The Summit of Big Schloss

Over Memorial Day Weekend, Paul and I, along with our friends Mikael and Kate, headed into the great outdoors to go backpacking and take on the Big Schloss. This epic mountain, reaching lofty heights of 3000+ feet, spans the border of VA and WV.

The first day of our trek we hiked up the valley to the top of the ridge along the way viewing rare wildlife such as a big brown snake and a frog. After bypassing the “Mercedes of back country campsites” we set up camp close to a water source. Unfortunately everyone wanted to be near the water source so we had very close and cozy neighbors. Regardless, lots of rice, hotdogs, and smores were had by all (okay no hot dogs for me).

The second day was the big summit. We got an early start and set off for our summit bid when the sun was high in the sky. As we neared the summit we took bets as to how many people would already be there, I think Paul was the closest with a guess of 15. Even with the crowds of people, the summit was big enough for us all to claim a little piece of our own. The views of the valley far far below were bright and sunny if not alpine-esque.