Sun Appreciation Backpacking! (Ft. Golden Retriever)

OVERVIEW

Alright peeps, she may be 92,955,807 miles away, but this club wouldn’t be the poppin’ crew that it is without her and you know it. Let’s pay our respects.

If you’re a lil rusty on your distances to celestial bodies, ‘she’ is the sun, and we gon show her some good ol’ fashioned outdoors club lovin’.

This is a beginner friendly backpacking/slackpacking trip that will totally be worth ditching the ‘rents for a night if they’re already in town for the weekend. Hell, they can even tag along if you promise they wont crimp our granola style (hmu if actually interested in bringing your parents for some reason). We’ll be heading down south, not quite to the land of the pines, but even better.. to the land of my golden retriever.

The plan is to swing by my house and scoop up my dog on the way, and possibly devour some baked good or treat that my mom will have prepared for us (taking recommendations in the questions).

If you even need to know any more to make you want to go on this trip, we’ll be doing a circuit of sorts up and around House Mountain just outside of Lexington. We’ll be worshiping the sun by observing both the sunset and the sunrise, BUT, from not one but TWO different summits. How about them apples?

We’ll hike up ~2 miles to the saddle from the parking lot, drop our packs off at the shelter, shimmy on up to Big House (west) to watch the sunset, shimmy back down to the saddle to chill/sleep, wake up and shimmy on up to Little House (east) to watch the sunrise, then shimmy back down to the saddle to grab our stuff before hiking out and returning to Cville. We’ll have a perfect view of the sunset from Big House and a perfect view of the sunrise from Little House.

The shelter at the saddle is very nice and I am recommending that everybody plan to sleep in it, but if you’re more into the hammocking game there is no scarcity of trees to get you a tight hang for the night.

Timing:
Plan is to leave grounds no later than 2:30 friday afternoon, scoop up the pup/snack @ mi casa around 3:30, get to the trail-head around 4:00, and make it up to Big House before the sun is supposed to set at 6:12. We’ll shoot to leave the saddle by 6:45 saturday morning to catch the sunrise on Little House at 7:43, start the descent by 8 and be back on grounds no later than 11.

Blair Nicol will be leading a companion trip for anybody who wants to come but can’t leave until friday evening! The second group will obviously miss the sunset, but will still be able to pay homage to the sun at sunrise and indulge themselves with the company of one very playful pup. Join both waitlists because we will probably take one car for each departure time!

To bring:
-backpacking backpack
-sleeping bag and sleeping pad
-sturdy shoes to hike in
-non-cotton clothes to hike in
-clothes to stay warm in (will likely be very chilly)
-rain jacket/ poncho in case of rain
-headlamp
-water (2+ liters for hike, water source at saddle)
-food and snacks (something to eat with if thats nonobvious)
-toothbrush and toothpaste
-trashbag/s to rainproof clothes and gear
-at least 269 minutes worth of jams
-dog treats/toys

If you need a backpack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, headlamp, or hammock, you can check out all of these things totally free from the gear room! Everybody will be responsible for getting their own gear but I can assist in gear wrangling if necessary.

DRIVERS NEEDED!
-Drivers get priority off the waitlist. The club reimburses for gas +50% tip!
-Drivers need to show up to Echols with a full tank of gas!