The Priest is part of the AT in George Washington National Forest. We’ll leave Saturday and hike to the top and camp in or near the shelter. Sunday we’ll either hike back down or make a loop around Crabtree Falls Trail (depending on if we get more than 1 driver). Its probly going to get really cold(below freezing), so bring …
Announcements
Pre-Crickathon Three Ridges Backpacking
The title says it all. Three Ridges is a stellar 12 mile loop off the AT that, naturally, summits and traverses three ridges. We’ll leave Saturday morning after a sleepless night of stoke from the sick ski film showing friday night (which you all should be attending, see upcoming adventures) and hike in and set up camp for the night, …
Mount Pleasant Hiking and Camping
The weather this weekend is looking to be stellar, so come spend it at Mount Pleasant instead of sitting around dreading the first batch of exams coming up. Besides, are you really going to enjoy the library as much as you would enjoy spending your weekend outside? Nah. We’ll head up to Mount Pleasant Saturday morning, hike around 5 miles …
Furnace Mountain Backpacking
Hey guys, I am leading a trip out to Shenandoah National Park to do some overnight backpacking Saturday/Sunday. The drive is under an hour and very nice. We’ll head out and hit the trail. Camp somewhere cool. Hike out and come home. Departure and return times can change so if you are interested but need to leave earlier or come …
Nrg Extravaganza – Hiking & Water Action Photo
This adventure is part of the “Outdoor Extravaganza at the New River Gorge” trip so you must be signed up for that adventure to go on this one. I plan to hike into the NRG to take some whitewater action photos of our brave kayakers and rafters as they pass through the Lower Keeney rapid in the NRG. This is …
Backpack and Swim at St. Mary’s Wilderness
If you’d like a relaxed overnight trip with great swimming holes to cool off in St. Mary’s Wilderness might be the place for you. We will hike approximately 3 to 4 miles up the river that flows out of the Blue Ridge south of Waynesboro and find a place to camp by it’s edge. If the closer campsites are taken …
Awesome Wilderness Survival Speaker!
Hey guys! A friend of mine told me about an event coming up that I think a lot of people might be interested in – it’s a talk on wilderness survival tips & myths, given by an expert in the field who is being flown in from Washington State. Read on if you’re interested! (No need to RSVP/sign up for …
Sweetest Spring Break Trip Ever!
You have the pleasure of joining us to Cumberland Island, GA for a warm and exciting walk through Cumberland Island. We will be backpacking through Maritime Forests of Live Oak Trees and Spanish Moss, and throwing frisbee the whole way through! Cumberland Island is on the southern coast of Georgia. This island boasts over 50 miles of hiking trails, as …
Spring Break Appalachian Trail Hike to Harper’s Ferry
This is a somewhat strenuous, multi-day hike, and will cover approximately 80 miles over the course of 6 days. The plan is to leave on Sunday, March 6th, and be dropped off at the entrance to the Appalachian Trail in Thornton Gap. From there, we will hike on the AT up through Shenandoah National Park until we arrive at Harper’s …
Winter First Aid/Cold Weather Clothing and Gear Discussion
Do you know the signs of hypothermia? Want to learn What Not To Wear in a Backcountry Winter Wonderland? Ever wonder how you move around on several feet of snow? Well, this hour or so is for you! Becca (a Vermonter with tons cold and snow experience) and I (a Southern who drinks lots of tea) are going to answer …
Intermediate Winter Backpacking and Snowshoeing to Dolly Sods, Wv
For this trip, we’ll leave very early on Saturday, drive over to Timberline in West Virginia and take their sky lift up to the Sods. From there, I’d like to get to an overlook several miles to the South. We’ll set up camp near it and check it out around sunset and maybe even again at sunrise! The overlook is …
Winter Break Backpacking in Ocala National Forest, Fl
Sooo, classes don’t start until Wednesday, January 19th, let’s go backpacking! Ocala National Forest in Central Florida has about 70 miles of continuous trails that run through a mix of pine and hardwood forests, prairies, lakes, and swamps. The plan is to backpack the the majority of the length of the forest over 6 days. Here is a great resource …
St. Mary’s Fall Break Basecamping
If you’re like me and have a mortal fear of being attacked by wild ponies, then this is the trip for you! With any luck we’ll be attacked by bears instead, but I seriously doubt this will happen 🙁 So, we’re going to the St. Mary’s Wilderness which is about an hour south of here on the Blue Ridge Parkway …
Fall Break Backpacking: Mt. Rogers.
Mount Rogers is the highest point in the Virginia. I’ve been assured by many people that there is no view at the marker for the tippy-top, but that there are wide open fields and vistas around the area. Also, there are wild ponies. Who want to be your friend. Seriously… So that’s the selling points, wild horsies and views; now …
Linville Gorge Loop
Time for a long weekend adventure in the “Grand Canyon of the East” We will leave after dinner on Thurday (around 7), drive halfway, crash at my family’s place about three hours down the road, then wake up bright and early & drive the remaining 2.5 hours to the trailhead. From the trailhead just outside of Marion, NC we will …
Roaring Plains Backpacking
We will be leaving for Roaring Plains aka Dolly Sods South at 8:45AM sharp Saturday morning. We will drive approximately 3 hrs to the trail head. Upon arrival we will eat bagged lunch (you bring your own). We will hike an easy couple miles and set up base camp, hopefully in a beautiful setting by a stream. After setting up …
Beginner Backpacking: Dolly Sods Overnighter, Mushrooms, Blueberries, and a View
Want to ease into backpacking? Like eating handfuls of blueberries? Are you curious about mushrooms? Well, then this is the trip for you! We will gather together at 10am on Saturday and drive over to the Dolly Sods. (With a lunch stop in Franklin, WV.) When we get to the Sods, we’ll set up camp within 2-3 miles from the …
Learn to Be a Trip Leader Workshop #3
Hoping to lead some AWESOME trips this year? Come to our trip leader workshop and learn the ropes!!! We’ll cover a variety of important points about leading trips, including: – How to plan your trips – Tips for making sure adventures run smoothly – What expenses the club will reimburse you for – Benefits of being a trip leader, including …
Learn to Be a Trip Leader Workshop #2
Hoping to lead some AWESOME trips this year? Come to our trip leader workshop and learn the ropes!!! We’ll cover a variety of important points about leading trips, including: – How to plan your trips – Tips for making sure adventures run smoothly – What expenses the club will reimburse you for – Benefits of being a trip leader, including …
Learn to Be a Trip Leader Workshop #1
Hoping to lead some AWESOME trips this year? Come to our trip leader workshop and learn the ropes!!! We’ll cover a variety of important points about leading trips, including: – How to plan your trips – Tips for making sure adventures run smoothly – What expenses the club will reimburse you for – Benefits of being a trip leader, including …
Outdoor Survival Skills at St. Mary’s Wilderness
This overnight backpacking adventure offers an opportunity to learn some basic outdoor survival skills in a beautiful wilderness area with a waterfall and some great swimming holes. We will hike 2-3 miles in along the river, set up camp and from there make a demonstration survival shelter, find some wild edible plants to add to our dinner and start a …
Beat the Heat: Dollys Sods Backpacking with Blueberries and Mushrooms
It’s way too hot this summer, so we’re headed to West Virginia where the temperatures will be 10-20 degrees cooler. The Dolly Sods Wilderness Area is a great place to try out backpacking. The area is relatively flat, so you won’t be stressing to climb mountains with a heavy pack… There is some variation, but it is on the order …
St Mary’s Swimming and Camping
UPDATE: There is a good chance that we will meet up with Roland’s trip on Sunday at St Mary’s (they are changing venue). Have you looked at the weather report? Do you think numbers that high should be test grades and not temperatures? Let’s get out of the heat and chill in a cooled river valley with a waterfall and …
Memorial Day Weekend in West Virginia: Spice Run!
Tried of the usual backpacking trips where we just slog between known campsites on well-marked trails and then head back to the car? Well, this Spice Run trip is the answer. We’ll leave town Friday, May 28th (say 5pm-ish) for the newly designated Spice Run Wilderness Area in West Virginia. The first night, we’ll car camp at Watoga State Park. …
Roaring Plains – Canceled
CANCELED DUE TO LACK OF PARTICIPANTS UPDATE ON PRICE: There will be a fee on groceries, probably about $10 each for the 4 meals. Please bring your own snacks. Not graduating this weekend but still in Charlottesville? Realize this is a terrible situation as you want to avoid Cville like the plague graduation weekend? I have a solution… We will …
Backpacking at Dolly Sods!
Foxfields Shmoxfields…let’s go backpacking instead! We’re heading to Dolly Sods- an amazingly beautiful wilderness area in the mountains of West Virginia. Check it out: http://potomacappalachian.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=317&Itemid=43 We’ll leave Friday afternoon, drive 3 hours there, grab some dinner and hike the 1-2 miles to the campsite. Saturday, we’ll hike 8-10 miles and camp out. On Sunday we’ll make the 5-6 mile trek …
Hike at Riprap Hollow!
It’s going to be Saturday again soon…let’s go hiking! Riprap Hollow is a 9.5 mile loop in Shenandoah. We’ll leave at 9, drive there, hike about, eat some lunch, hike about some more, maybe even go swimming if it’s warm enough and people are interested, and come back! Check it out: http://www.hikingupward.com/SNP/RiprapHollow/ You bring: Plenty of water Lunch Something to …
Brms Discount Night #2
Hello fellow gearheads, Our discount night at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports is coming up fast! Mon April 12th from 8:15-9:15pm you’ll be part of an exclusive 20% sale to Outdoors at UVa members only. **Don’t forget: If you plan on buying gear that you’ll need to get fitted for (e.g. shoes, packs, etc.) you must go in this week prior …
Austin/Furnace Mountain
Looking to get outside this weekend and get in a good workout too? The plan is to leave at 10 and drive ~45 minutes to the trail head of the Austin and Furnace Mountain loop in the southern section of Shenandoah National Park. Total trip distance is 13.3 miles, and we’ll gain over 3000 feet of elevation, but will be …
~ Riprap Hollow Loop: 3/20 ~
I don’t know about y’all but it’s definitely time to lace up those hiking shoes and go out for a beautiful day hike, hangovers welcome! The plan is to depart from Bonnycastle Circle around 9:00a Drive to the Riprap Hollow Trail in Shenandoah National Park Then to hit the trail and have a great time hiking and viewing the two …
A Glorious, Gallent, Imposing, and Monumental Adventure to Cumberland Island
This trip is gonna be hopping for sure and you wont want to miss out on this journey of a lifetime. Spring break on an island in the southern reaches of the U.S. its gonna be goodies for sure. This is an awesome chance to hit up some warm weather and beaches without having to sell yourself out on the …
Intermediate/Advanced Weekend (Snowshoeing) Backpacking to Laurel Fork!
Whoops! Trip Canceled! Come join Becca (one of the cook’s outstanding cooks) and me for a backpacking trip this weekend! We’ll convene at 4pm on Friday, pack up at Becca’s, and head towards West Virginia and backpack/hike/camp at Laurel Fork. Some info about the area is at http://www.hikingupward.com/GWNF/SlabcampRunLocustSpring/ http://www.hikingupward.com/GWNF/LaurelFork/ All details of this trip are variable. We will use our …
Winter Break Backpacking in Ocala National Forest, Fl
Sooo, classes don’t start until January 20th, let’s go backpacking! Ocala National Forest in Central Florida has about 70 miles of continuous trails that run through a mix of pine and hardwood forests, prairies, lakes, and swamps. The plan is to backpack the length of the forest over 6 days. Here is a great resource with info about the trail …
Crabtree Falls Saturday Hike
Here is the plan: -Meet directly in front of alderman library, ill be parked there just waiting around the crosswalk near the chapel… be there around 11:00 AM -Mapquest says it will take a little over an hour to get there, so thats what I will plan on. -Hiking upward states that the hike will be around 4 hours, ive …
Beginner Backpacking at Ramsey’s Draft
Want to try out backpacking but can’t break free for an entire weekend in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia? Well, this is the trip for you. We’re headed to Ramsey’s Draft which is part of the George Washington National Forest. The hike is described at http://www.hikingupward.com/GWNF/RamseysDraft/ Saturday, we’ll meet up at Bonnycastle Circle and leave at 8am. (Sunset is at 5pm! …
Beginner Backpacking at Dolly Sods, Wv
Come stretch your legs in West Virginia. We will hike in 1-2 miles Friday night, camp out. On Saturday, we’ll hike 8-10 miles to our second campsite near Red Creek. We’ll plan on getting to camp early so that we can make a nice, big fire early since it’ll be dark early and rather cold. Sunday, we’ll pack up, hike …
House Mountain Trip.
Lets go check out House Mountain Becca told me about this looks like a pretty sweet beginnerish backpacking trip. It is about a 3 mile hike with packs to a saddle where we would camp. Then there is 2 different out and back hikes two to three mile each from the saddle. These go to Big and Little House Mountains …
Overnight Backpacking at Three Ridges
This is a beginner-friendly one-night backpacking trip to Three Ridges in the George Washington National Forest. This hike is supposed to have some fantastic views, so this is a good chance to catch the end of the fall colors! More information is available here: http://www.hikingupward.com/GWNF/ThreeRidges/. Right now the trip is set at 4 people because that’s how many I can …
Brms Discount Night
Hello fellow gearheads, Our discount night at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports is coming up fast! Next Wed Nov 4th from 8:15-9:15pm you’ll be part of an exclusive 20% sale to Outdoors at UVa members only. **Don’t forget: If you plan on buying gear that you’ll need to get fitted for (e.g. shoes, packs, etc.) you must go in this week …
Let Go to Humpback…the Leaves Are Sooo Pretty!
Hey guys! So i don’t know about you, but i would like to go to Humpback rocks, maybe eat some dinner, camp out, and watch the sunrise while eating some breakfast! So the plan is to drive FROM MY HOUSE (departure point) to the parking lot in which we will not be taking the steep hour up trail. Instead we …
Old Rag Sunset Hike/Camping Out/Sunrise Hike
Aloha, This Friday night (weather permitting), we are going to hike the beloved Old Rag mountain in the Shenandoah National Forest at sunset. Then we’ll camp out near the base of the mountain (You can camp below 2500 feet) and, if people want, we can hike AGAIN to see the sunrise in the morning! For those of you who haven’t …
Cold Mountain/ Mt. Pleasant Backpacking Trip.
Super awesome two night intermediate/tough beginner backpacking trip. We will hike in 6 miles on Friday to awesome camp site pictures on the Cold Mt. Link. Then we will make a 11ish mile day hike looping Mt. Pleasant and Cold together. We will hopefully do lunch on Mt. Pleasant and then possibly dinner and sunset back at Cold Mt. Meadows …
Hiking Big Schloss
I have heard great things about this hike and cannot wait to see what it is really like. It’s a bit of a drive (~2 hours), but will hopefully be worth it. Views are said to rival Old Rag. This shouldn’t be too strenuous of a hike, only steep in the beginning, and it will be up and back, not …
Blackberry Backpacking at Spruce Knob
By significant majority, the winner is blackberries at Spruce Knob! I received a fair amount of interest so let’s give it a shot. This trip is a good beginner backpacking trip. It’s only one night and the first day hike is downhill (no significant climbs) and the second day hike is flat (but with stream crossings). On the way to …
Backpack to the Beach!
Hello backpackers and beach bums. False cape state park is located in Virginia beach. You can check out all details about the park online. Just google false cape state park and you will find a great description of the park. we will be hiking in about 8 miles in flat ground to get to our campsite pretty much right on …
Cedar Run Hike/Swim
Hey- This is a trip with pretty short notice, but I am in Charlottesville for the weekend! I wanted to get back into nature a little bit. This is a pretty easy hike, description and pictures can be found here: http://www.hikingupward.com/SNP/CedarRun/ I plan on leaving the kroger parking lot at 10:00, The drive is 45 minutes up to the trail, …
Eiger Sanction Movie Night
Location is MAD HOUSE at 7pm. Hey folks, Everyone loves Clint Eastwood. You might not know, but he was once the official mascot of the club. In honor of him and his awesome climbing ability, we are watching the Eiger Sanction hat 7PM on Sunday. Its a baller 70’s movie about a mountain climber (Clint) who has to assassinate someone …
Mt.Rogers Back Packing July Fourth Weekend!
Grayson Highlands State Park is located adjacent to Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. The park lies within Jefferson National Forest. The park was established in 1965 and contains a total of 4,822 acres. The park hosts many forests like those present on nearby Mount Rogers, as well as a number of high alpine meadows or balds. These meadows provide excellent …
Whisperlite Stove and Backcountry Cooking Workshop
There have recently been some issues with people either not knowing how to operate Whisperlites or with the Whisperlites running poorly during camping trips. This workshop intends to address both issues. We will go over how to setup, light, and operate a Whisperlite. In the process we will probably find some stoves that are operating poorly and go over field …
Wild Edible and Medicinal Plant Hike
If you would like to learn a variety of wild plants that you can use for food, herbal first aid, and starting camp fires this might the adventure for you. We will cover safety considerations with regard to harvesting and identifying wild plants and identify a number of berry bushes as well as edible roots and greens. I look forward …