PilotWines Loop - Big South Fork

Three of my backpacking friends had agreed to go on a wintertime overnight with me (with disclaimers: not too cold, no ice/snowstorms/not too far away/ect.) This weekend looked promising. Other than the updates I was getting from Craig and the Outcasts from their trails.

We drove to Big South Fork, Station Camp East trailhead to hike the Pilot/Wines trail. The parking lot was full of trucks and horse trailers. We were hiking the trail counterclockwise. They all went the opposite direction maybe to the Big Island Loop. The trail was in fairly good condition after the rain/snow earlier in the week. Not too much mud. We got to see the Wilderness Resort cabins and stable on the border of the park; they have immediate access to trails from their cabins.  I was able to find Pilot Rock for the ladies to see. It really is impressive. We got to the river level and hiked up the creek to find a campsite out of the mud. There was plenty of firewood and a log to sit on by the campfire. It stayed cloudy thru the evening but we did see the moon shining thru.

Sometime thru the night, it rained a little, then the thunder woke us up at daylight. We got packed up and started cooking breakfast under my tarp when Nancy’s fuel canister rolled down the bank into the creek. I ran down to the crossing to try and catch it. It got stuck between a rock and a hard place, so I grabbed it.

We headed out to cross the creek, sprinkles came and went. We got to the Dome Rockhouse and had a snack in the dry. When we got to the car all the horse trailers had disappeared, I guess horses don’t like rainy days. Just as we were loading up, the rain came down. Good timing! We stopped at the Hitching Post for something to drink and talked with the owner and his companions. You can’t get permits here for overnight backpacks anymore. The park service has an online option or at the Visitor Centers. It was really handy to get them here in case you weren’t going into the visitor center areas. He also runs a lodge in case you need a place to stay.

We got to the Cracker Barrel to the other car and during swap over Amy noticed her poles were missing. She had left them in the Station Camp parking lot while changing shoes. After a quick call to the Visitor Center, the Ranger told her he would check it out when he got off work. Hope he finds them so she can get them back.

Thank you to my adventurous backpacking friends for agreeing to a February backpack J

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Pilot/Wine Loop Trail - Big South Fork

Day One:
Pilot / Wines Loop 8.2 miles
Day Two:
Pilot / Wines Loop 5
Dome Rockhouse 1.2 miles
Pilot / Wines Loop 1.6
Bronco Overlook trail 1.8 miles
Total Miles: 17.8

Lora and I headed out for an overnight hike.  We went to the Big South Fork area and hiked the Pilot Wine loop plus a little extra.

We started out at the Station Camp East trailhead and hiked counterclockwise.  We passed a quite a few horse riders out this time.  The last time that I hiked this trail with Troy, we missed Pilot Rock.  I was determined not to miss it this time.  Once again as we hiked through the rock wall section when the trail turned steeply downhill off to the right, I pulled out the trail description.  There is no trail to Pilot rock.  There may have been at one time, so Lora and I headed straight out the ridge and BANG, there it is.  You cannot see it from the trail, but a few yards in and there is a huge rock sitting on top of the ridge.  I was excited to find it this time!

After Pilot rock we headed down to Grassy branch where we followed the horse trail off down stream to find a place to camp.  If you stay to the right and go upstream on Williams branch there is a place in the woods that makes a good campsite.  We did some exploring in the area after we set up camp and collected firewood.  We heard a couple of owls that night.

The next morning we got up and started the steep climb out of the river gorge.  The leaves that were still hanging on were green or red making a pretty picture.  There were so many leaves on the trail that we didn't hear much wildlife let alone our conversation with each other.  When we came to the second connection with the Big Island Loop we meet some horse riders that were trying to figure out what to see today.  We told them about stuff in the area and they too took the trail to the Dome Rockhouse.

The Dome Rockhouse is like a large room in a cave with a large opening.  It is really cool with the rock being different colors in the dome part.  After that we hiked back to the Pilot Wine Loop trail and made it back to the parking lot. 

We dropped the packs and hiked the Bronco Overlook (Station Camp East Overlook) trail.  This is an easy walking trail through the woods to a good overlook of the Big South Fork Gorge.

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