A little adventure out west - September 3, 2011

Seven humans and one dog from Charlottesville were not deterred by the description of the circuit hike along Road Hollow, Jerrys Run and Ramseys Draft trails with its disappearing trail, stinging nettles, poison ivy and stream crossings. At the trail head we met Bryan B and Greg F whom we had not seen for a while. Greg’s presence was a relief to me because as expected, he had the trail recorded in his GPS. Our mildly muggy ascent on Road Hollow trail was as expected, and at the end, Leon G and canine companion Bailey turned around because Bailey was getting hot. As usual, we stopped at the site of Sexton Cabin, built by PATC. The September 2011 PA has the story of its two constructions and deconstruction., where PATC cabin overseer Don D was surprised to find a foundation in addition to the chimney. Some people decided that the free radical scavengers in lemon raspberry dessert were insufficient to protect them from the expected nettles, and added legs to their shorts, and by then only one person had bare legs.

At the site of Sexton Cabin on Jerrys Run

A crew has constructed new treadway construction and cut some fallen trees on Jerrys Run since I was last there, making the trail easier to walk. There was one large patch of nettles as expected, and some smaller patches, but all survived thanks to covered legs. By now, we faced a new difficulty, lightning and rain. On Ramseys Draft trail, where I recall some moments of difficulty finding the trail, we had no problem finding where to go. There was enough water to show we were crossing a stream but it was low enough that we crossed by stepping on rocks. We cut a few small trees to make conditions a little easier for other hikers. Thus the hike went as smoothly as hoped, and some enjoyed something a little more adventurous than what we normally do. Back at the cars, we found some Forest Service people conducting a survey. One of our group was appointed spokesman, and the interviewer, instead of having to probe for answers, was possibly overwhelmed by the quantity of answers to his questions. Nearing Charlottesville, we discovered football traffic, a surprise to one UVa employee. Also hiking along were President Brown, Rita K, Neil M. Liz L and leader John Shannon