Hey there Biermann! I changed the date to July 12-14. This will allow us to avoid the full court press, although summer in the sods is usually crowded or so the ranger says, but especially so on federal holidays.Originally Posted by Badweissenbier
I would love to go that area is always beautiful, However that is boy scout camp weekand I have to get them young ones out and loving nature. If you decide on another week I would jump right in
I’m actually heading to the Sods tomorrow for a little winter outing. The bad: it’s 58 and raining right now. The good: low tomorrow night will be 7 and shouldn’t get above the teens the rest of the weekend.
I just hope the last couple days of higher temps didn’t melt all the snow they got last week.
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Have fun. Which trail head are you starting from and how many days do you plan to be out there? How many in your party? Hopefully the snow melt won't mean you will be in for Dolly Bogs! You'll probably have the place to yourself anyways! The fair weather hikers will shy away from this.
Red Creek TH on the south side. Looks like about 8 of us and if I like it as much as everyone says I will, I might just try and join y’all on this summer trip as well.
Let me get this straight, you all DON'T celebrate Bastille Day? For shame...
I might be game.
"Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates." -Mark Twain
Any summer weekend will be very crowded, but mostly at trailheads (carpool if you can), and there will be lots of day hikers. Make sure to take 3-season gear; it can get well into the low 40's and sometimes the 30's even in July (usually in the low 50's though); example, last year mid-July, the morning was 40 degrees. Be prepared for unexpected and rapidly changing weather. It is a wilderness, so group size is 10, although the area is rarely patrolled (but you never know) and many of the campsites in the lower wilderness are small. Many places to hang. You may need to carry water along Raven Ridge and Rocky Ridge trails; there is water, but it is not readily apparent. As the forest service asks, please do not make new fire rings nor cut live trees for firewood; there are usually fire rings at the established sited and, with some work, downed wood can be found. This area has seen a huge amount of impact over the past 10 years and there have also been recent forest fires from unattended campfires. If I seem overly protective, it is because this is my backyard and I want everyone who goes there to enjoy their trip and leave it beautiful for other's to enjoy also. You will have a great trip and most definitely you will want to come back.
I have marked my calendar for July 12-14th. I will see ya out there.
Sorry you had to change. But I might have to join now:-)
Nec Aspera Terrent
Lightfighter
So right now we have 14 total hikers. Two in my party, Eight in Txaggie's party plus Badweissenbier, OldnWay, Wilderness Seeker and Jack Sparrow. We will have two groups as the max group size is ten per group. I'm sure this won't be a problem, but we will have to divvy up the party member into groups up to ten. Thanks to Country Roads for the intel on the lack of abundant parking at the trailheads. I guess Summer is peak season at the Sods, but my guess it will be less crowded than the week of the July 4th holiday weekend. Any suggestions for a staging area to group park our vehicles and carpool to a trailhead? Also suggestions about what date and time of day we should be expecting all hikers to arrive at said staging area? Also, if any of the afore mentioned HF members would please indicate if they are bringing any other hikers with them so we can get an accurate headcount (10 max per camping group). We will keep adding hikers and adjust the headcount as the July 12 approaches to set up the groups of ten. Please PM me if you have to cancel or plans change. Hopefully you all can make it. It should be a great excursion.
Also of importance is the preference of each hiker for the starting point of choice for this expedition. As a hammock user, i favor starting from the southern or mid portion of the Sods as there are more trees in the southern part of the Sods. I prefer to not pay to visit a camp site as we are after the backcountry experience here. However, if using Red Creek campground as a starting point, it eliminates the hassle of finding a parking space near the trailhead, as the RC campground is at a popular trailhead already. I am not sure of the cost of per night camping at RC campground, but the info is sure to be online. I am open to other suggestions that don't require using the RC campground, but this would involve agreeing on a staging area nearby a trailhead, and would necessitate carpooling our party using as few vehicles as possible to drive to a trailhead of our choosing. Please provide your preferences, and other suggestions for this expedition. Thanks, and have a great MLK day, y'all! See the link to the map of Dolly Sods to get an idea of the trailhead you would all like to start from.
http://www.thearmchairexplorer.com/w...-trail-map.jpg
Last edited by Tyroler Holzhacker; 01-15-2018 at 12:14.
I'd definitely have little Bad with me. I would bet if i mentioned it 2 to 3 other might come, I will wait for others to respond before I do.
I have a super crew so hauling troops and gear isn't a problem if we stage somewhere.
I don't have enough knowledge of the area to be of any help there as I haven't been over to the sods in quite a few years
Nec Aspera Terrent
Lightfighter
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