2013-03-24 Rapidan WMA trip report
OCC Members:
Bryan Folts – 99 XJ
Matthew Folts – 91 XJ & Abram Baer, passenger
Chris Stuart – 10 JKUR & friend passenger (sorry, I’m terrible with names)
Doug and Robin Masnick – 93 4 Runner
Roscoe Primrose – 99 TJ
We all met at the Sheetz around 9:30 and departed soon after. Heading towards Wolftown we turned onto Graves Mill Road. After passing through a beautiful valley and past Graves Mill, the road started to climb over the first ridge. Going up the second hill we stopped at the Rapidan Wildlife Management Area, Middle River Tract trailhead to air down. The trail in from here follows Garth Run which we crossed a couple times. There were a couple mud holes we drove through after Garth Run. Matthew went into the second one, still in 2wd and stopped. When he put his XJ into 4wd it only went into Neutral and he went nowhere. After he got it into 4wd he hit the gas and splattered Roscoe’s TJ with mud. We then headed on as the trail went down some steep hills. After crossing Haunted Branch and the Devil’s Ditch access we were running parallel to the Conway River. On the other side of the Conway River we could see the Conway River Trail. This trail is only open to foot traffic as part of it goes through the Shenandoah National Park. A short way down the main trail we turned left down a side trail to a camping spot where the Conway River Trail crosses the river onto the Rapidan WMA. Staying on the same side of the river we drove this trail a few hundred feet where it ended and dropped us back onto the main trail we’ve been following. A couple more creek crossings later we turned right off the main trail. This trail is rutted out somewhat and required straddling the deeper ruts. There’s a nasty looking mud hole on the left in a camp area/opening which no one wanted to go into. After going around in a circle, because I passed the trail I wanted to go up, we went up that trail. This is the long unmaintained trail on the Rapidan WMA map. It’s a long, narrow, steep trail that took us up to 3200 feet above sea level. During the first steep part Matthew’s temperature lamp came on. After a quick stop to assess the problem, Matthew turned on the heat and AC (turns on extra radiator fan) to cool it and had no issues after that. On the way up we could see snow on the hill across the valley. We passed the snow line, but there was little snow due to a Southerly exposer. As we neared the top the trail was half covered with snow. The last climb is very steep. Doug’s transmission fluid got hot going up this climb. At 3200 feet we stopped at the end of the trail and the boarder to the Shenandoah NP. On the way back down there was some discussion about going to the GWNF over the CB. We stopped at a camp site when we got back to the main trail. Lunch, pictures, walking on the rocks in the river, a couple cigars, and the decision to head to the GW all happened at this stop. Since Matthew’s friend had to be home early, the two XJ’s bailed on the GWNF continuation of the trip. We all headed back out the main trail to the Trailhead where we aired down to air back up.
To be continued…..
Happy Motoring,
Bryan Folts
Off-Camber Crawlers Member At Large