DOLLY SODS SOGGY DODS – Fall Break Beginner Backpacking

OVERVIEW

An animal howls off in the distance, the pines whisper to each other, and the smell of fire smoke fills your nostrils as you gaze up into the vast starry sky. To be alone with the world for a moment all you need and everything you’ve been missing. Let’s go spend some time away from our beloved Cville hustle and bustle for 3 days and 2 nights in the Dolly Sods Wilderness. This wistful, wide-eyed, wandering, wilderness trip will provide you with some exquisite landscapes and opportunities soak in all this wonderful earth has to offer.

Dolly Sods is a wilderness area that spans 17,371 acres in the Monongahela National Forest. Sitting at about 4000 feet the plateau is home to plants and animals that would normally be found in the arctic tundra. Its criss-crossing trails can be connected in numerous ways, but our mileage for 3 days will hover around 18 miles total. It can often be quite muddy along the trail, hence the nickname “Soggy Dods,” but we’ll be sure to find somewhere dry to camp each of the 2 nights.
This backpacking trip involves wilderness travel and camping which requires strict adherence to LNT principles and a healthy dose of respect for Mother Earth and her power. We hope to have the list of adventurers finalized before the end of this weekend. Let us know within the week if you need help getting gear or food together, because at Echols it is imperative that everyone has what they need and is ready to go. That being said, no experience backpacking is necessary to come on this trip. Lila and I and the internet are wonderful resources if you need help. (Also be on the lookout for a backpacking workshop!)

The Nitty Gritty :
Schedule:
FRIDAY 9/30
3:30pm meet at Echols dorm
check gear and food
drive 3.5 hours to Dolly Sods
munch on packed dinner
7pm arrive (close to sunset) at Bear Rocks Trailhead FS 75
9pm hike a little ways in (<3 miles) and hunker down

SATURDAY 10/1

7:30am wake up, breakfast, break down camp
hike ~8 miles w/ lunch stop
6pm set up camp
fire?

SUNDAY 10/2
7:00am wake up, breakfast, break down camp
hike the hikes, see the sights
~8 miles w/ lunch stop
6pm back at the cars
9:30 pm arrive back in cville

You need to bring:

backpack

tent (can coordinate with other trip members)
sleeping bag
sleeping pad
gaiters?
hiking boots or trail runners (these will get WET)
camp shoes
hiking clothes(non-cotton)
sleeping clothes (long-underwear)
layers including hat & gloves — much colder & maybe windy at 4000 feet at night
EXTRA WOOL SOCKS
2-3 L water capacity (2 Nalgenes, a 2-liter camelbak, etc.)
2 dinners (dinner 1 non-cook preferably, eat on the road), 2 breakfasts, lots of snack/ lunch food
whatever you might like to enjoy at a campfire party
cup/bowl/spoon/pot/whatever
stove + fuel (pocket rocket or jetboil preferred)
plastic grocery bags to hang food
rain gear
small towel (e.g. PackTowl
flashlight/headlamp NOT cellphone light
toiletries(travel size)
toilet paper
opaque small trash baggie
hand sanitizer
personal meds
picaridin or DEET bug spray
book or journal?
hiking poles?
sunglasses, sunscreen?

I’ll bring:
trowel(s)
first aid kit
sawyer squeeze water filter
some rope to hang bear bag

Trail Details:
coal mountain and breathed knob loop
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/west-virginia/coal-knob-and-breathed-mountain-loop-via-bear-rocks-trail?u=i
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5152038.pdf
DRIVERS NEEDED **Drivers get priority off the waitlist, show up w/ a full tank, you can get gas reimbursed + tip**