[at-l] Trip Report - Devil's Backbone

[garyticknor@starpower.net (Gary Ticknor)]

Up today at 5:00 AM, coffee, then a  one and a half hour drive west,
over the Blue Ridge at Ashby Gap (the Blue Ridge Diner seems to be open
again), through sleepy Winchester and apple blossoms, through Great
North Mountain to Gore and Gore Grocery. I parked, got my boots on and
asked permission from the manager to park. Just then (6:45), Ron, a
fellow lister (albeit mostly a lurker)  drove up. We greeted, I got his
key, and he set off southbound on the Devil Backbone section of the
Tuscarora Trail. I got in his car and drove 14 miles south to the Loman
Creek TT crossing and parked.

The trail north started out on blacktop road which shortly turned to
gravel and then dirt. I missed the turn into the woods but quickly
realized I  wasn't seeing blazes anymore and backtracked. The Tuscarora
Trail is not the most well blazed trail in the world; that is part of
its charm.

The trail entered the Lucas Woods, a tract bought  by the Nature
Conservancy and then deeded to PATC. A side trail let to the campsite,
which had a bench and a spring, where I met the section maintainer, who
were going to spend the weekend working on the section. They actually
started apologizing for the blowdowns I   would be coming to. I
thanked them profusely for volunteering their time to the trail.

1500 foot climb to the top of Great North Mountain. The ridge top was
sandy and flat. It was cool, 49 degrees with a breeze. Good rock
formations with views from the ridgetop. Around 5 1/2 miles was
Pinnacles Shelter, which was a masterpiece, with a separate dining
pavilion, 2 fireplaces, a verandah with built in adirondak chairs, the
works. PATC went all out. Just before the shelter I met up with Ron and
gave him back his spare key. We took a GORP break and decided to do
another section later in the Spring. After the shelter the trail went
into Laurel Run Gorge with beautiful Cat Rock cliffs across the Run.

The trail went downhill for the next 4 miles - rocky at best, boulder
and scree fields at  worst. Adding insult was the parallel smoothly
bulldozed road. My ankles took a beating from the rocks. At mile 12,  I
reached Howse Campsite with a fair spring and tenting sites, and finally
came out on a paved lane above Gore. I reached my car around 2:20, and
was home by 4:00.

This upcoming weekend starts serious hiking: 4 days in Mass and
Connecticut picking up 55 miles of AT. Hope to see some of you out
there!

- Gary from Fairfax