Hiking Virginia Sections 34, 35, 36 SOBO

[Gstettner]

Hoping to take a group of fit Boy Scouts on a 4-day hike SOBO on sections 34-36 this summer. If we set off from the trailhead at Bluff City by 4:30 PM, will we be able to easily reach camping sites on the trail before dark? Also, will the initial climb to Angels Rest just totally kick our butts?

[Gambit McCrae]

Hoping to take a group of fit Boy Scouts on a 4-day hike SOBO on sections 34-36 this summer. If we set off from the trailhead at Bluff City by 4:30 PM, will we be able to easily reach camping sites on the trail before dark? Also, will the initial climb to Angels Rest just totally kick our butts?

I would suggest downloading the Farout app. It will answer all of your questions. It is hard to answer someone's questions with so many unknown's.

How many in your group?
How fit? Typically actual fit people do not inquire if a challenge will challenge them, they do it and see if its a challenge.

Without knowing your details above, I would say that you would have time, with no dilly dally'ing, to climb up out of Pearisburg and find SOME sort of camping options up on the ridge.

As far as how difficult it is climbing out of Pburg, i do not recall the climb down into pburg being challenging.

[HankIV]

Hoping to take a group of fit Boy Scouts on a 4-day hike SOBO on sections 34-36 this summer. If we set off from the trailhead at Bluff City by 4:30 PM, will we be able to easily reach camping sites on the trail before dark? Also, will the initial climb to Angels Rest just totally kick our butts?

Echo Gambit on not really knowing your Scouts. I was in a hiking oriented troop and we would have been fine with climb. It is about 2.5 miles, 2000 feet, so not chump change. But the trailbed is pretty well maintained.

It is a pretty dry stretch until you get to Doc’s Knob, about 9.5 out of Pearisburg. So if you’re not confident of making that then you’ll need to haul water.