TR St Mary's Wilderness

“Attendees.. 'fool, HiMaintenance and 2 members of ODATC..

This is one of the trips that I have been wanting to do for 4 years now. Not so much for the beautiful scenery, or the waterfalls, but because this is the birthplace of Creek Dancer...

(I am doing this report from memory without a map so I may have some of it out of order).

Due to committments we could not get out of Richmond until Saturday Morning. We arrived at Blue Ridge Parkway MP 20 at about 9:30 am and proceeded on the Mills Creek (?) Trail towards Sherando Lake. It was a pleasant hike, with a couple of stream crossings, and many blow downs. A lot of wild life, deer, chipmonk, a snake, and of course the ever present tick.

11 miles into the hike we came to a stream and began an ascent that absolutely kick my butt. HM and rest left me in the dust as I tried to catch a second wind, but it didn't work. They reached FR 162 about 5 minutes before me and waited as I lugged my sorry-@$$ up the trail. Once we hit the FR I was good to go and we proceeded the 3 miles NE to Green Pond which was to serve as our camp site. We had a good chuckle playing around on the trashed (Magic) bus abandoned on the road. What was amazing was that all day we only saw 2 other hikers, 2 bikers and 3 trucks. Not very many people for such a beautiful spot. Star Total Miles about 15. We hit the camp site about 5:00 barely beating the shower that moved through.

Sunday May 4 hit the trail at 7:15. Moved west along the Sant Mary's trail. Hiked the 5.4 miles to the falls crossing the stream several times before reaching the falls at 9:45. Enjoyed the spectacle for 20 minutes before heading back East on the St Mary's Trail to the Mine Bank Trail. On the way we saw the ruins of old mining operations. We proceeded south on Mine Bank Trail for about 3 miles before reaching MP 23 of the Blue Ridge Parkway. From there we 'yellow blazed' it 3 miles back to the car. We saw a couple campers today, but that was about it. Total distance 13-14 miles.

I would highly recommend St Mary's wilderness, even if you don't feel like hiking the miles that we did. Falcon Guide's Hiking VA has a loop you can do, however as we found out, they have either relocated the trail, or the elevation profile is messed up. There are plenty of great campsites (I WOULDN'T recommend the green pond one as the water isn't to great there). In the summer there are plenty of water holes to cool of in which also means that there is plenty of water to drink.

Pictures to follow..

'fool”

“I took a trip up there a few years ago. However I started from the parking lot at the bottom of St. Marys trail. It was raining and around 45 degrees almost the whole time I was there, but it was worth the trip.”

“Yeah, I want to go back again and spend less time hiking and more time exploring the mine works...

'fool”

“good pictures, I'm glad I didn't have to actually ask for more pictures of himaintainence.


did I just say that out loud?”

“Just for you, I will go through all of my pix and put together a HiMaintenance Album...

'fool”

“all of them? (wink wink) will I need a password?”

“Did you hike through any signs of the recent fire?”

“Great trip report! Made me really homesick though. I love the pictures, especially the wildflowers. Some day I would really like to get back there.”

“nice pics”

“My understanding is that the fire was about 7-10 miles south of us near 56 (Steele's Tavern - Buena Vista Area) so we saw no signs of it.

I would like to do this area again this summer some time, maybe doing an overnight out and back to the falls.. Low Milage, lots of sights, and lots of swimming.. There are several awesome camping areas... I'll let you know when I decide to go back...

'fool”

“This covers most of the St. Mary's Wilderness Trails you hiked and starts at Mile Post 24.

http://midatlantichikes.com/smw.htm”

“That is pretty much the hike in the Falcon Guide book as well.. The big difference is that we swung N.E from MP 20 and never really crossed bald mountain.

This is more of what I have in mind for my next trip. Thank you for the link though, it is a good one!!

The hike from Green Pond to the falls was by far the best part of the trip.

'fool”

“I've been wanting to put together a short overnight trip using mostly the Mill Creek Trail and the Tory Ridge Tr. I've hiked the entire length of the Tory Ridge Tr but haven't had a chance to visit Mill Creek.

1) How is the parking at the Mill Creek TH.

2) Is there a lot of good camping along Mill Creek? I usually have big groups.”

“Mr Hyker,

Let me get back to you on that. As I said, I haven't been able to loook at a map to see what all we did. We were on the Tory Ridge Trail for a while as well. There was camping pretty much through out the hike, however I do remember thinking to myself that the second day had by far the nicer campsites.

Let me get a map out and I'll get back to you..

'fool”

“Creek Dancer was born in the wilderness??

Dang, you can take the girl out of the wilderness, but you cain't take the wildness out of the girl!”

“are of greatest interest to me at the moment. I know where all the good sites are in the Wilderness.”

“Miss you too highway.

When are we going to hit the trail again?

:)

Honestly though, this was some workout. I lost 4 lbs. This is the first time I've done so many miles in 2 days and I'm feelin it today!

Fool did gr8 but needed a good pedicure last night.”

“good grief. that's like a 5% weight loss for you.

I'll be at traildays in damascus va in 10 days
last edited: 5/05/08 11:11:21 AM”

“Weigh yourself at the end of the week. You'll probably gain most of it back. When the Dr put me on a diuretic last year I lost 10 ponds over 3 days of moderately difficult backpacking. Almost got heat stroke. I still normally lose about 5-6 pounds over 3 days w/o that damned pill unless I'm really slugging down the water and gatoraide.
last edited: 5/05/08 11:12:14 AM”

“What's a diuretic for? Doesn't sound healthy.”

“In early April last year I had to bail on a strenuous BP trip (Chuck Keiper Tr, PA)because my pulse went up and wouldn't come down. I had developed High Blood Pressure. Long Story/Short, a diuretic helps the BP meds work better but causes you to lose a lot of water. When the Dr realized how hard my past time was and how much water weight I was losing he took me off of it.”

“After a strenuous trip with lots of fluids, my weight usually goes up a few pounds. Very frustrating!!!! I think it's a combination of extra salt and extra water. The weight comes back off in a couple of days though.”

“Wow mrhyker!

You better watch yourself.

Thanks for the info.

Still, I was kinda hoping backpacking could be used as a way to get in shape. I'm going to work this weekend on doing some of my own recipes to try to get healthier (maybe lower the sodium a little). Creek Dancer gave me some great tips I'm going to try.”

“haha, I started backpacking back in 2001 and stopped smoking to get into shape for my first scheduled trip. After a couple trips with the local parks and rec i bought my gear and started hiking with a yahoo group of hikers. Half of them smoked and sure enough, I started smoking again LOL”

“Oh you can lose weight but it's best if it's a slow process. You might also end up converting some fat to muscle w/o losing weight. I'm on the fence about salt. If you lose a lot of water you also lose salt. That's why your sweat is salty. That's probably why freeze dried/dehydrated trail foods are high in it. On the really hard trips I carry Propel made by Gatoraide.

I just keep motoring: slow on the hills and average speed on the flat parts. I get 'em done.”

“Just be careful when you're buying that propel.. They now make it with cafeine in some of the flavors... Kind of dumb if you ask me...

'fool
last edited: 5/05/08 12:16:30 PM”

“St. Mary's River is near and dear to my heart. I reported on the wilderness process that made it back in the early 1980s. Great place.

Yes, Green Pond is not a good water source no matter what. You have to get down off Big Levels before you find potable water.

Note to the adventurous: every hollow around St. Mary's River coming down from Big Levels has its own little waterfall or cascade. Big Levels is a relatively flat stack of rock, so the falls occur at the same point in each hollow. You can bushwack along the streams the entire length.

The hollow opposite the Blue Ridge Parkway has the most spectacular waterfall when its running good. That Bushwack starts opposite the mining area with good campsites on the uppermost part of St. Mary's River. Just follow that stream uphill. The waterfall is in what seems like a huge bowl. You will hear it and can home in on it when you get close. Stay along the stream. Trying to go uphill to avoid the rhododendron is a bad idea because you ultimately end up at cliffs.”