I met up with some old college roommates for their annual camping/trout fishing trip to the Jackson River this past weekend. Not being an avid fisherman, I took the opportunity to do some mountain biking in the George Washington National Forest.
Suspension Bridge over Jackson River
After arriving around noon on Friday and setting up camp, I hopped on the bike for a little exploring. I wasn’t expecting to go too far so I didn’t bother with maps or GPS. I wound up on the single-track section of the “Hidden Valley” trail which parallels the Jackson River. It eventually connected with some double-track and seemed to continue on indefinitely – so after 5 miles, I turned back, crossed the river on a suspended bridge, and returned to the campground for a beer.
Road leading to Hidden Valley Campground
Saturday morning I decided to ride the actual “Hidden Valley” loop described in the book “Mountain Biking Virginia” (ride #35). It’s a nice 15 mile loop that begins on Forest Service roads before connecting back to the double and single-track that I rode the previous day. Some of the single-track was a bit too technical (rocky, rooted, and unforgivably perched on the side of the mountain) for my tasted, so I wound up walking about a half-mile section.
On Sunday, I headed over to the Buena Vista Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway for the “Blue Ridge Dirt Ride” (#40 in “Mountain Biking Virginia”). It’s a nice 15 mile loop on on Forest Service roads with only the last 3 to 4 miles on the Parkway. As you can see from the elevation profile, the ride starts with a 1000 feet descent over the first 4 miles. Now that’s “commitment”.
A great time spent with old friends, good mountain biking, and topped off with some fresh trout cooked on the grill. Not a bad way to spend a weekend.
It looks like 2010 is shaping up to be a pretty active year for me. If things work out in the next few weeks, I’ll be heading out to Durango, Colorado for a little alpine training with Southwest Adventure Guides in the San Juan Mountains in late February or early March.
Although I haven’t worked up any exact dates, I’m hoping to put together a multi-day kayak trip as well as a multi-day bike tour this spring or summer. Still working up the details but both will probably be fairly local and last 3 to 4 days.
The bike legs are coming back and I’m looking forward to riding the Tour de Moore Century down around Pinehurst, North Carolina. The Sandhills Cycle Club has not yet announced the 2010 event but it’s usually held on Labor Day and is always well run and has a great turnout.
The following Friday we fly out to Seattle and spend a couple of days at the Rainier Mountaineering Festival on September 11th and 12th prior to beginning a 4 day summit climb with Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. If all goes well, we’ll be standing on the summit of Mount Rainier on September 18th!
Looking a bit further ahead, I’m starting to work out the logistics of a circumnavigation of Lake Superior in the Spring of 2011. This has been on my “Bucket List” ever since I rode around Lake Ontario in 1998. Looking even further down the road, I’m seriously considering a Himalayan Trek with a guide company like Mountain Madness, Himalayan Experience, or International Mountain Guides in 2012.
As the now defunct National Geographic Adventure magazine’s tagline used to say: “Dream It, Plan It, Do It”. It all starts with the dream.
I decided to try something a little different this Christmas and do some active traveling. Much of the local family was also away so I booked a cheap flight to Las Vegas, rented a car, and drove up to Utah to spend some time checking out Zion and Bryce National Parks.
I arrived on Sunday but unfortunately the airline decided my checked luggage would rather go to Hartford, Connecticut which left me with nothing but the clothes I was wearing and a few items in my carry-on backpack. There was some snow predicted for Tuesday so I decided that Monday would be a good day to drive over to Bryce National Park while I waited for the airline to track down and deliver my gear. Fortunately I had my backpack and heavy jacket so I was still able to do a bit of hiking in the canyon. I quickly realized what a big difference the snow can make. Normally paved trails were reverted back to a more natural state not experienced by most of the visitors to the park. Even without being able to venture more than a few miles from the parking area, the scenery and views were nothing short of fantastic.
The rest of the week was spent hiking in Zion National Park culminating in a climb to Observation Point. Four miles and 2100 feet of climbing presented a simply breathtaking view of Zion Canyon.
What an interesting time of year to explore these parks. There’s nothing like having a National Park all to yourself and being there with a couple of feet of snow was great. As I told the folks at Zion Adventure Company, this visit is going to leave me with a unique view of the canyons. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in a desert environment and that most folks battle extreme temperatures while I spent almost the entire time hiking on snow and ice. Looking up at the canyon walls, it was hard to come up a description other than “majestic.” And although I didn’t make it into the narrows, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and would have no problem returning some time in the future.
Heading back to Vegas for my Saturday night red-eye flight, I made a detour up to Kolob Canyons and then spent a few hours checking out Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. I’m looking forward to getting back to Utah although my next visit will most likely involve mountain biking around Moab.
I met up with some old college roommates for their annual camping/trout fishing trip to the Jackson River this past weekend. Not being an avid fisherman, I took the opportunity to do some mountain biking in the George Washington National Forest.
