Our for this trip plan was to gather at Bootens Gap at 10:30am on Saturday morning. Six out of nine of us had arrived when Karan started getting texts. Google maps had routed Emily, Eileen, and Mark up an undrivable fire road. They each had to turn around and it would take them another hour... Continue Reading →

DCUL members Stephen G., Abhi Gautam, Rose, Sean Soby, WB, Yvette L., Chandler Sam, and event hosts Alexander and Mark R. met on Labor Day weekend for a circuit of the most-photographed highlights of the Appalachian Trail (AT) in Virginia: McAfee Knob, Tinker Cliffs, and the Dragon's Tooth, plus the less-crowded North Mountain Trail.  We... Continue Reading →

It has been six years since my last trip to Haytack Knob. I have fond memories of camping up there but less endearing memories of the challenges we faced getting there. For this reason, I was sure to warn potential participants of the unmarked/unmaintained trails, long water carry, stinging nettles, and bushwhacking involved in this... Continue Reading →

(AT from Manassas Gap to Snickers’ Gap — 28 miles) (August 13-15, 2021) I was feeling melancholy. Neither my glass of Loire wine, nor some ripe Brie cheese, nor the faint strains of accordion music from the cafe across the plaza soothed me. I read and re-read the RSVP list on Karan and Kylie’s Roaring Plains/Haystack... Continue Reading →

I. "I can't wait to read the trip report," Karan said with a sly grin. It was the Wednesday before the trip. We had met up for a goodbye dinner. He couldn't join us on the trip. But if he didn't have family plans would he have ventured out in July on an infamous Mid... Continue Reading →