Corbin Mountain Hike - June 16, 2018

The Corbin Mountain Hike rescheduled from April 7 (due to inclement weather) was attended by 8 hikers including Marian Styles, Debra Fisher, Marie Moss, John Brandt, Nancy Handley, Jeanne & Dan Ralston, and hike leader, Marit Anderson.  Marian set up car pools from AHS and others arrived from different locations at 10 am at the Old Rag lower parking lot.  The place was packed, but fortunately overflow parking at the nearby neighbors was still available.  Of course, the majority of folks were headed for Old Rag, so our set hike up Nicholson Hollow was relatively empty.  Our path took us into the Shenandoah National Park along the Nicholson Hollow Trail with the lovely Hughes River next to it.  We arrived at Corbin Cabin about 2 hours later and 4 miles in.  Lunch and chocolate was enjoyed by the river...with many of us soaking our feet in the delicious, cool water.  Marian and Debra took the shorter route and backtracked to the parking area to make it an 8 mile trek.  The rest of the group continued on the 11 mile circuit on Indian Run Trail, to the Corbin Mountain Trail, then along the Old Rag Fire Road, following Corbin Hollow Trail along Brokenback Run, and finally back down the Weakley Hollow Fire Road.  At this point we got to join the throngs of Old Rag returnees and watch the Forest Service Safety personnel zoom up towards the Old Rag area.  We never found out if there were injured hikers, but we were hoping it was not anything serious. The temperature at the cars was in the mid 80's, so we were grateful the Corbin Mountain Hike had been in the shade, with 5 water crossings and gurgling water sounds a good part of the day.  The elevation gain for the day was 2,370 ft., much of the incline on the Indian Run Trail.  A few of the group members stopped by Sharp Rock Winery for wine tastings on the way home.  A special thanks to Marian for helping car pools and other logistics.

submitted by Marit Anderson