I’ve been to several areas of the Big South Fork National Recreation Area at this point and it’s all beautiful. So, I’m always trying to seek out areas that I’ve never visited before for quick overnight backpack trips. Hopefully I’ll be able to explore it all by the time I’m done.
The blue line is the path we followed for this trip:
This time I planned a short loop that started and ended at the Oscar Blevins Farm. We parked at the Oscar Blevins Farm and took a short .3 mile road walk to a gravel road that led to Jacks Ridge Trail. We hiked Jacks Ridge Trail for approximately .7 miles to an intersection where we veered left down a short connector trail about .3 miles to Laurel Fork Creek.
This was my first time to Laurel Fork Creek but I had been checking it out for awhile because I heard it’s a beautiful hike. What I didn’t know is there are many creek crossings because the trail winds back and forth from one side of the creek to the other. At this time of year it made for some cold water crossings. I know the water was probably in the 40-50 range so yeah, definitely cold!
The forest along the Laurel Fork Creek is very mixed with hemlocks, birches, pines, oaks and probably more that I can’t recall at this time. There were several hemlock groves that were outstanding and provided some really nice covered, if not damp camping areas. The campsite we settled on was about 1.9 miles heading West from the junction of Laurel Fork Creek Trail, Black House Branch Trail and connector trail from Jacks Ridge Loop. It just happened to be up a small hill from a water crossing in a level woody area. There was already a fire pit there so all we really had to do was get some wire wood which wasn’t hard to find at all.
There was a little trash left behind by previous campers so as always we did our part and packed it out.
EAGLES NEST OUTFITTERS HOUSEFLY RAIN TARP
I really liked all of the rock shelves lining the banks of Laurel Fork Creek – they are very unique and uncommon so they drew my attention. But at the same time these very shelves caused a multitude of water crossings so eh, they were good and bad. I’d really like to do this same trail during warmer weather because I’ll wear my Merrell Moab’s and just walk right through the water and let them dry as I go. That would have made it a much more pleasant hike for my nephew for certain because not only was this his first trip with water crossings but it had a record number of water crossings for me.
I took my ENO Housefly on this trip to be the shelter for both of us and it worked out well. I set it up in a lean-to variance with the doors semi closed to try and hold in the heat. The nighttime low got down to around 26F and we stayed perfectly warm in this setup. It was pretty damp all around so I wasn’t worried too much about the fire spreading – we just kept it fairly small and considering we were very close to it we were able to keep an eye on it.
Here is my gear list for this trip:
| FOOTWEAR/BACKPACKS/CONTENTS | WEIGHT OUNCES |
| SHOES/BOOTS NOT INCLUDED IN PACK WEIGHT | |
| VASQUE SCREE LOW SHOES | 36.00 |
| TREKKING POLES NOT INCLUDED IN PACK WEIGHT | |
| BLACK DIAMOND FL ULTRA DISTANCE TREKKING POLES | 16.00 |
| BACKPACKS | |
| MOUNTAINSMITH LOOKOUT 45 BACKPACK | 66.00 |
| PACK COVER | |
| EQUINOX SMALL PACK COVER | 3.20 |
| SLEEPING BAGS | |
| COLUMBIA LINER BAG | 10.20 |
| QUILTS | |
| ENLIGHTENED EQUIPMENT REVELATION PRO 20 DEGREE QUILT W/STUFF SACK | 29.00 |
| SLEEPING PADS | |
| THERMAREST RIDGEREST SOLITE REGULAR CUT DOWN TO 20X60 | 12.00 |
| THERMAREST NEOAIR TREKKER LARGE | 26.00 |
| TARPS | |
| ENO HOUSEFLY | 25.00 |
| SMALL TARP | 5.00 |
| SPACE BLANKET | 12.80 |
| FOOD | |
| 1 NIGHT FOOD – 2 PEOPLE- LOKSAK ODORPROOF BAG/ZPACKS BLAST FOOD BAG | 53.00 |
| BASICS | |
| BEAR BAG KIT-CORDAGE/BLACK DIAMOND NEUTRINO CARABINER | 4.50 |
| MINI COMPASS AND TEMP GAUGE | 0.70 |
| SAWYER FILTER MINI(2OZ), ONE SQUEEZE BAG(1.5OZ), SCOOP CUP(2OZ), BPWD WATER BAG IN MESH BAG | 7.00 |
| SAFETY LANYARD – BG COMPACT SCOUT KNIFE/ADVENTURE MEDICAL RESCUE HOWLER/COAST G10 FLASHLIGHT | 2.80 |
| TOILETRY/MEDICINE KIT – TOOTHBRUSH/TOOTHPASTE ETC IN OUTDOOR RESEARCH SMALL DRY DITTY SACK | 12.00 |
| FIRE KIT: DRYER LINT/LIGHTER/LIGHT MY FIRE FIRESTEEL | 2.80 |
| POTTY KIT – COGHLAN TROWEL, TOILET PAPER, HAND CLEANER BOTTLE/HOLDER IN NYLON SACK | 5.50 |
| CLOTHING | |
| EDDIE BAUER FLEECE JACKET | 18.00 |
| MOUNTAIN HARDWEAR ORKO GLOVES | 1.50 |
| FALL CLOTHING BAG 1 NIGHT QUILT: WOOL SOCKS/LIGHTWEIGHT WOOL BOTTOMS/TSHIRT IN REI PILLOW SACK | 28.00 |
| VIVOBAREFOOT ULTRA SHOES | 6.00 |
| SEIRUS HOODY | 3.00 |
| EDDIE BAUER RIPPAC RAIN COAT | 12.70 |
| COOKING | |
| MSR SKILLET | 4.70 |
| SNOW PEAK SOLO MINI COOKSET/POWER AID CUP/FOLDING TITANIUM SPORK/LIGHT MY FIRE SPORK | 8.70 |
| WATER BOTTLES – BLADDERS | |
| SOBE BOTTLE EMPTY | 3.00 |
| LIGHTING | |
| BLACK DIAMOND IN HMG NANO CF8 CUBEN STUFF SACK | 4.30 |
| TOOLS | |
| MIRROR / COMPASS / MOUNTAIN LAUREL DESIGNS CUBEN FIBER BAG | 1.50 |
| BAHCO SAW | 6.70 |
| EXTRAS | |
| GERBER JUNIOR GATOR MACHETE | 14.30 |
| BATTERY | 4.00 |
| TOTAL SUM OF WEIGHT OUNCES | 393.90 |
| TOTAL SUM OF WEIGHT POUNDS | 24.62 |
Here is a pic of our tarp setup:
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One of my favorite parts of this trip was hiking the West Entrance Trail on Sunday. It was a mixture of the typical mixed woodland with oaks and pines down to slightly lower and dense hemlock and rhododendrons. The trail follows Bandy Creek for quite a ways and gives the feeling of being slightly primeval where hemlocks abound and dead trees are covered with green moss and dampness is everywhere. I’d like to try camping along this section some time in the future. Very cool!
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