Carver's Gap Treks

We had a huge backpacking trip at the end of May with over 60 Scouts and Scouters and 6 Treks. After leaving Winston-Salem we spent the night at Roan Mountain State Park and the boys did a great job of setting up camp in the dark. The next day we broke camp and started to put the Treks at their trail heads. I drove the Pfun Trek to their starting point at Iron Mountain--you can check out their pictures in the post below this one. Big Brown got a little ornery at Carvers Gap but we did get her restarted so she could pick up the rest of the crews so they could start their journeys up from the Gap to the Balds (oh the jokes I could make about some of the leaders here). The Ravens were hiking to the Stan Murray Shelter Area. It was 3 Treks of 22 first-time backpackers and 9 leaders to guide them. Another Trek of slightly older scouts went to the Overmountain Shelter. Both of these groups backtracked on Sunday and exited the trail at Carvers Gap. The older Scouts went from Carvers Gap to 19E and that is a classic hike. On the way we meet a "through" hiker with the trail name Route 66. He has a blog on the Trail Journal. I was told by one Scout that our efforts to start Big Brown were captured on video by a hiker and they might appear on You Tube.

Being involved in the logistics of getting everybody on the trail I was a little late getting started on my hike and I had to rush to catch up with my trek but I did get some great pictures of the Balds on my way up. Most of my early pictures are of the scenery, which is wonderful. I caught up with my crew and was able to take lunch at Grassy Ridge at an elevation of 6165 Feet. The Ravens did a great job on the hike and we had a super camp site at the Stan Murray Shelter. On Sunday we took a group of Ravens that were ready to travel fast so I could pick up the Pfun Frolic Tour at Hughes Gap. We made great time and I took them back to the central meeting place back in the Roan Mountain Camp Grounds at a beautiful creek side shelter were my crew began to prepare lunch for the guys and gal coming off the trail. We got everybody off the trails and gave them a hot lunch and packed up to come back home. It was so cool to give so many boys their first chance to backpack and to have the older boys get a chance to push father then they had ever been before. I'd like to thank the boys and the leaders for making this a great experience for me. Click below to enjoy the show.

Roan Mt 09

Mr. Pfun's Pfrolic

This was the only Trek from our May backpacking trip that did not start at Carver's Gap. It was led by our own Mr. Pfun and he was followed by his merry band of backpackers. This was my favorite group because it had all the elements of a great learning experience for the four first-time backpackers in the Trek. Two very experienced Boy Scouts were on the trip plus two very senior scout leaders. We also added in a new leader who could learn the ropes from the Scouters who have been around for a long time. The new backpackers had not been able to hike when they were Ravens so this was their first hike. They hiked from Iron Mountain to Hughes Gap (over eight miles on the AT). Mr.Pfun provided most of the pictures with a few taken by me when I dropped them off at the trail head. Click on the picture below and enjoy.

Mr. Pfun's Pfrolic

Mr. Fun's Frolic