Somewhat last minute I posted a DCUL trip to Duncan Knob/Strickler knob. Because it was near the end of October I billed it as a “Fall Foliage / Spooky Trip.” It seemed like the perfect time to check out this section of the Massanutten area: the fall colors were anticipated to be at their peak and the weather promised to be clear. To my delight, a great mix of people wanted to come out for the trip with me including some people new to DCUL (James W. & Yihan), familiar faces to me (Beth, Parag, Alyssa, & Maxwell), and a DCUL veteran I’d yet to hike with (Chris T.).
Rather than setting up a carpool, I let attendees coordinate rides to the Route 211 Park and Ride Lot. Parag gave Yihan and Alyssa a ride from DC, Beth and James grabbed a rental in Vienna, while Maxwell, Chris, and I each took our own vehicles to the trailhead parking lot. Word to the wise: a few of us hit heavy traffic in Front Royal with the large volume of tourists headed to skyline drive so I might recommend taking Route 81 to avoid this backup. I messaged that I was going to be late and Maxwell told us that he was running behind and we should start hiking without him and he’d catch up with us later.
I wrote in the event description “Given that Halloween will be in a few days, there may be a spooky surprise after dark (TBD)” and gave no more detail than that. Most of Saturday there was speculation about what the “spooky surprise” might be. Lots of people asked questions, but I gave only vague answers. One person thought that someone might come up dressed as a skeleton to scare people. However, I exchanged knowing looks with my co-conspirator Parag, the sole attendee who was in the know about the nature of the “spooky surprise” that would come after dusk that night.
The beginning of our hike had us climbing the Massanutten Connector Trail. The weather was fantastic, and the fall foliage delivered. Eventually we turned onto the Massanutten Trail just as it climbed about 800 feet in six tenths of a mile. We stopped for a break at the top before carrying on along the ridge for the next several miles.
Chris recommended a short side trail to check out the vista before dropping down off the ridge toward Peach Orchard Gap/Duncan Knob. We could see our destination Duncan Knob across from us.
On the way down from the ridge we saw many parked cars, and I wondered how many people we might see already at our campsite or up at the knob. On the ridge we had run into only a few day hikers.
We stopped to get water at Passage Creek where the trail crosses over a bridge. My cell phone fell into the creek, which while surprising was not especially spooky.
We made the climb up to the generously spacious campsite at Peach Orchard Gap, and began setting up our tents and hammocks. We had the whole place to ourselves and could have fit many more tents and perhaps twice as many as were in our group if needed.
Speaking of people in our group, it was 5:30pm and we’d still seen no sign of Maxwell. People began to wonder if he was coming or not. Maybe he going to be the “spooky surprise” arriving after dark. Or worse, had something bad happened to him?
After getting our sleeping arrangements staged, someone had the great idea of cooking dinner on Duncan Knob so we grabbed our gear and scaled the rock scramble up to the knob. Up on Duncan Knob we enjoyed a thrilling view, made all the better by the Massanutten’s panoply of fall colors. A group of younger guys were taking pictures up there when we arrived but didn’t stick around long.
As we took in the scenery, I was cooking up some Skurka beans and rice, Parag had a chicken dish going, Beth was experimenting with mushrooms in her and James’ dinner. Alyssa brought charcuterie and was generously sharing with the group. Parag in a reflective moment revealed that the word “charcuterie” reminds him of the phrase “chaar kutri” in Marathi which translates to “four b*tches” or “four dogs” (I always learn something new on a DCUL trip!).
Before the sun began to set, I made up an excuse to get off the knob… it was time to stage the spooky surprise back at camp! As I headed down the rock scramble back toward Peach Orchard Gap, a voice called out to me “Not a fan of sunsets?” Coming up the trail toward the knob was Maxwell! I was relieved to see that he made it safe and he revealed that things were a little slower-going on the hike than he’d expected after doing his first 25k the prior weekend. Maxwell made his way up past me to the knob while I continued back to camp for my clandestine mission.
While I busied myself with spooky surprise preparations, the rest of the crew enjoyed watching the sunset.
As darkness descended and each of the DCUL’ers made their way back into camp, they one-by-one processed the sight of a strange, shimmering white object suspended in the air…
“Oh, this is the spooky surprise!” someone exclaimed with excitement.
Unknown to the others (except Parag), I packed in a portable projector setup which was beamed onto a 120-inch projector screen suspended from trees by way of hammock straps. Parag brought us three movies to choose from: The Exorcist, The Shining, and The Blair Witch Project. The group voted for The Shining and all arranged their chairs, sit pads, and snacks to enjoy the film.
There were gusts of wind that would frequently make ripples in the projector screen and several commented that it only helped to heighten the experience for them.
The movie finished not long after the projector complained of low battery. Soon thereafter everyone scattered to their various shelters as it was fairly windy and cold by that point in the night. It was a good night for stargazing and I enjoyed looking up at the stars as I drifted to sleep.
Around 6am on Sunday, still dark and starry, I gave the wakeup call. The temperatures had dipped into the mid 30s; not quite freezing but plenty chilly. We were on trail a little after 7am watching the sun bring to life the fall foliage.
On the way back to the cars, we took the side trail to Strickler Knob. As the trail to the knob gets progressively more rocky and rugged, some tossed off their packs and trekking poles to make it easier to climb around.
Strickler Knob was well worth the side trip for the spectacular views in every direction.
After enjoying the panorama, we retraced our steps back to the Massanutten Trail. Then the group rapidly descended the Massanutten Connector Trail ultimately arriving back to our cars.
Thanks to everyone who was able to join me for this trip. I’m looking forward to hiking with you all again. And congrats to James W. and Yihan for both being promoted from Applicant to Member!
Meetup event link: https://www.meetup.com/dc-ul-backpacking/events/304109110
CalTopo: https://caltopo.com/m/FQ4B
DC UL Backpacking 
Leave a comment