Backpacking the Dolly Sods Wilderness

You know I love a good adventure.  Backpacking is one of my favorite ways to get out there and satisfy my never ending wanderlust.  

If you emailed me this past weekend you probably got my out of office message because I was completely unplugged.  We backpacked the Dolly Sods Wilderness and it was a trip that I will never forget.  

We left the DC area around 8:00 p.m. on Friday and arrived for our first night around midnight.  The next morning we set off for what ended up being just under 12 miles of packing in two days through numerous incredible landscapes.  We missed peak fall by a few weeks, but the cold weather, Saturday rain, and off-peak timing meant we had the trail almost completely to ourselves.  It was perfect!

Here are a few snippets of the cold, wet, muddy awesomeness that took place.  *All photographed with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100K.

One thing I had never done before was camp near the water.  We were elated when we found this spot!  Just over the ridge behind the "Adirondack chairs" is the widest river we had to cross.  We fell asleep and woke up to listening to it.  At night, I saw the most stars I've ever seen in my life.  

 The only way to cross this river was to get your feet wet.  I went first :-)

 Hellllooo sunshine!  What a difference it makes!

We were on a time crunch so while we waited with packs, Chloe ran two miles to the car.  While she ran, they slept :)

If you are considering hiking or backpacking here I highly recommend waterproof shoes, water filtration, a compass, and someone who is efficient at reading maps.  These were all essential items while we were out.  It's a wonderful trip and I highly recommend it!

There are other routes we didn't get to explore in our two day trip.  We will be back, Dolly Sods!