Big Schloss Camping Trip

We decided we wanted to get out in the woods this weekend and the weather seemed favorable, if a bit cold. We decided to head out to Big Schloss and to try to do this hike, a 12 mile loop. We left Saturday morning and after a stop at REI to -what else- buy more gear, and numerous other stops for food and drink, we arrived at Wolf Gap campground. We saw a sign pointing toward Big Schloss so we put on our packs and started heading up. After about a half hour, something didn't seem right. We look at our printed-off-the-internet map and realized we weren't where we thought we were. (The important lesson to "always bring a good map" or at least "know what trail you are on" is one we should have learned by now- see Dolly Sods backpacking trip for another example of this...). Anyway, we figured out we were on the Mill Mountain trail and were indeed heading to Big Schloss, and just had to make a quick change of plans to do an out and back instead of the loop. Hopefully some of you still want to go hiking with us after reading about our mishaps....

The hiking was great and the scenery spectacular. It was a blue-sky sunny day around 50 degrees- perfect. We hiked for a few hours, stopping often for pictures. We got to Sandstone Spring around 4:30 PM, and there was a very loud group camped there. We filtered some water and continued on for another mile to a great, quiet, secluded camping spot. There is alot of great camping up on this trail but much of it doesn't have water nearby, so some planning ahead is necessary.

We set up camp as the sun started to set and made some dinner. It was a perfectly clear, calm night (that would change). With the right warm clothing, we could sit outside without getting too cold and enjoy our apres dinner drinks (we may have missed the lesson on maps, but we did learn the lesson of "bring peppermint schnapps for your hot chocolate"). We knew the Space Station was due to fly over around 6:30 so we were on "Space Station watch" after dinner. After getting excited everytime I saw a plane, we finally saw the Space Station zoom across the sky. Very cool.

It was finally too cold to stay out any longer so we turned in and watched some podcasts of "The Rest of Everest" (yes, we brought the iPod into the wilderness). Paul was toasty warm and I was only a little cold (big improvement for me over past trips where I've froze- I have a great new sleeping bag). The wind kicked up overnight and it was really gusting hard and very overcast by morning.

After coffee and oatmeal and packing up camp, we headed down to the car. The predicted rain/sleet held off so we dropped our packs at the car, made some soup for the thermos, and headed up Tibbet's Knob trail. It was about 1.5 miles up, including 2 scrambles near the top, to get to some incredible views. Then, back to the car and we headed out!

Many more pictures here....