Jonesying up to Jones Mountain Cabin (totally original trip idea)

OVERVIEW

What is up lovely odc-ers. I have missed our lovely SNP this summer (altho the white mountains of New Hampshire aren’t too bad) and want to hit the ground running this semester. You might notice this trip is basically a carbon copy of a trip from last fall (its actually literally 1 year ago, shoutout ed and sophia too), and that is because i am essentially copying that trip because it was such a fun trip and i don’t think it can (or needs) to be improved. So what is it?

We will be hiking to and spending the night at Jones Mountain Cabin in Shenandoah National Park. Supposedly, the man who built it was once a moonshiner but fear not for the lovely PATC (Potomac Appalachian Trail Club) own it now and maintain it, and (hopefully) do not use it for any nefarious purposes. The goal is to hike into the cabin, free our backs of our packs, and continue on to Bear Church Rock for a viewing of the sunset, (the trip picture is one i took last fall just after sunset). I promise this is an amazing hike with an incredible view at bear church and a very nice cabin to stay in (there were mattresses last time and hopefully will be again (think the blue dorm style but hey that’s better than a sleeping pad)). Then we will awake and hike back to the cars where we may be able to swim/splash around in the river on the way back. Last time we tattooed ourselves with clay we found so we will search for clay once more!! We can also optionally decide to try to find somewhere to view the sunrise but i won’t blame you if you want to sleep in.

Ideally I would like to get 10 people total on this trip but alas my tiny wrangler only fits 4 people and thats a tight fit when you throw in packs too so we will need drivers!!! Drivers will allow a) more people to come b) the cost of renting the cabin to be reimbursed and you get a tip and gas covered!! I will let people off the waitlist as car capacity increases. Additionally we will need a SNP pass for every car going, I have one for my car so we will need 1-2 more.

Ability

Ideally this is aimed at being a beginner style trip. With that said, it is a decent amount of distance (8-10 miles split about 5 miles saturday and 3-4 on sunday) with 2200 ft of elevation gain altho it should be relatively slow gain. That said, we aren’t going for record pace and can stop for breaks.

Here is a more detailed schedule with a packing list below:

Saturday 9/9
3:30 Leave from the corner of Echols Dorm
4:30 Arrive at trailhead
4:40 Begin 3.8 mile hike in
?? Arrive at cabin and depack
?? Arrive at Bear church for sunset (probably aim for 7:15-7:30)
?? Return to cabin and cook dinner

Sunday 9/10
7:30 Arise from slumber (possibly earlier if we want to catch the sunrise)
Make breakfast
8:30-9 Depart from the cabin
?? Get wet/tattoo ourselves with beautiful designs
1 Pm Back to cars and depart
2 Pm back in cville

These are all rough time estimates, if you need to be back in cville strictly by like 2 pm we can try to figure something out but please don’t line stuff up back to back, estimating trip times is a science that I am still learning

To Bring
– backpack
– sleeping bag
– water bottle
– headlamp
– toiletries
– weather appropriate clothing
– try your best to NOT wear cotton as it will hold your sweat
– aim for synthetics that wick sweat- think athletic stuff
– hiking shoes
– sandals/camp shoes
– optional but recommended
– bowl/ utensils
– food: dinner(sat), breakfast(sun), lunch/snack(sun)
– a book/ a journal/ playing cards or anything fun to share or play

You should be able to get all the above at the gear room (see weekly emails) but please do not wait to get stuff

I will bring
– First Aid Kit
– camp stoves
– water filtration devices

Riley 203-400-3997

For Drivers
– You get priority off the waitlist!!
– Gas is reimbursed and a tip of 50%!
– Please show up to echols with a full tank