ill be hitting the laughing dog shuttle depot around 1:30 for a 2:00 pm ride..........is there anything off of the trail worth stoping and looking at with the GF?
VA Creeper this weekend (8/23)
- Thread starter dirtydirtysouf
- Start date
I rather wish I knew where you were talking about
It's already late September. Your girlfriend is probably pissed you stood her up last month.
Seriously though, all of the site seeing is really right on the trail. no real side trails to mention. The Whitetop Laurel stream is beautiful especially if the water is up.
Seriously though, all of the site seeing is really right on the trail. no real side trails to mention. The Whitetop Laurel stream is beautiful especially if the water is up.
i was there last weekend with my family..
check out my pics thread that u recently posted...thats all on the way down from whitetop station...the ride from whitetop is like a sidewalk with a few rocks but absolutely gorgeous. you can get ice cream beside the trail at a place. the ride from damascus to abingdon sucks though...dont bother. just make sure when you come down the mountain you look at the river for cool spots.
any interest in some XC trails nearby? or is the gf strictly into the flat/gradual downhill of the creeper? if you can talk her into a sweet feathercamp ridge downhill, head up FS90 (fire road climb) just east of damascus off US58. at the top, go left (west) on the iron mtn trail (yellow blaze) and take that down to a left on the beech grove trail (yellow diamond). it's a nice downhill that takes you back to 58 and the creeper, at the straight branch parking lot. the loop is probably about an hour to 90 minutes depending on your pace. it's nice to shuttle the downhill, just leave a shuttle vehicle at the bottom and park at the top of FS90.
check out the natl geographic map for details, you can view it online at http://www.ngmapstore.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=335&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=54&iSubCat=125&iProductID=335
click the more views button to bring up a view of the map, then the right thumbnail for the detail of the side you want. click on the map to zoom in.
i go camping up there with some buddies almost every year and we ride all over the place (never done the creeper though -- for obviously reasons). there are some nice trails up there.
check out the natl geographic map for details, you can view it online at http://www.ngmapstore.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=335&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=54&iSubCat=125&iProductID=335
click the more views button to bring up a view of the map, then the right thumbnail for the detail of the side you want. click on the map to zoom in.
i go camping up there with some buddies almost every year and we ride all over the place (never done the creeper though -- for obviously reasons). there are some nice trails up there.
it was her idea to go later this month then for her birthday:biggrin:
thats cool to know the who ride will be nice looking......
yeah it is gorgeous all the way for the most part.....if you want to get real burly go by adventure damascus and ask to talk to bill aka booter bill and get directions for the shuttle from skulls gap to iron mountain......it has some steep ass climbing in it but you seriously can haul ass down it...there is also a side trail off of that called motorcycle trail and it has tons of big water bar jumps on it...
some of these are trailside some are roadside on the drive up the mountain...dont forget to go check out backbone rock when you are out there its about 4 miles outside of town and pretty neat.
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166134
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166134
iron mtn trail from skulls gap is sweeeeet -- lots of ups and downs though. you can either go west (towards damascus, used to be the AT years ago) past straight branch shelter, thru shaw gap, to fs90 and the feathercamp ridge downhill, or you can go east (across sr600 at the top of the ridge) and take the newer singletrack that takes you up to fs84, then either head right on fs84 towards hurricane mtn and the continuation of iron mtn trail, OR you can go left, quick fire road downhill, then hit jerry's creek trail on the right, which is a very nice DH, over 1000 feet vertical, thru a hemlock forest. earlier this year i did a nice shuttle ride from fs90, east on iron mtn, across sr600 at skulls gap, then left on fs84 to jerry's creek, and ended up at sr668 below the rowland creek trail (valley on the north side). around 15 miles, most of the time riding a 4000 ft ridge, then a huge downhill at the end. beautiful.