distances. If you have a link that would help me out. My brother has the map, but he lives in Virginia and I live in Texas.

Are there better campgrounds than others?
Up to date info on water sources?
Blue Blaze trails we should look into?

I got some great advice here last year!

Thanks,
Ed

Your first 3 days should be achievable - that section's not too bad and I hiked most of it in winter (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=87809). In order to balance out the mileage, I'd stop at Knot Maul to cook dinner and then hike a few more hours & miles.

If you decide to stay at Knot Maul, your 19 mile day does have ridgewalking but you start with a long uphill to the ridgeline culminating in Chestnut Knob (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=98012). You then descend followed by an ascent to the Garden Mountain ridgeline. I recall that there are some rocky stretches along Garden Mountain but not a lot of extreme ups and downs. I think you can make it with an early start.

Assuming you reach Jenkins Shelter, I hope you have time to end your hike at Rt. 21 near Bland rather than Laurel Creek Rd.(per Kerosene's recommendation). It will put you in better stead for resuming your next section hike: Bland to Pearisburg.

Have a great hike!

TexasEd
06-28-2010, 15:32
Yes, I think we will try to make it to Bland. It should make it easier for our ride to find us too. They will be coming from Radford.

Here is the revised plan.

Day 0 - Drop off in evening; hike to Raccoon Branch or Trimpi ~2 miles (comments?)
Day 1 - Hike to Chatfield ~20 miles
Day 2 - Hike to Knot Maul Branch ~19 miles
Day 3 - Hike to Jenkins ~19 miles
Day 4 - Hike to Bland ~12 miles get picked up around noon

Total 71.2 miles

It would be nice if there was a shelter between Trimpi and Partnership that we could get to on the initial day.


Thoughts?
Comments on these shelters?

Thanks again.

Kerosene
06-28-2010, 16:38
There are some nice tentsites along a river that you cross a few miles north of Trimpi. There are also a few dry sites along the trail across the river for the next mile or so. I also recall an open, level area just south of a dirt road crossing, which I believe was 3-5 miles south of Partnership. The reason I recall all of these is that I go to Partnership (SOBO) from I-81 in mid-afternoon and it was just too early to stop. I thought that I'd camp at one of these tentsites, but it was such a lovely evening that I just kept walking until I reached Trimpi.

Cookerhiker
06-28-2010, 16:51
Yes, I think we will try to make it to Bland. It should make it easier for our ride to find us too. They will be coming from Radford.

Here is the revised plan.

Day 0 - Drop off in evening; hike to Raccoon Branch or Trimpi ~2 miles (comments?)
Day 1 - Hike to Chatfield ~20 miles
Day 2 - Hike to Knot Maul Branch ~19 miles
Day 3 - Hike to Jenkins ~19 miles
Day 4 - Hike to Bland ~12 miles get picked up around noon

Total 71.2 miles

It would be nice if there was a shelter between Trimpi and Partnership that we could get to on the initial day.


Thoughts?
Comments on these shelters?

Thanks again.

If an old guy like me can hike Trimpi-to-Chatfield (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=87810) in one day in the winter, you can easily hike it!

TexasEd
06-28-2010, 19:05
Just seems like a waste to only go 4 miles the first day unless it is really late.

Any blue blaze trails, swimming holes, waterfalls, etc we should look into?

We probably want to avoid local traffic if possible at campsites.

TexasEd
08-23-2010, 18:02
We made it 55 miles in 4 days - up to VA 623.

Long hot stretches across cattle fields.


We were beneficiaries of trail magic at Hwy 42/Blue Grass trail at a picnic pavilion.

Best place was swimming hole in what I think was Lick Creek.

The School house at Settler's museum was really nice.

Not much water in some spots. I updated the shelters.

TexasEd
08-23-2010, 18:09
Oh, and there were several old apple orchards to go through with good tasting apples.