Beginner Backpacking at Ramsey’s Draft

OVERVIEW

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! The hike will take around 6 hours.) The drive to the trailhead is 1.5 hours, and then we’ll hike for an hour or three, eat some lunch. We’ll hike a total 10-12 miles the first day with an elevation gain of 2000 feet with some ups and downs making total climb a bit more. (The first part is step and then climbs more slowly.) On Sunday, we’ll hike 6-8 miles out. There is some quite interesting and serious streams crossings on the second day. Expect to get wet.

The weather report is still coming, but my spidey sense (and history) tells me that the weather will be high in the mid 40s-low 50s during the day with lows around 10-20. Perfect weather for hiking so that you don’t sweat;) If the forecast takes a severe turn for the rain or snow, we’ll re-think things.

Club provides:
-A ride there and back again. (Gas + 30% for drivers)
-Hot food and drink. (Saturday Sunday – Sunday lunch, some snacks, hot cocoa and tea, great coffee)
-Gear. (Backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, headlamps, water filter, cooking stuff.)

You provide:
-Warm, warm clothes, strong preference for non-cotton (meaning no denim, no jeans).
-Good footwork. (I recommend good shoes and wool socks. We will cross water on Sunday, so water shoes (Crocs) and/or trekking poles would be a great idea. A spare pair of shoes for the car is a great idea since your feet will be wet. )
-Rain gear.
-Things to eat on and with.
-Water bottles/containers. (At least enough space for 2 liters.)
-Toiletries (We’re not going to shower, but you don’t want to get a weird nickname because you smell like the lox bagel you had for breakfast.)
-Maybe some money for Food on the way back. (We probably won’t stop, but just in case.)

You can earn your Completely Unofficial Meritorious Badges (CUMBs) of Being Really Cold, Starting a fire, and Climbing 1000 Meters with a backpack.

Drivers get off the waitlist first. Folks who have been waitlisted for my previous trips get some, small subjective amount of preference.