Douthat 8/18/12

I skipped a Snowshoe weekend in preparation for Chomolungma and headed up to Douthat.  I hadn't been to Douthat since maybe 2001 for a Fallapallooza ride that Kyle use to put on.  We left around noon and the weather couldn't be better, the whole way up we were talking about how nice the day was and how awesome Douthat would be.  We were right in our assumptions this time, we were greeted by a really cute girl at the park office which is always good.  We found a parking spot pretty soon right at the base of Stony Run Trail and had it all to ourselves the whole day; by the way the park was packed in general.  We road up by the lake/beach area they have set up and there were kids everywhere and plenty of campers all around. 

I had talked to a buddy of mine Sam about what his feelings on the best descent up there was and he told me that I had to hit Stony Run and check out the Tuscarora Overlook, but also that the most memorable descent up there is Brushy Hollow Trail. (Sam went to school for a few years in the area.)  We decided to go up Beards Gap Trail right beside the park office, ok maybe it was a bit of an excuse to get another look at the pretty lady.  On up the trail we ran into some fresh cut sections of trail, followed by two huge root balls back to back that I have no clue how the local trail crew will deal with, obviously downed by Derecho storm.  This climb was really easy, once we got to the top we found a nice sign and place to sit.  Here is how some of the nice newer signs look.

 

 

We took a right onto Brushy Hollow Trail and it climbs a little bit further up, but it's not bad at all.  Not long after you start going up Brushy Hollow Trail you run into a awesome lookout and another spot to sit.  It was definitely a sweet spot, here are a few photos I snapped one with my phone and the others with a gopro. 

 



 

 

 

We couldn't resist and took a short break just to enjoy the view.  We headed up just a little bit more after that and we could see more substantial fresh cut trees where they had to clear trail here after Derecho.  It looked like it came right through this area and attempted to flatten everything in it's path.  Right after this is where we started to feel like things were starting to roll in the right direction, we geared up and headed on down.  I took some video of it, not the greatest but it works.  The top section is a bunch of loose switchbacks and bench cut singletrack along the side of the hill and then it dumps you into a lower rolling area and just seems to go forever, lots of fun.  I will deffinitely ride this again soon. 

 

 

We walked across a sketchy swinging bridge that we really didn't have to cross but did it for fun, I guess.  I kinda wish I'd taken a picture now, the wire was was truthfully holding it together because the wood was pretty much done.  It would be nice in the colder months not having to get your feet wet.  We had a short spin back to the bottom of Stony Run where we parked.  We took a break and talked about how awesome Brushy Hollow is and decided we would head up Stony Run to the Tuscarora Cabin Overlook.  Nice sign at the bottom of Stony Run.  

 

 

 

We started heading up and could see where they have done some fresh cutting at the bottom, it's pretty wide, but once you get up into the trail it gets much more narrow.  It was really nice in the lower section of this trail on the way up because it was really shaded and a easy grade.  We climbed for what seemed like forever but it is worth the trip, I was tired by the time I got to the top but it's not a difficult climb at all, just long.  The reward is not only the downhill coming backdown but at the top when you find the Tuscarora Overlook it's pretty rewarding.  The video I took on the descent back down didn't turn out all that great but it's a nice long descent back down, nothing really technical just good singletrack.

 

 

Good Times!