Training hikes in VA

[blake_mhoona]

My sister is stationed in quantico and I plan to go visit her and her husband around Memorial Day. Her husband is going with me to CO this year. While I'm in VA we are planning on doing a "dry run" with our gear. I told him I'm more interested in gaining elevation to simulate CO rather than long distances. So in my mind I'd rather do a 4 mile overnighter gaining 3500-4000 feet rather than 8 miles with only 1500 elevation gained. Does that sound like a better plan?

Anybody know any such places within a few hours of quantico? He's only been there a month so I don't know if he knows that kind of info yet.

 

[Flashmo]

Isn't 4000 feet higher than the majority of the Appalachian Mountains?

Forgive me if I have overlooked stuff, but I am under the impression that the East is relatively flat ( the mountain 500 yds behind my house rises 2500 feet in 1.2 miles).

I don't think there is any "training" for The West" on the East Coast. You probably need to work on accumulated elevation (up/down/up/down), but you will still PAY when you get to altitude.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Maybe a trip to Shenandoah National Park, or maybe the Appalachian Trail to Mount Rogers that should get you to 5700ft, possibly Old Rag Mountain.
Eastern mountains can be just as steep and challenging as out west.......they are just shorter.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

There are several places in the Appalachians over 4000 feet, problem is none of them are near Quantico.

The spot with the highest elevation in Virginia is Mount Rogers in Grayson County, Virginia's tallest mountain, reaches 5,729 feet (1,746 meters) above sea level today. The second-highest point in the state, the summit of Whitetop Mountain, is 5520 feet high. Both of these I am guessing are a good 3-4 hours from Quantico

I think your best bet may be Rapidan WMA and/or the Skyline Ridge area in Shenandoah National Park,but your still looking at a pretty good drive to there I would imagine at least a couple of hours

Do some googling on the places i mentioned, they fit the bill for what your looking for, i just dont know if you wanna drive that far on a quick weekend visit, but if you do there ya go!

 

[blake_mhoona]

yea I really didn't know how tall the mountains were on the Far East side by them. I knew some of the Appalachians were about 5000 but that looks closer to Tennessee and West Virginia. One thing we had discussed was possibly meeting around Blacksburg so I didn't have to drive the full 15 hours from Arkansas so that would fall in line with the bigger peaks yall mentioned.

If I ended up going all the way to quantico I am liking that old hag trail. 9.1 miles

 

[fort fireman]

Mount Mitchell - Wikipedia

Might be a good middle ground to meet if you're coming from Arkansas. You're probably going to come across I-40 depending on where in the state you are. Mt. Mitchell isn't far from 40 and there's a bunch of trails to hike.
There are several peaks in Nc over 5500 feet to pick from and I believe they all have hiking opportunities

https://www.hikewnc.info/trails/mount-mitchell-state-park/
Here a list of trails at Mt. Mitchell.

I've never hunted out west but I do hunt Pisgah a lot and it's no joke. Some of those valleys don't see sun rise till 10 o'clock and sun sets at 2. Deep, steep and narrow valleys.

 

[SWVA_Tim]

yea I really didn't know how tall the mountains were on the Far East side by them. I knew some of the Appalachians were about 5000 but that looks closer to Tennessee and West Virginia. One thing we had discussed was possibly meeting around Blacksburg so I didn't have to drive the full 15 hours from Arkansas so that would fall in line with the bigger peaks yall mentioned.

If I ended up going all the way to quantico I am liking that old hag trail. 9.1 miles

I am in Blacksburg and spend a lot of time on the national forest hit me up if you're around this way


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[circles]

Take a look at Signal Knob trail near Elizabeth Furnace Recreation area. Not too far from Quantico. Hike up to the top then back down to the old Strasburg reservoir to camp. Back up over the ridge and down the next day. There are other combinations you could do in the area to get more elevation and distance.

The nice thing it that its all NF so no entrance fees and not a big deal if you have firearms.

I would not recommend Old Rag for what you want to do. It's very crowded on weekends, I recall there's a no camping zone around the top.

 

[blake_mhoona]

Yea I found the website for all the peaks in Shenandoah national forest and it looks like most of them have a vast amount that you are not allowed to backcountry camp on. While the hike is pretty important testing our gear is even more so. Our preference is finding somewhere we can set up camp. Signal knob looks good but is there anywhere else with more elevation? I have a few 2600-2700 foot mountains to practice on here in Arkansas so really looking for something a little more steeper

 

[circles]

If it's steep you want, bushwack up the north face.

You could park all the way on the east side and do all three ridges of the Fort Valley. That ought to shake down your gear.

Maybe Dolly Sods in West Virginia. It's beautiful country but that's more like a 3-4 hour drive to get there than the 2 hours to get to Elizabeth Furnace.

 

[nflesher]

Dolly Sods and Spruce Knob in West Virginia can probably give you what you are looking for. I hunted Dolly Sods yesterday in a blizzard on those slick rocks that are hidden by snow and make it miserable, I mean fun. If you are wanting elevation gains and training for Colorado it will work, but it's not Colorado obviously. You may have to go off a trail and blaze your own path, but you can do it, I have before. The highest peak is Spruce Knob and it is 4,863 ft in elevation.

EDIT: Let me know what you decide on and I may wanna tag along if you don't mind.

 

[Hall256]

Dolly Sods and Spruce Knob in West Virginia can probably give you what you are looking for. I hunted Dolly Sods yesterday in a blizzard on those slick rocks that are hidden by snow and make it miserable, I mean fun. If you are wanting elevation gains and training for Colorado it will work, but it's not Colorado obviously. You may have to go off a trail and blaze your own path, but you can do it, I have before. The highest peak is Spruce Knob and it is 4,863 ft in elevation.

EDIT: Let me know what you decide on and I may wanna tag along if you don't mind.

Is deer still in season in West Virginia or are you hunting something else?

 

[Cbulla]

Peaks of Otter off the Blue Ridge Parkway is a training sight I use. The Tower trail is 1.5 miles and 1200 ft elevation gain. No camping. Their are other trails in the area. Just a mention. Good luck and keep posting if you find a cool spot to train


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[16Bore]

Wear your hunting boots.

 

[Superkodiak38]

I live in Southern Maryland and am planning to do some hikes in the Blue Ridge or Appalachains this summer to shake out my gear. I work shift work and have days off during the week if anyone in the area wants to try and get together let me know. Thanks !

 

[nflesher]

Is deer still in season in West Virginia or are you hunting something else?

We were hiking for Grouse. I mean hunting lol. It was fun, but man the snow was coming down hard and you could barely see and you would step on little sticks and lose your footing and the rocks would slide under your feet. My hunting buddy's dog cut his both front paws really bad on something. Good times really.......

I live in Southern Maryland and am planning to do some hikes in the Blue Ridge or Appalachains this summer to shake out my gear. I work shift work and have days off during the week if anyone in the area wants to try and get together let me know. Thanks !

Hit me up when you go. I will try and meet up with ya.

 

[camping1601]

We were hiking for Grouse. I mean hunting lol. It was fun, but man the snow was coming down hard and you could barely see and you would step on little sticks and lose your footing and the rocks would slide under your feet. My hunting buddy's dog cut his both front paws really bad on something. Good times really.......




Hit me up when you go. I will try and meet up with ya.

I didn't think anyone went up there this time of year. There's a reason those trees don't have branches on one side.

 

[nflesher]

I didn't think anyone went up there this time of year. There's a reason those trees don't have branches on one side.

Haha, yea it was pretty wicked weather up there. Windy, snowy, and cold, but anytime I can hit the woods or fields with the Maxus and a good friend and his dog we go. It was kinda weird when we pulled into the trail head because the gate was locked and a Subaru with two guys were getting out and said they were hiking in. It was in the teens with a few inches of snow on the ground, and winds were 15-20 mph. One guy had nikey shoes and sweat pants with a hoody, and the other had on what looked like Eddie Bauer pants or something of that nature and nikey shoes. The snow was a couple inches deep! I think they were high or going to get high. They grabbed a little back pack and off they went!

It can be pretty brutal up in the area in the winters! When I get some time off again I am taking the wall tent and going back for a trout fishing trip. The wife doesn't understand..............

 

[Hall256]

We were hiking for Grouse. I mean hunting lol. It was fun, but man the snow was coming down hard and you could barely see and you would step on little sticks and lose your footing and the rocks would slide under your feet. My hunting buddy's dog cut his both front paws really bad on something. Good times really.......




Hit me up when you go. I will try and meet up with ya.

Haha...sounds like my last few days of deer hunting here in Virginia...there was fresh ice everywhere, trying to go up any hill turned in to very deliberate movements.

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[Hall256]

I live in Southern Maryland and am planning to do some hikes in the Blue Ridge or Appalachains this summer to shake out my gear. I work shift work and have days off during the week if anyone in the area wants to try and get together let me know. Thanks !

Let me know if you guys plan a trip and want some company. I'm stationed in Virginia Beach right now, and moving to Quantico this Summer. Sadly come hunting season I will be knee deep in some training so the hunting season is a wash, but the summer should be a good time.

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