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A Snowy “Epic” in Grayson Highlands a.k.a Two Idiot Brothers on a Trip


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Home Forums Campfire Member Trip Reports A Snowy “Epic” in Grayson Highlands a.k.a Two Idiot Brothers on a Trip

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  • #1301062
    Luke Schmidt
    BPL Member

    @cameron

    Locale: Alaska

    A Snow "Epic" in Grayson Highlands a.k.a Two Idiot Brothers on a Trip

    Two days in Spring,
    A cold and windy place
    Brings two brothers together

    Two Brothers

    Backpacking in VA can be a bit tame compared to wilder places like the Rockies. So I us creative ways to make it more of a challenge or “Epic.” My adventure loving brother Joseph (now 14 years old) often shares these “Epics” with me.

    As you might expect we've had our successes and failures with this approach. We bailed out of an overly ambitious Linville Gorge hike, froze to death while going SUL in February, and climbed a mountain on the verge of dehydration too name a few adventures that fit under the “don’t tell mom” category.

    1

    Snow at Grayson Highlands sounds promising so off we go. The challenge on this trip will be to put in a long day and see some new places. We are expecting relatively mild temperatures and carry summer gear but through in warmer jackets at the last minute "just in case."

    Joseph

    In the parking lot we realize it is much colder than we expected. I’m glad we brought our jackets instead of our vests. They might just barely be enough to keep us warm.

    Snow

    The snow gets deeper the higher we go and eventually we are hiking through drifts of snow under frosty white evergreens. Its colder and snowier then predicted. We now have no real idea what weather to expect.

    south side

    As the Mt. Rogers trail swings around to the southern (and sunnier) side of the mountain the snow is thinner. Even so the slippery conditions slow our normally fast hiking speed.

    Cabin Ridge Panorama

    Joseph on Cabin Ridge

    We take a side trail to Cabin Ridge with great views of snow capped peaks. With the wind and snowy scenery I feel like I’m in Colorado not Virginia.

    me

    “Look Mom, I’m an Ultralight Hiker!” My baseweight is about 8 pounds for this trip, all packed into my wonderful Zimmerbuilt pack.

    forest1

    forest2

    Back in the Fir forest the snow is deeper again. Again we hike slowly. I am now positive we will have to change our planned route but I decide to put off any decision till we see what conditions are like up on the balds.

    near Thomas Knob1

    near thomas Knob 2

    Near Thomas Knob Shelter we enter more open meadows or "balds." So far we’ve only seen one set of footprints in the snow. I tell Joseph we probably have this place to ourselves.

    Balds

    It is much colder than expected and the wind is brutal. We hide in the Thomas Knob shelter while we have a snack.

    Balds2

    I've been hoping that the wind and sun will have kept the route through the high meadows snow and ice free. No such luck. We’ll take a short cut and skip the northern part of the loop since we’re hiking slowly.

    Two brothers

    View of Rho Gap

    The trail follows a ridgeline over several summits toward Rhododendron Gap.

    Snowy Trail

    The thought crosses my mind that for all practical purposes our travel time to the road is at least double what it normally is. If we get in trouble here it will be a long, long way out.

    Gap

    After passing Rhododendron Gap I check the map. Suddenly I realize our problem is not one of shortening our trip; that is easy. Our problem is that it will be dark soon and we need to find a campsite off the snow and off this wind blasted ridge. Otherwise it will be a very miserable and possibly dangerous night.

    freezing

    In my mind I remember this picture from years ago when it was colder then expected. We had to huddle by a fire in our sleeping bags to warm up and Joseph was borderline hypothermic. That is NOT something I want to repeat on this trip.

    Pine Moutain

    Now the sun is going down and it is clearly going to be a cold night. I don’t know how cold it will get but I’m wondering if our sleeping bags will be warm enough.
    I quickly look for the fastest way off the ridge to a protected campsite. I settle on Pine Mountain.

    Rho Gap

    Daylight is fading as we quickly hike back to Rhododendron Gap and turn onto the Crest Trail.

    Sun going down

    As the sun goes down the temperature quickly drops and my anxiety rises. We move fast but snow and ice slow us down.

    view on pine mtn.

    A short break to grab water at a spring leaves me shivering violently. Not a good sign. “We’re taking the next good campsite we find, no questions asked” I tell Joseph. Our priorities have shifted from an epic loop hike to “Let’s not get hypothermia tonight.”

    Campsite

    Joseph sees a spot in the trees and goes to check it out. There are two open spots for our tarps and it is out of the wind, perfect. This is our campsite.

    Fire

    Starting a fire with wet wood is tough. I try splitting wood then put my knife away, worried that with my numb fingers I’ll just cut myself. Finally we dump our alcohol gel over wads of toilet paper and light that under a nest of twigs and birch bark. We have our fire for the night.

    Morning View

    We wake up cold and pack quickly in all our layers. Fortunately the predicted snow/freezing rain never came. We skip breakfast in favor of moving fast and warming up.

    Breakfast

    After warming up a bit we stop to eat breakfast while we admire the snow capped view.

    Heading down

    At Scales we turn onto the Appalachian Trail and head down. As expected there is more snow under the shade of the forest. Going down a mountain is much easier as long as you’re careful not to fall!

    Joseph

    The last couple miles are mostly snow free. Apparently it was warmer down lower. My guess now is that the weather forecast that was supposedly for Grayson Highlands State Park was actually more accurate for the valleys surrounding the mountains.

    Me

    After a short road walk we are back at the car. We share a brotherly hug and throw our packs in the car. “Thanks for coming Joseph that was fun.”
    “Yeah, thanks for taking me Luke. That was epic.”

    As it turned out we didn't do a very long trip by our standards. The real challenge was dealing with winter weather that we really weren't packed for. I would not intentionally live that close to the edge with a 14 year old but we survived and the element of risk made it one of our more memorable adventures.

    Gear Geek Notes

    The picture above shows my Zimmerbuilt pack. It is becoming my go to pack for most of my trips. For this trip I used the compression straps to shrink it down to a weekend pack size. It replaces a worn out pack and a Golite Jam. It is about 8oz heavier then my old Jam2 but it carries so much better it is worth the weight.

    Tarps – I tried out a MLD Cuben tarp on this trip. I like it but was a bit nervous of abrasion damage when I tried to fit it in between bushes while the wind was whipping it around. Joseph needs a longer tarp now that he is taller.

    Prolite Pads (short) – Comfy as usual but I really should have packed foam pads as well or at least sit pads for our lower legs. More bottom insulation would have given us the flexibility to sleep on snow rather than looking for a bare ground campsite.

    MLD Bivy – Nice but the slippery bottom made for a bad combination with the Prolite and I slid down a lot. I might try putting friction spots on the bottom of the pad. Or I could be more careful to find a perfectly flat sleeping spot.

    Footwear
    Trail shoes worked okay. We had warm dry socks for day 2 so we weren’t starting in wet socks. Traction devices like micro spikes might have been a worthwhile investment for part of the hike on snow/ice.

    #1970980
    Adan Lopez
    Spectator

    @lopez

    Locale: San Gabriel Valley

    Awesome report! Pushing your comfort level is exciting and kicks the confidence level up a notch too! I ended up bailing on a solo last year because I got so cold. Glad it didn't come to that for you two. Good stuff!

    #1970981
    Luke Schmidt
    BPL Member

    @cameron

    Locale: Alaska

    Well we've bailed before too. In this case we were far enough out bailing wasn't really and option, which is one reason I was anxious to get us down to a good campsite before things got nasty. Joseph gets colder then I do so cold weather scares me more when he's along then when its just me.

    #1971049
    Leigh Baker
    BPL Member

    @leighb

    Locale: Northeast Texas Pineywoods

    Great report Luke, thanks for sharing! Grayson is an area I really want to get to someday.
    I laughed out loud when I read your "don't tell mom category." It brought back one in particular that involved my younger brother and my youngest brother who was born with severe cerebral palsy, and it involved the three of us taking a pony and surrey ride in the pecan orchard where we spent summers with my dad in GA. At the time we were 14,11,and 8. We had my youngest brother wedged between us in the seat and at some pt. I let the wheel of the surrey get too close to a tree which upset the cart and caused me to lose the reins. The 11 yo did one of those wild west scene moves…you know the one where you try to climb forward and get the reins while the horse is trotting away, which fortunately he was able to do while I held the younger one tight. All ended well, but the three of us unanimously agreed to NEVER tell mom, although we'd recall it for years later and always have a good laugh. Thanks for stirring that memory, they are both gone now and it was nice to think about that time again.

    #1971136
    Luke Schmidt
    BPL Member

    @cameron

    Locale: Alaska

    Great story Leigh! Glad I tickled your funny bone! We did crazy thing like that as kids and when I was at summer camp.

    At summer camp we had so many crazy things happen that my campers had a phrase for it. "What happens in the woods, stays in the woods." They all considered themselves honor bound to keep our shenanigans a secret. Actually I was pretty responsible when I was in charge but we had a few "learning experiences" along the way as I learned what was a bad idea.

    I remember one time a kid threw a bottle of spray on sun screen into a fire. I thought it might pop like a small fire cracker so I told the boys they needed to back away from the fire. I wasn't expecting much just a pop. Well a few seconds later it blew up like a handgrenade. I would say the sound was about equal to a 12 gauge shotgun if not louder. The mushroom shaped fireball about 12 feet high. It looked like a mini nuke had gone off. Hot embers were scattered around the fire pit in a 5 ft. radius and hot embers burned holes in our tarp a good 20 feet away. There was a small crater in the bottom of the fireplace. Later I looked at another bottle of sunscreen and low an behold its a petroleum product (and under pressure too)!

    Another time a campers sprayed OFF on the floor of our cabin and tried to skateboard through the flames.

    Needless to say we agreed not to tell the moms about those two incidents.

    #1971155
    todd
    BPL Member

    @funnymo

    Locale: SE USA

    Great trip, Luke.

    I enjoy each of your family trips so much. Makes me reflect on trips w/my oldest daughter. We didn't take a single one together this season (it's all but over now in North FL).

    #1982102
    Tom Clark
    BPL Member

    @tomclark

    Locale: East Coast

    I used to live in TN, and Grayson was one of my favorite places to hike. It's particularly stark and beautiful in the winter, but sure can be cold and windy! I've been in an whiteout that I believe was just the old snow blowing around, rather than new stuff falling.

    Thomas Knob Shelter

    View out the front of Thomas Knob Shelter

    The ponies are pretty tough to survive up there all year round.

    Grayson Ponies

    Tom

    #1982106
    Luke Schmidt
    BPL Member

    @cameron

    Locale: Alaska

    Wow nice pictures Tom. That must have been one heck of a storm. We started to go out one thanksgiving and bailed ahead of a storm that might have been that bad eventurally. Wet snow was freezing on everything and I had a gut feeling it was going to be a lot colder then the predicted 20 degrees. It just did not seem like much fun so we made a day hike of it and went home. On the way out we met guys we said they expected more like 10 degrees and 0 degree wind chills.

    One thing I've learned (the hard way) is Grayson always seems to have colder temperatures then predicted. Some of this may be the wind chill but I just never feel like the local weather forecast work for that area.

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