Newbie Appalachian Trail Hike Question

[sideview1]

Hello, I was recently asked to be a best man at a wedding. I would like to make the weekend bachelor party a bit different than many I have attended. I'm really looking at doing a day hike on the trail near Roanoke VA either on Friday or Saturday. We will be staying at a house in Smith Mountain Lake and doing fishing, etc, and then maybe going into Roanoke in the evening. What I'm wondering is for a group of about 10 30-something guys is 12.1 miles north of Roanoke, too long of a walk, or about right? I have listed the two spots I picked out on the interactive map:

USFS186-Mile 97.7 BRP, VA and US11-Troutville, VA = 12.1 miles

A few additional questions would be, what's the best way to do a hike, just leave a couple cars at the starting point, and a couple cars at the bottom and then go back and fetch them once the hike is over? Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

[Malto]

12 miles for the average American could put some of them in some hurt. I would think a shorter distance would be better unless they are a group that is in very good shape.

[FarmerChef]

12 miles for the average American could put some of them in some hurt. I would think a shorter distance would be better unless they are a group that is in very good shape.

Agreed. A nice 5 or 6 mile hike over level terrain is often just right. Down that way, the trail is anything but level ;) A cool dayhike up to Tinker Cliffs and/or McAfee Knob would be a great and very doable day hike with a nice reward at the top! Just a thought.

[johnnybgood]

To make the hike an enjoyable experience for everyone, I would keep the mileage low.

Hike up to McAfee Knob, 3.7 miles from the
311 parking area - the return trip is all downhill .

There's plenty hiking to explore along the cliffs up there.

For those wanting to hike onward to Tinkers I suggest you camel up , the ridgeline is dry.

[moldy]

This is a bad idea. A one of those "who's idea was this" deal? 10 out of shape hung over 30 something's on a one way trip with no good exits except straight ahead on the Appalachian Train in Central Virginia in the heat of Summer. Hike fast because they will beat you if they catch you. Perhaps a short trip up to Dragons Tooth or McAfee's Knob will be better.

[sideview1]

Thanks for some awesome suggestions, I'm thinking the McAfee and Tinkers combo is a good option since we could easily extend it, or if we want to go swimming / fishing then we could finish a hike and turn back. We're think the time frame will be mid-september to mid-october for this. We do have a warrior dash in richmond around that time, so it could be a nice warmup or maybe cool down! :)

In response to Mr. moldy's comment:


This is a bad idea. A one of those "who's idea was this" deal? 10 out of shape hung over 30 something's on a one way trip with no good exits except straight ahead on the Appalachian Train in Central Virginia in the heat of Summer. Hike fast because they will beat you if they catch you. Perhaps a short trip up to Dragons Tooth or McAfee's Knob will be better.

I appreciate and recognize the possible assumption that all the 30 somethings are out of shape, but I'm not necessarily sure that's accurate. I realize part of this is my fault for probably not posting more details, but I think all of us are in pretty good shape. We do the adventure races such as the Spartan Race (10+ miles w/ 70+ obstacles) in Leesburg last mid-August last year and most recently all of us have run the less intense, but more enjoyable 3.2 mile + obstacles warrior dash last April. Granted chasing our kids have slowed our free time to exercise and we're not winning these races by any means, but we do try and get in what we can. So, maybe you and your friends wouldn't like something like that, but that's your choice.

[johnnybgood]

Good to see that this group is up for the challenge. I'll will then suggest to you the Andy Layne Trail, which will give you another option instead of backtracking to Catawba parking. This way you can park the 2nd car at Rt.779 and do your 12+ miles. www.trailheadfinder.com/trail_editor/show/945 (http://www.trailheadfinder.com/trail_editor/show/945) .

[WalksInDark]

I have hiked that section many times and would think that at least half of your group will think it is an ordeal, not an adventure to do 10 or 12 miles. As others have shared, this area has lots of elevation changes and high temps can also add to the difficulty in this section.

[Mags]

All depends on the group. We did a bachelor party hike as two 18 mile day hikes (Euro-style to a hostel and then back)... And we were all 35+ yo Americans. :D

Be honest about what you can do/ enjoy. If your group is up for a 12 mile day *and* enjoys it, go for it. If not, no need to torture yourself. Tinker Cliffs sounds rather cool.

[sideview1]

Thanks again for the great thoughts. As for walking time in some of these parks, I've been estimating for a medium pace would be about 25 min per mile some slower on steeper terrain, some faster on level terrain. Is that too slow?

Thanks, I think http://www.hikingupward.com/JNF/TinkerCliffsAndyLayneTrail/ sounds pretty nice. Based on their estimate it's only 3.5 hours and we could extend it depending on the general group interest.

Based on the Tinker Cliffs route, would hiking boots be recommended, or will a good pair of trail shoes/sneakers work out just as well?

Thanks again!

[fredmugs]

This is a bad idea. A one of those "who's idea was this" deal? 10 out of shape hung over 30 something's on a one way trip with no good exits except straight ahead on the Appalachian Train in Central Virginia in the heat of Summer. Hike fast because they will beat you if they catch you. Perhaps a short trip up to Dragons Tooth or McAfee's Knob will be better.

ASSume much?

[tarditi]

Tinker Cliffs is a great hike... or you could run up Dragon's Tooth - both have parking nearby so it's really just a hike to the attraction and back.
Either can be done as an overnight or single-day with early start/late finish.

[slbirdnerd]

2 miles per hour is a fair estimate. Maybe more for some. Maybe less for others. You just don't know how people will handle the climbs. I am "in pretty good shape" and the climb up Sassafras Mountain was challenging. I'm just sayin'. Of course I had half my kid's stuff in my pack...

[waasj]

Factor in altitude. If some of the guys are from sealevel, they may be sucking wind no matter how good a shape they are in. I would suggest hiking to a view (Mc Afee, Dragon's Tooth) and leave time to hang out and pop a top (if you are into that sort of thing).

[TEXMAN]

After the hike drive to THE Home Place Restaurant in Catawba ... all you can eat family style > 3 meats > veggies > Biscuits >dessert for a set price ( used to be $15) ...you'll be hungry after hiking

[VTATHiker]

+1 on The Home Place! They're only open a few days of the week though - check that out ahead of time.

[sideview1]

Thanks for the suggestions all. We ended up doing the Dragon's tooth hike in the rain on Friday. We put on our $1 ponchos and headed on up. Our leaders took us up at a brisk pace. We parked at the 311 location and were at the camping area in about 30-35 minutes. We then went up the steeper part. The last .7 miles is certainly more strenuous, and if you're not comfortable with some tighter ledges you might not want to do this in the rain. We only saw one other hiker on the trip, and the parking area was empty. We did the hole hike in 2.5 hours, with a bit of time at the top where we had a something to drink and chilled out for a bit. Then walked back down, which is much easier. Harder on the knees and ankles at some point, especially when wet. Didn't have much of a view due to the rain, but still was fun. I would fully recommend hiking boots with some type of ankle support.

Thanks again!