Three day hike in Virginia

[c.coyle]

We're thinking of doing a two-nighter (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) in Virginia, where we've never hiked, probably in early to mid June. Say, 10 miles per day. We don't mind tenting. Of course, we're looking for the most spectacular scenery per mile. Any suggestions?

[MOWGLI]

We're thinking of doing a two-nighter (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) in Virginia, where we've never hiked, probably in early to mid June. Say, 10 miles per day. We don't mind tenting. Of course, we're looking for the most spectacular scenery per mile. Any suggestions?

Mount Rogers NRA & Grayson Highlands State Park in SW Virginia. For my money, it's one of the most scenic areas on the whole trail. There are many, many trails in this area, so you could probably put together a nice loop using some of the AT. Some of the most scenic areas in Mount Rogers NRA are off of the AT. In fact, that's the case in many places (Shenandoah NP, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Gulf Hagas in Maine).

http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/graysonh.htm

Whatever you decide, have fun!

[Skyline]

Any combination of trails that include the Mt. Rogers/Grayson Highlands area would definitely fit your wants and needs.

If you have two vehicles, I might recommend putting one at VA728/Creek Junction, the other at VA603/Fox Creek trailhead and hiking south on the A.T. Total=27.2 mi. (If you have only one vehicle, I'd park at VA728 and arrange for a shuttle from there to Fox Creek.)

Lotsa diverse environments and views, low country and high country, with plenty of camping opportunities including several shelters where you can stay under a roof or tent nearby. When you get up into the high country, you'll need to be conservative about water--it's harder to come by there and because of the ponies and cattle that roam the area you'll want to filter it.

Once you get a map of this area, you might also find some side trails off the A.T. to explore and/or substitute. Many thru-hikers, when finished, list this area as one they want to come back to and spend more time in--it's that good.

[lisavogt]

We're thinking of doing a two-nighter (Saturday, Sunday, Monday) in Virginia, where we've never hiked, probably in early to mid June. Say, 10 miles per day. We don't mind tenting. Of course, we're looking for the most spectacular scenery per mile. Any suggestions?

If you start in Damascus Virginia (southern portion by Grayson higland) There is a hostile you may park your car for $2 a day (?) at and take a shuttle from the Mt.Roger's outfitter's up to the park. You can start your hike up at Grayson Higland State Park and do a thru-hike to Damascus. You can also go the opposite direction and start at the park with your car and shuttle back from Damscus to your car. I believe the shuttle costs around $40. This is a really good experience and it is what I did this last summer. The hike is about 36 miles.

[Lone Wolf]

You may park your vehicle at my place in Damascus for free and I'll shuttle you where ever you need to go for gas $. And beer. Seriously, I'll help you any way possible. Contact me closer to your hike date.

[c.coyle]

Deleted. See next.

[c.coyle]

Looks like we're doing Grayson Highlands / Mt. Rogers / Damascus Sat June 6 - Mon June 8.

We've never hiked Virginia before, so we have two questions, one short, one long:

1. How full should we expect the shelters to be?

2. We're thinking of doing 603 south to Damascus. I'm figuring 13 on Day 1 to Thomas Knob, 13 on Day 2 to Lost Mountain, then 15 on Day 3 to Damascus. My wife and I are 50. We hike Pa. almost every weekend between March and November, 10 -15 miles at a time. We're in decent shape for old folks, but not thru-hiker shape. For those of you who have hiked both states, is Southwest Virginia tougher than Pa.? Are we biting off more than we can chew? Obviously, the altitude is higher, but the ups and downs don't look much worse. What do you think?

[tlbj6142]

Looks like we're doing Grayson Highlands / Mt. Rogers / Damascus Sat June 6 - Mon June 8.

I hiked a similar route last year. Check out this thread. Over all the grade isn't too bad, some short runs were a bit steep. Lots of rocks (but given your PA background that shouldn't be an issue). But the open areas (with views) more than made up for it. If I remember correctly, the worst part of me was the 4-6 miles south of buzzard rock. But that may have been because my knees were in bad shape by then. My younger brother didn't seem to have any issues with it.

Go slow, take lots of breaks and you'll be fine.

In May, water was a bit more difficult to find than what the VA trail guide, ATC maps and Maps Illustrated (Mt Rogers National Recreation Area) led us to to believe. For the most part we only found water at shelters. And a couple times after Thomas Knob (of course it rained cats and dogs the day before).

Also, take Lone Wolf up on his offer. He truly is a nice guy even if he doesn't come across that way sometimes.

Thomas Knob is a large shelter so space there probably won't be an issue. But it is safe to assume the rest of shelters will be full. Unless you plan to arrive at your destination shelter at 3pm, bring your tent. There were plenty of tent (and hammock) sites around all of the shelters we walked by.

Have fun.

[bobgessner57]

Thomas Knob can fill up quickly on the weekends. There are great campsites within a reasonable distance of the shelter and its water. Trail north of the shelter there are sites in the woods, open areas and mixed tree/meadow depending on your interests and the weather. Great views from many sites. Last time I camped up there we spooked 6 deer that were bedded down within 50 feet of our tent. The ponies came to visit, too.

Another sweet campsite is above the creek bridge just north of Wise shelter. It is a reasonably flat grassy area with spaces between the rocks suitable for a 2-3 person tent, nice rocks to sit/cook on, and scattered trees suitable to rig a food bag. Close to the trail but secluded, close to the creek if you want to cool your feet. It is also in the recreation area so camping is legal there.