Turk Mountain from Sugar Hollow

OVERVIEW

Excited to see snow, but just want to do a day trip? Take a hike! Seriously, let’s go for a hike.

I think it’s fair to assume that the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive will remain closed for several days. One of the shortest drives to the mountains is to drive out to Sugar Hollow and hike up from there. There one can decide to hike up the North Fork or South Fork of the Moorman’s River. The North Fork is ~5 miles one way, and can be extended to Blackrock for hikes a la Sergei.

Opting for a (slightly) shorter hike, with better overlooks, I propose we hike up the South Fork with an extension to Turk Mountain. In fact, there is a “short” and “long” (with another overlook) option which should be ~10 and ~14 miles each. Usually 5 hours should be an appropriate budget, but with snow, I expect it could take closer to 6 hours. That is of course, if we opt for the short hike. I could go for either, and will leave it up to attendees.

The drive out takes ~30 minutes. For the shorter trail, if we leave at 9:15, we could be back to Charlottesville around 4:30. I would say we could be back at 6 or 6:30if we do the longer hike.

This is a winter hike, but I don’t expect snowshoes will be necessary. There are 4 stream crossings. Saturday will start out cold, with a high in the 40s – sunny all day. I will update the trip as necessary if we receive enough snow to require snowshoes.

You bring:
> Sturdy shoes / boots
> Synthetic or wool everything. Add an extra pair of socks for mishaps in stream crossings.
> Water (bottles) >= 2 liters. (could even use snow for refills…if you allow for it to melt)
> Lunch + snacks
> Headlamps if we do the long hike (or even the short hike…not like it hurts to bring it along)

Club provides:
> Rides (gas $ and tip)