Midsummers Camping at Devils Marbleyard!

OVERVIEW

NOTE: I’ve moved the departure time for this trip back to FRIDAY NIGHT due to weather considerations; the plan is to fit in as much Awesome Stuff ™ on Saturday as possible and, depending on the whims of the skies, camp out again Saturday and leave Sunday, or leave Saturday night so we can start on our Sunday hangovers. (Kidding. Well, mostly.)

Here’s what your plans were for this weekend without this trip:

Friday: drink yourself into stupidity and curse the fact that you have no friends because ‘there’s no one in Charlottesville’
Saturday: wake up hungover and miserable because you have no friends because ‘there’s no one in Charlottesville’
Saturday night/Sunday morning: rinse and repeat

Sound awful? Here’s the remedy!

FRIDAY NIGHT we leave Echols and head over to the campgrounds at Cave Mountain Lake:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/recreation/camping.shtml#group

(CML is #8 under “Traditional Campgrounds” )

Once there, we’ll camp for the evening with some fresh-squeezed lemonade and marshmallows and tales of yore.

Saturday morning, we’ll fire up that awesome breakfast and do one OR both of the following: hike about 4 miles down the AT to an area where we can throw ourselves into a cool and refreshing body of water; or, we’ll hike Devils Marbleyard, possibly with a stop by a rumoured nearby swimming hole on the way back. Then, more awesome dinner and camping for the evening, or return to Cville if one so desires.

How is this not an awesome weekend? I know I overuse the word awesome, but I think you underestimate the potential for this trip. In sum: DO EEET.

Things you probably want to bring:

yourself
a friend
or, how about three friends
a car in which to put your friends

Seriously:

sleeping bag/mattress pad/tent
clothes for swimming and hiking
sunscreen!
toiletries
a towel
a camera
cash monies to pay for parking ($15-30, which can be split among all of us awesome people)
your innate awesomeness & a willing constitution

To overuse yet another phrase, get pumped!