ODH winter hang trip planning

**CoreyR** · 10-23-2015, 08:12

Ok ODH, After Much thought and consideration I have an idea for a winter hang and it is simple. VERY simple.
I am thinking the weekend of 12-14 February at the Mount Pleasant/Old Hotel/ Henry Lanum loop in the George Washington National Forest. We can do a couple days hiking and hanging on Valentines day weekend.
For those not familiar with Mt Pleasant, It is a spur trail of the AT, above Buena Vista, Va. We can drive to the trail head and there is a good, well used, camping area, with trees, right by the parking area. I have hung there, in the winter. There are some pics on my FB page.
We can "base camp" at the trailhead/parking area and there are two major trails, as well as the nearby AT, which our members can tackle while there. I strongly recommend Mt Pleasant. There are two peaks and it is a moderate day hike with some short strenuous sections and very nice views in the winter.
The plus is, this is not an established "campground" so it is free. It is "backcountry." It is a beautiful area.
The down side. No water on site. Limited parking and I would NOT try to drive, say, a Prius up there. There are several miles of NFS firebreak road to negotiate on the way up. A 4WD is not required, my Dakota makes it and I have done it in a ford Escort but....good luck with that. It is miles from anywhere and I doubt you will have cell coverage....possibly on the "plus side" there.
It should be noted that it can be COLD there in winter. I was caught by surprise there on Thanksgiving weekend last year and ended up with a bit of frost nip after a sudden temperature drop and I used to be an Arctic Paratrooper, in Alaska! The temps can change suddenly on the mountain. Still, if you are prepared....and we shall, of course, have to watch the forecast. February is the middle of winter and I am going to try to have a Plan B." Just in case.
Let me know how many are interested and your thoughts. This is the planning stage ODHers!

**CoreyR** · 10-26-2015, 13:14

Feel free to leave comments when you vote folks. LOL

**Wanderlost** · 10-27-2015, 06:49

My only point of concern is the weekend in particular. Being Valentine's Day weekend, you may see nothing but a bunch of single or soon-to-be-single

folks. While my wife would let me, it'd be costly. Maybe the weekend before or the weekend after?

**CoreyR** · 10-27-2015, 07:18

Originally Posted by Wanderlust78

My only point of concern is the weekend in particular. Being Valentine's Day weekend, you may see nothing but a bunch of single or soon-to-be-single

folks. While my wife would let me, it'd be costly. Maybe the weekend before or the weekend after?

Yeah, that was actually my thought too but my GF actually suggested a "Valentines Hang??" Go figure. Chime in folks. We are far enough out that it can be changed.

**CoreyR** · 10-27-2015, 08:44

I am getting the feeling there is not much interest in a winter hang?

**Namtrag** · 10-27-2015, 10:35

My wife and I would love to, except I am a CPA so I can't do anything between January 1 and April 15th!

I will tell you though, if the hang gets some traction and ends up happening, there is a water source there. If you park by the split rail fence by the area where a lot of people seem to camp (it's on the left as you go up the forest road), you then walk down into the field and turn right. There is a sign saying the water is 800'. It's a lot further than 800', but if you keep following the trail you eventually will come to a spring. To give you an idea of where it is, if you parked instead at the Mt Pleasant parking lot and went straight across the forest road, down the little embankment, and across the big field there, you'd run into the water on the other side of the field. In fact you might want to scout the area across the road from the Mt Pleasant parking area for hammock sites, as it's a lot closer to the spring.

**CoreyR** · 10-27-2015, 10:43

Yes, I know this water source. I just discounted filtering it for a group when we can truck in all we need right to the site. As I recall, it is downslope quite a bit too.

**CoreyR** · 10-27-2015, 10:44

Originally Posted by Namtrag

My wife and I would love to, except I am a CPA so I can't do anything between January 1 and April 15th!

I will tell you though, if the hang gets some traction and ends up happening, there is a water source there. If you park by the split rail fence by the area where a lot of people seem to camp (it's on the left as you go up the forest road), you then walk down into the field and turn right. There is a sign saying the water is 800'. It's a lot further than 800', but if you keep following the trail you eventually will come to a spring. To give you an idea of where it is, if you parked instead at the Mt Pleasant parking lot and went straight across the forest road, down the little embankment, and across the big field there, you'd run into the water on the other side of the field. In fact you might want to scout the area across the road from the Mt Pleasant parking area for hammock sites, as it's a lot closer to the spring.

We wish y'all could make it out but I do understand work. Keep an eye out for PowHaW in the spring.

**Namtrag** · 10-27-2015, 10:51

Originally Posted by CoreyR

Yes, I know this water source. I just discounted filtering it for a group when we can truck in all we need right to the site. As I recall, it is downslope quite a bit too.

Yeah, I am mostly a backpacker, so I totally didn't think of the fact you could truck it in since you are camping right by the parking area! lol

We hope to come to some hangs in the future. We are going to the Merchant's Millpond one this weekend, and it will be our first. We don't have hammocks yet, so the people coming to the hang are graciously going to let us try out hanging with loaner equipment, and it's some pretty nice stuff we get to try out!

**CoreyR** · 10-27-2015, 10:59

Originally Posted by Namtrag

Yeah, I am mostly a backpacker, so I totally didn't think of the fact you could truck it in since you are camping right by the parking area! lol

We hope to come to some hangs in the future. We are going to the Merchant's Millpond one this weekend, and it will be our first. We don't have hammocks yet, so the people coming to the hang are graciously going to let us try out hanging with loaner equipment, and it's some pretty nice stuff we get to try out!

I, and my GF, shall be at Merchants Millpond this weekend and Prince William Forrest the following weekend. We shall see you down in the swamp!
My first "group hang" was at the Merchants Millpond, with Gunner and the gang a few years back. It is a great crowd down there and a good place to hang. I wish Virginia state parks had as good "group sites" as most NC ones seem to have. So far, only Grayson seems to have one as nice.