While we actually planned to take Ethan on his first camping trip back just before Memorial Day that trip was ultimately cancelled due to the global pandemic that we’re dealing with these days. So instead Cherie and I decided to hold off until we were into Phase 1 of the planned economy restart in Virginia. Our part of the state transitioned to Phase 1 this past Friday meaning that we were allowed to travel outside of our county without defying the governors executive order. So Saturday we headed down to George Washington National Forest for a one night trip!
Along for the adventure was Travis and his daughter Ava, also on her first camping trip. We decided to return to GWNF which happened to be where Travis and I had our last pre-baby camping trips back in October and November, this time with some young’uns.
It was also noteworthy for me because we were trying out a trailer for an adventure like this. Since last summer I had realized that if we hoped to continue on trips like this with a kid taking up the backseat of the Xterra, and needing to bring more because of them, we’d need more storage. While I’m still considering different trailer options I borrowed a 4×6 utility trailer to see what we learned about that size, tire size, etc for a trip like this.
The trip down went pretty smoothly. I was surprised how much I noticed the weight of the trailer going up one long hill on our way east but other than that it was like the trailer wasn’t back there. We got to GWNF and headed off pavement to find a campsite. When our preferred site was in use we backtracked to another great site. As we crossed the stream to get to our site Travis noted that the tarp had come loose on one side of the trailer. We didn’t do anything about it since we were pulling into camp. But as we began to unpack the trailer we realized that the tent was no longer on the trailer! It turned out we were missing a middle strap, which was holding the tent, and that side is where the tarp was loose.
For various reasons we’re pretty sure we lost it in the woods but despite heading back to look for it we did not find our tent. No worries! Cherie, Ethan, and I headed back to Harrisonburg and picked up a new tent at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Going into the mall during the pandemic was surreal. There were only a few people and most of the people there seemed to be there just to be out. With our new tent in hand we headed back to camp and got it set up.
Due to the unplanned mid-day shopping trip we decided to stay in camp for the rest of the evening. Our most exciting part of the evening was putting Ethan down. He had missed a few naps during the day (hard to nap in a tent without blackout curtains apparently) and so he was a little much to put down in his pack and play in the tent. But eventually he went to sleep and we relaxed around the fire for the rest of the evening.
Sunday morning arrived with bright sunshine on the tent. Ethan was still sleeping soundly. Apparently he was super comfy in his newborn sleeping bag and fuzzy onesie that we had brought for him. After a bunch of pics of him being cute we got up. Breakfast was great, eggs with sausage and veggies from dinner the night before.
Before we headed out we cleaned up 3 trash bags of trash from the site that was left by the previous tenants. One benefits of the trailer was that we could toss trash onto the trailer to carry it out with us! We packed everything back into the trailer and headed off for the day. The plan was to go the whole way up to Flagpole then continue north until we hit pavement near Reddish Knob.
We were pretty disappointed to realize almost immediately that there had been people that had trashed some other campsites since the day before when we had passed some of these sites while looking for a site for us, and they had been clean the day before! Seems like it might be a good CORE Volunteering trip for us later in the summer.
Towing the trailer was interesting. I immediately realized just how much the trailer was jumping even on this fairly mild off-road trail due to the 12in tires. Big tires roll over things more easily and this was dramatically apparent on the trailer! I eventually lowered the pressure to 16 psi to match our car tires just to try and soften the bumping. The joint was also very loud. We had a ball hitch but there was clanging between the drop hitch and the Xterra, between the ball and the trailer, and also between the two pins and the ball mount that held it at the right height. Ok, need to get a quieter connection with as few pinned joints as possible.
Finally driving up the trail made me think about the durability of the trailer axles in this use. While any given bump wasn’t bad we were probably putting the trailer through the equivalent of years of normal accidental curb hits, all in one day! From a reliability point of view it made me realize the value add of getting a stronger axle than would normally be warranted for the types of loads our trailer will see just to ensure you have a bigger heavier duty axle with beefier components.
The trip up to Flagpole was good though. A little slow with the trailer hopping like it was, but good. At the intersection with Union Springs Road we paused to inspect the route down to Meadow Knob. The route has continued to get torn up. I would definitely discourage stock vehicles from even attempting it at this point (other than stock Wranglers maybe). We drove over to Flagpole and paused to take in the view and get some pictures. We ended up talking to some other groups that arrived while we were there and handed out some CORE cards as well as cards for my website. It’s always nice to run into like-minded people also from our area!
The drive back to pavement was short. We paused at the end of the trail to air up and tighten the ratchet straps on the trailer one more time.
The ride back home was uneventful other than a brief stop at a McDonald’s where Ava threw up while at the drive through, and then Travis found a tick on her that had to be removed! All part of the adventure.
Cherie and I were pretty happy with how well Ethan handled the trip overall. He’s a calm kid and really does just take everything in stride. Whew! It was also great to get back out and do something more normal for us, especially after having a baby and dealing with a lockdown due to COVID-19 for several months. It was great camping with friends again and just getting out to enjoy some fresh air away from home, even if it was only a brief trip this time.
