Three Ridges Loop

Suspension Bridge  

It had been too long since I had been backpacking.  I've been trying to find an opportunity for quite some time and I finally snagged my chance!  In a lucky stretch of unseasonably warm weather, Casey and I found the perfect weekend in late September to take ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of the DMV.  We headed to Three Ridges Wilderness in an attempt to do the Three Ridges Loop (see Hiking Upward).  We headed out early Friday morning with our bags packed and ready to go.  To make a long story short (because I'm exhausted after getting up before 4 a.m. this morning for an [ultimately failed] attempt to go on a hot air balloon ride), we decided to start at the alternative start coordinates.  We incorrectly figured that these coordinates would be for an overflow lot or something of that sort.  It turns out that the alternative parking is actually a 15 minute drive from the other parking lot. To visualize the loop trail, picture a sketch of a lollipop.  Now picture that lollipop with a stick poking out each end.  The end of one stick is one parking lot and the end of the other stick is the other parking lot.  Each branch off of the loop will get you to the loop, but from opposite directions.  However, while I do generally love HikingUpward as a resource, we realized fairly quickly into our hike from the alternative parking coordinates that there was zero indication of how much longer the "lollipop stick" of the trail to the loop from the alternative parking coordinates would be. (If you're wondering, the answer is about a mile longer each way - so a 16ish mile loop instead of a 14 mile loop).  We also realized about a mile into the hike that we had lost one of our large, 1 L water bottles.  Bottom line?  We opted to turn around, attempt to find our water bottle (guess who forgot to take it out of the car!?), and start again from the other parking coordinates.    While not the intended start to the day, we did get to check out a super neat suspension bridge that is close to the alternative start point.

One of the first overlooks

By the time we reached the other start point (the one that had detailed directions and distances), it was already early afternoon.  Pretty soon in, Casey realized that his pack was causing his shoulders to ache.  Casey's pack is a several decade old day-pack that places all of the weight-bearing load into the shoulder straps.  A new one is in the works, but alas, we are not made of money and so we hoped that the day-pack would be a suitable temporary stand-in.  In the end, it wasn't a good option.  We redistributed some of the weight into my pack and traded packs every so often as we climbed.  It wasn't ideal, but it was doable.  Because of the pack, the late start, and the quickly-realized knowledge that we both could stand to get in better backpacking shape, we opted to reach the best vista of the hike, hike to the next vista that was less than a mile away, camp there, and then backtrack the following day.  This plan saved us about 4 miles and while we didn't get to officially complete the loop, it was still a beautiful trip.  As an added bonus, we stumbled upon a mama bear and two cubs about 30 feet from the trail.  Mama bear scooted down the tree that she was in when she heard us on the trail, but left us alone as we made some noise and continued walking.

At the best overlook of the hike

Casey napping at the campsite.  Note to hikers - please do not take a dump right next to a cleared campsite.  Someone left a nasty pile of unburied crap + toilet paper right beside this rock  which was about 15 feet from the tent site (I photoshopped it out because it ruined the photo).  We covered it up with rocks so the next camper doesn't have to look at it.

Tent site!  Gorgeous weather.  Fly is "half up" to add some privacy right off trail, but it was too gorgeous of an evening to cover the tent up all the way.

Sunrise at the overlook

Sunrise at the overlook

Casey on the way back to the car