Fall Break Backpacking – Triple Crown Edition!

OVERVIEW

This post is wayyy in advance but I wanted to get a feel for who might be interested in backpacking the Triple Crown over fall break!

The catchy name comes from the three pretty sick summits we will hit along the 35ish-mile loop: McAfee Knob, Dragon’s Tooth, and Tinker Cliffs. We will leave Friday afternoon, drive two hours, and hike five(ish) miles to an AT shelter a little way past the McAfee Knob summit.

I’m hoping to do a fairly relaxed 12 mi/day on Saturday and Sunday and around 6 mi/day on Friday evening and Monday morning, stopping to camp at AT shelters and parking lots along the way.

Here’s a map: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/virginia/virginias-triple-crown-loop

This trip isn’t super strenuous in terms of mileage, BUT the elevation gain will be somewhat tough — our route covers over 9,000 cumulative feet of elevation gain — and the trail is occasionally technical and involves rock scrambling/bouldering. For this reason, this trip is not for absolute beginners (but we can talk about it if you’re really interested).

I don’t plan on doing any group food/gear, so you are expected to fully support yourself on your own setup – i.e. pack enough food for three nights/four days. You will also need your own water filtration system!!! (!!!)

Once I have a solid list of trip attendees, I’ll send out an itinerary and we can get more specific in terms of the day-to-day plan.

You’ll have to bring:
– Backpack
– Shelter (tent/hammock/sleeping bag w underquilt)
– Rain gear (rain clothes/pack cover)
– Food setup (food items/stove/fuel/utensil)
– Water setup (2-4 liter capacity – we will have to go one day without a water source/filtration or purification method)
– Essentials (knife/headlamp/first aid kit)
-And of course, hiking shoes (probably not sneakers)

Also:
I NEED drivers!! Drivers will be reimbursed plus a 50% tip!