 |
| Trimble Mountain trail. This was what most of the trail looked like |
I was kind of "meh" about Trimble Mountain, but the North River is a really neat place. Casey and I took a trip to North River campground in George Washington National Forest outside of Staunton as a weekend getaway and did a bit of hiking on day 2. Trimble Mountain was a wooded loop (~4 miles round trip), but despite the promise of "3-star" views from Hiking Upward, there wasn't a single overlook point given the tree cover of summer. As such, we did the trail quickly and decided to find a spot on the river to eat lunch. We found our way to the nearby paved lot that serves as the start of a steep descent into the new river gorge. Although steep, the walk to the river was short and the river was beautiful. There was a campsite right beside the river, which I wish we had found the day before
 |
| Salamander friend |
because it was a perfect little spot. That said, I didn't mind having bathrooms (no matter how primitive) at the GWNF maintained campground that we stayed at. Tadpoles were everywhere, the water was warmer than one would expect, and we even found what I think was a white-spotted slimy salamander. On our drive back, we had the pleasure of watching a barred owl catch something; he looked quite affronted that we pulled over to watch him eat his meal, so he just sat there starting at us for a while. Unfortunately, with cell cameras, I don't have even one halfway reasonable photo, but it was a truly neat experience.
 |
| The river off of the North River Trail (right at the beginning from the paved lot) |
 |
| The river directly behind our campsite at North River campsite |
 |
| Another of the river right beside our campsite |
Although it's technically a river, the river came across as more of a large creek. The North River Gorge trail runs along the river for a bit over 4 miles (and Hiking Upward provides directions for a ~~12 mile loop that incorporates the entire North River trail). We didn't do more than walk for about a half mile along the river, but I would love to go back and do the full trail or possibly even the loop. The North River Gorge trail requires several forges of the river. Online, this notion worried me (I was picturing something just shy of a Potomac river type size), but Casey and I were able to complete one of the fords by simply rock hopping. I can't attest for the others (we ran out of time and turned around), but in mid-summer of 2017, I think this would have been a very reasonable hike even with the water crossings.
This whole area was especially neat because of the ample free camping areas. We ended up paying $5 for our site for the luxury of bathrooms, a picnic table, and a fire pit with a grate over the top, but there were many large pull-off areas where it would be easy to pitch a tent (or several).
