Red River Gorge weekend after Labor Day

“Anyone interested in a Red River Gorge hike the weekend after Labor Day?

I am looking forward to hitting some trail. It's been way too long for me and I'm hoping this trip will get me back to hiking regularly again.

The hike I'm thinking about will require a shuttle, but plans can be changed if need be. For now the plan is to hike the Rough Trail and Swift Camp Creek Trails for the weekend.

Saturday will be Martin's Fork over to the start of the Swift Camp Creek Trail. There is a stream crossing right after the Rough Trail ends and the Swift Camp Creek Trail begins that will be a great spot to camp on Saturday night. Mileage for Saturday is between 9 and 10 miles. Mileage for Sunday is prbably around 6, I'll get harder numbers later on.”

“I'd love to, but I don't think I can swing that Friday off. Were you hiking on Friday as well or just camping somewhere and then meeting up on Saturday morning?”

“I will be driving down on Friday after work. The hike will start Saturday morning.

I noted on the trips page that I would be ok with shuttling cars either Friday night or first thing Saturday morning, whichever works out best for everyone.
last edited: 7/30/07 9:09:30 AM”

“hmmmm, I may be in for this”

“Cool... I'll mark myself down as a maybe. I just found that map yesterday too. Buried under magazines on my trunk. Figures. ;)”

“Red River Gorge has been on my to do list for a long time and I would love to go, but I am getting married on the eighth so I guess I will just have to wait for the next RRG trip.”

“Well, congrats a little early, Mocs! I thought I heard someone say you were engaged at the Mammoth trip. :)”

“Red River Gorge has been on my to do list for a long time and I would love to go, but I am getting married on the eighth


The time to start setting priorities is now.... :?)”

“LOL @ Ram!”

“just remember that i got busted for camping at "that spot" over the 2nd bridge.

i may go but i would want to climb at left flank. anyone interested in climbing? i would need a belayer. i would drive/hike in to the camp at the end of the hike perhaps.”

“What spot is that again? I once got a ticket for camping in the wrong place. We were too close to an overhang or cliff or something.”

“oh yeah, camping to close to a rockshelter.

at martin's fork... walk into the park, cross bridge. pass trail to military wall on right... cross stream... pass trail to left flank wall on left... cross second bridge. after the bridge...

look to your left at the high use area. many have camped here before.

actually the rough trail runs to the left at this bridge right through the middle of the "camping area" (it's not clear this is the case, but it does), crosses a THIRD bridge, and runs up a ridge.

so this camp site is right on top of the trail itself.

if look closely there are the corners of a "no camping" sign that have been torn down. i didn't see this until after the rangers told me the sign used to be there. i walked back and found it. if the sign were there it would be obvious, but it's not there... they should replace it if they are serious, but when i mentioned this to the ranger she said that people just keep tearing them down.

nice.”

“There Gorge does not have the highest class of visitors.”

“There is now a sign”

“I'm very interested in going on this trip. Mileage sounds great. I'd be interested in coming down Friday after work as well.

Does anyone mind if my dog hikes too? She's trail savvy and under control. Does not bark.”

“lol@jerbear... after my last encounter i can bet there would be!

dogs aren't permitted in natural bridge state park but they are permitted in the boone but must be on a leash at developed sites... which means they don't have to be on a leash on trails and other backcountry sites. is see dogs there all the time.

yeah, i know, who died and left me ranger?!?! haha!”

“email me and i can give you coords/instructions to a site i think is legal... note i said "i think". it's not easy to tell in this place. the rules are clear but for trails it's hard to tell where the trails are and what is considered a trail. people tearing down signs is also no help at all.”

“doin' a repeat of last december's marathon hike, eh? are you doin' it all in one day as a dayhike, or as an overnighter with a stop somewhere in the middle?”

“gawd, that weekend that ducky and i did it was nuts. i hated myself for getting us lost trying to find the trailhead for the first shuttle drop, then i hated both of us for staying up so dadburned late, then i hated ducky for making me go up that last hill out of parched corn creek. remember that rainshower at the end, tho? that was exactly what was needed”

“Good times.”

“that marathon hike was a great one... my quads told me so!”

“I don't mind the dog. I think there's been a pooch, other than mine, on almost every TT trip I've been on, where they're legal.

I'm not sure if I'm bringing mine or not. He's getting a little older, and there's some arthritis in his back legs and hips. The last time I took him hiking, it was cold out and he had a hard time standing up in the morning. It sucks because now that he's older, he's finally calmed down enough that he doesn't tug on the leash, chase stuff, etc.”

“Thanks. I plan my hikes around where dogs are allowed! That's sad. But there are plenty of great places. I can't even think about what will happen when she gets older. She's 3.5 and I'm not in reality that that will happen one day. I feel for you. It's very hard as they age.

I should know by the weekend/early next week if I'm in for sure. I might have to go to NC that weekend.

I'm so excited for a backpack trip in this area!!”

“Oh man DT, this will be bad azz. SO bummed I'm gonna miss it. These trails are cool. Y'all are gonna have fun.”

“I'm in for this trip. I *might* have a couple of friends who are also interested. I'll let you know if they are.”

“That's cool mariposa. There should be room for anyone who wants to come along.”

“Hey ductape...what are the expected temps in the area for that time of year?”

“I know that you did not ask this question for me, but it should be hot during the day, and decent at night. Could be up in the 90ish during the day and down in the 60 degrees during the nighttime. Never can tell, not this far out anyways.”

“I think it will be around 80 during the day and a little under 60 at night. It might even be a little cooler than that at night since we're going to be camping on Swift Camp Creek.”

“Friday night: 58 and rain
Saturday: 78/62 mostly clear
Sunday: 78 clouds and sun

Not bad, not bad at all.”

“Anyone going to be there early on Friday? I might be getting there around noon and wanted to see if anyone wanted to meet up and get a little hiking in on Friday.”

“Windi, if you get time for half a day you have got to do Auxier ridge. This is a can't miss.”

“That's what I was thinking about doing!”

“Even if it's raining, GO! Just be carefull in a couple places where you are on bare rock, near cliffs. I don't know how slippery that would be when wet. Surely not impassible though. Just use good judgement. Enjoy!”

“Auxier Ridge is fine in the rain. Certainly use good judgement but nothing treacherous. I would stay a bit closer on the lookouts. But where it could be bad there are steps...built by a really great Red River Gorge Trail Crew. (TT is open to shameless plugs, right?)

I can speak from experience that Auxier Ridge is AWESOME to watch a thunderstorm roll in. Not really smart when you have metal loppers in your had but hey, calculated risks, right?? And it was worth it.

It's also tremendous in full fall color. So many places...so little time!”

“I'm out for this one. I actually don't know what I'm doing that weekend except that if my washing machine isn't fixed by then, a repairman will be here on the 8th.

Other than that, a backpacking friend will be here and if the stoopid machine is fixed, we'll probably be off somewhere in state.”

“mariposa - can you join me early on Friday?”

“Is there a spot picked out for Friday night camping?”

“Windi-I have a comp day to burn so I'm a maybe for earlier on Friday. I'll email you...I have an idea.”

“We have not yet picked out a spot yet. I'm kind of thinking it would be nice to get the shuttle done on Friday night and camp near the beginning of the trail that night, but shuttling Saturday morning would be fine as well.

I know it seems like the group always meets and camps down by Martin's Fork at the beginning of the Rough Trail, but JimmySan said something about this being an illegal campsite. I'll look into that more.”

“Coyote has a map that he had one of the rangers mark places where it's legal to camp. I will try to get with him to see if there's anything that looks like it would work for the hiking we are doing. If so, I will scan in the map and e-mail it to you.”

“Sweet. I was thinking about maybe taking a drive to waste some time looking around this weekend.”

“Well, I talked with Coyote and I must have misunderstood what the ranger marked on his map cause he didn't have any campgrounds marked. He did suggest that we could meet at the primitive campground located off Tunnel Ridge Road on Friday. It's marked on most of the maps. Just a thought. Other than that I don't know of anything.”

“Weather
Friday
Partly Cloudy
High 91°F
Low 66°

Saturday
Isolated T-Storms
High 85°F
Low 54°F

Sunday
Isolated T-Storms
High 82°F
Low 64°F


http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation/outdoors/tenday/USKY1339?from=_topnav_outdoors
last edited: 9/02/07 3:19:19 PM”

“Hey ductape - Where we meeting on Friday night? Or Saturday morning?”

“I've been thinking about that today.

Do we know if Coyote is still planning to come? I know he had an injury this weekend. I thought I saw talk of surgery as well.

We could play it easy and meet at the Koomer Ridge Campground Friday night, hopefully shuttle a car to the end, and just drive to the start on Saturday morning.

I think I am going to bring my dog, as long as it works out with shuttles. It would make sense for my car to be at the end of the hike, but I can only fit one other person, unless someone wants to ride in the back of the truck. It is covered, but not particularly comfortable.

Any thoughts? I think Mariposa mentioned a pooch as well. If we can't work it out, I can leave mine home.”

“Yes, I'm planning to bring my dog if its not a problem. My car is dog friendly if we need it for shuttling.


What time are we meeting Friday evening? Windigrrl & I need to make our day hike plans & make sure we're in time to meet the group.”

“Well, I got an email from Windi earlier saying that she was going to start her hike from the Pinch-Em-Tight trailhead and head to camp from there.

Do you care to just start there also? We could camp on Tunnel Ridge Road Friday night, and just start the hike from there.

As far as what time to meet, it will probably be around dark when I get there. You guys will already be there, so I'll just need to find you. There are many spots close to the road around there. We can either set a place now or I can just look for your cars when I get there.”

“...I meant to say...meet the group at a decent hour. :)”

“We could camp on Tunnel Ridge Road Friday night[i]That would be find with me. Looks like there are penty of primitive sites listed there. Mariposa and I could actually set up when we get there on Friday and then do our hiking. That way we can get a site and either leave a sign of some sort or call everyone to give them directions. What do ya think?
I don't know about Coyote. He has another Dr. appt on Thursday and that will be a deciding factor for him. He is still wanting to go. He is thinking about changing his trail name to one hand bandit. lol
last edited: 9/04/07 9:34:27 PM”