Intro to Packrafting: Pray for Rain
Originally I’d planned for this weekend to be the latest Intro to Packrafting trip. DC UL has occasionally done this trip which involves backpacking along part of the Massanutten Trail, camping overnight, then paddling back to the starting point on packrafts. While researching this trip I found helpful trip reports (e.g., from 2021) and even uncovered a couple videos from DC UL running this trip in 2015 and 2019.
But it’s been a hot, dry summer and that can impact the water levels. The government provides water level data for the Shenandoah River near Luray and Front Royal, with our planned float happening between those points. Both were showing levels on Monday that made me suspicious the water might be a little low for packrafting that Sunday. Steffan suggested the trip was still doable at those levels: “I paddled this section back in June at 2.2/2.3 ft on the Luray gauge. It was definitely scrapey and would be more fun a bit higher, but we never got truly stuck. Compton’s is quite doable for a novice with no whitewater experience at this level.”
The weather forecast was going to be hot and clear most of the week with only 0.2 inches of rain anticipated on Thursday. I don’t often lament seeing great weather in the places I’m planning to backpack, but I really would have been happier to hear it would be a week of constant rain.
On Tuesday morning I made the call to cancel the packrafting trip.
White Rock Cliffs: What in the Blue (Tuscarora) Blazes?!
With the packrafting trip cancelled, I scrambled to organize an alternative trip for the weekend. Sophie reached out to say she’d planned to sign up to hike (but not packraft) the Intro to Packrafting trip before it got cancelled and suggested we could do White Rocks Cliffs overlook near Wardensville, WV. (Side note: don’t confuse this White Rock Cliffs with White Rock Cliffs in Virginia). Eventually an LM White Rock overlook trip was posted on Meetup and RSVPs began to trickle in.
Saturday morning at the Vienna metro stop, I met up with three applicants (“applicant” is DC UL lingo essentially for new people). They were Ernie, Greg, and Grant. Though they were new to DCUL, all three were accomplished hikers. We loaded into Greg’s car, heading toward Waites Run where we’d meet up with Sophie. On the car ride I learned about Ernie’s passion for caving, Grant’s high standards for barbeque, and Greg’s experience performing surgery on himself.
We arrived at Waites Run where Sophie was waiting for us. As we got out of the car and prepared to start the hike, gnats began to swarm. Packs on, we marched up the trail. We got to talking about the light blue blazes on the trees and I spoke about my love of the Tuscarora Trail, but perhaps spoke too soon. The stretch of Tuscarora Trail between Waites Run and Gerhard Shelter was in rough shape. With how overgrown the trail was in many spots, we were finding ourselves repeatedly exposed to brambles and frequently questioning where the trail led.
We ultimately never made it to the White Rocks overlook. In fact, we didn’t even make it as far as Gerhard Shelter. As bad luck would have it, we were probably only 4 miles into the trip when something evil stung Grant on the inside of his thigh. Administering first aid, Grant and Greg talked it over and reached the decision that Grant needed to evacuate as he was having a bad reaction to the painful sting. When I learned what had happened and about their plan, I agreed that the quickest evacuation was to turn around and retrace our steps back to the car. They wanted to evacuate and let Sophie, Ernie, and I continue with the planned route but in case things took a turn for the worse I decided we should all stick together. Grant took Benadryl and fought through the pain as we descended down back to the cars.
Ultimately, I didn’t feel comfortable abandoning Grant and Greg and the trip was officially over as Ernie and I also loaded into the car headed back toward DC. Some trips go off without a hitch, but this one (these two?) didn’t.
DC UL Backpacking 
Leave a comment