Paco's Memorial Day Weekend Adventure (Lots of Pics)

[Paco97]

This weekend, my wife and I decided to get away and have some fun! Here is the story of our Adventure Weekend Memorial Day 2008 in Marlinton, WV home of the Greenbrier River Trail. Hope you enjoy!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier19.jpg
Woke up Sunday 7AM and it was 40F and I left my Underarmor at the House! Here is the Trailhead in Marlinton.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier12.jpg
A GRT Mileage Marker. The trail is marked really good!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier17.jpg
Here's my Ugly Mugshot at a Water Tank on the Outskirts of Marlinton on the GRT

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier5.jpg
The Greenbrier River from the Sharps Tunnel Bridge

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier2.jpg
Greenbrier River Trail! Excellent Crushed Stone and Well Maintained!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier8.jpg
This is the Exit of Sharps Tunnel on my way to Clover Lick.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier10.jpg
GRT leading up to the Sharps Tunnel. On my way back to Marlinton from Clover Lick!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier23.jpg
Here I am finishing a 32.2 mile ride (Marlinton to Clover Lick to Marlinton). Morning started off at 40F but eventually warmed up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier28.jpg
Sunday Afternoon we traded our bikes for Canoes and did a 10 Mile trip on the Greenbrier River

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/LostRiver1.jpg
We stopped at Lost River State Park on our way home on Monday and did some horseback Riding.


This was an excellent weekend!! I didn't get a chance to ride on the GRT as much as I would have liked, but I will return again!! The trail is 79 miles long and is in much better shape than the C&O canal. The GRT belongs to the WV State Parks and they do an outstanding job of maintaining the trail. We stayed at the Jerico Cabins, which were 1 mile from the GRT Trailhead in Marlinton. The Jerico Cabins are Pre-civil War Cabins that have been rebuilt. Our cabin was the Patton Cabin and was built by Gen. Pattons Great-grandfather.

We rode a short 13 mile ride on Saturday evening and I rode 32.2 miles on Sunday and my time was 2:32:50 for an average of 12.24 mph. I could have done better, but I kept stopping to take pics. The trail is a 1 percent grade so I averaged 10-12 on the way to Clover Lick and 13-15 on my way back to Marlinton.

Pocahontas County is the most rural county in WV, with 80% of the county being either state park or national forest. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. If you haven't been there, then you haven't lived!

I would like to ride the entire trail sometime in July or August, so if anyone is interested let me know. I'd like to try and do all 79 in one day!

Here's a Slideshow I put together with more pics:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/?action=view&current=98f0ce5c.pbw

[zeroncali]

Looks like fun, I didn't get to ride nearly as much as I wanted to this weekend but I did manage to get a pretty decent trail ride in today around noon.

[The Historian]

This weekend, my wife and I decided to get away and have some fun! Here is the story of our Adventure Weekend Memorial Day 2008 in Marlinton, WV home of the Greenbrier River Trail. Hope you enjoy!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier19.jpg
Woke up Sunday 7AM and it was 40F and I left my Underarmor at the House! Here is the Trailhead in Marlinton.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier12.jpg
A GRT Mileage Marker. The trail is marked really good!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier17.jpg
Here's my Ugly Mugshot at a Water Tank on the Outskirts of Marlinton on the GRT

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier5.jpg
The Greenbrier River from the Sharps Tunnel Bridge

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier2.jpg
Greenbrier River Trail! Excellent Crushed Stone and Well Maintained!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier8.jpg
This is the Exit of Sharps Tunnel on my way to Clover Lick.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier10.jpg
GRT leading up to the Sharps Tunnel. On my way back to Marlinton from Clover Lick!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier23.jpg
Here I am finishing a 32.2 mile ride (Marlinton to Clover Lick to Marlinton). Morning started off at 40F but eventually warmed up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/Greenbrier28.jpg
Sunday Afternoon we traded our bikes for Canoes and did a 10 Mile trip on the Greenbrier River

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/LostRiver1.jpg
We stopped at Lost River State Park on our way home on Monday and did some horseback Riding.


This was an excellent weekend!! I didn't get a chance to ride on the GRT as much as I would have liked, but I will return again!! The trail is 79 miles long and is in much better shape than the C&O canal. The GRT belongs to the WV State Parks and they do an outstanding job of maintaining the trail. We stayed at the Jerico Cabins, which were 1 mile from the GRT Trailhead in Marlinton. The Jerico Cabins are Pre-civil War Cabins that have been rebuilt. Our cabin was the Patton Cabin and was built by Gen. Pattons Great-grandfather.

We rode a short 13 mile ride on Saturday evening and I rode 32.2 miles on Sunday and my time was 2:32:50 for an average of 12.24 mph. I could have done better, but I kept stopping to take pics. The trail is a 1 percent grade so I averaged 10-12 on the way to Clover Lick and 13-15 on my way back to Marlinton.

Pocahontas County is the most rural county in WV, with 80% of the county being either state park or national forest. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. If you haven't been there, then you haven't lived!

I would like to ride the entire trail sometime in July or August, so if anyone is interested let me know. I'd like to try and do all 79 in one day!

Here's a Slideshow I put together with more pics:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v665/paco97/?action=view&current=98f0ce5c.pbw

Hmm, Neil F., here's another trail for us. 2009?

Paco, thanks for the wonderful report and the beautiful photos. It looks like you had a good time.

[Paco97]

It was a blast! I'm glad that we decided to make the trip. I was swamped friday at work, so I got home late and we got a late start, but other than that, the weekend went perfectly. It would have been nice to get some more riding in, but what I did do I really enjoyed the trail.

[ilmooz]

Great scenery. Looked like a real nice day for riding.

[Mazama]

Nice ride, except that tunnel looked a little scary. How does a bike perform on that hard-pack gravel surface? I'd be afraid my tires would sink in or the bike would slide out from under me.

[Paco97]

The tunnel is 400' long so you have plenty of light at both ends. The middle was pretty dark, but as long as you take your time and take off your sunglasses you can ride in the tunnel with no problems. I was only in the middle for about maybe 10-20 seconds with a faint light. I could see the walls but not so much the ground. By the time you get freaked out, you have light from the other side coming in. My tires are 38's and they did really well. For the most part the gravel was well packed, but some areas were a little loose. About the only thing it did for me was slow me from 12mph to 9-10 mphs. It was a little tough to keep my speed up. My tire only sank about 1/4-1/2", not much at all. I never slide or lost control at all. I did run off the trail once or twice, but that's because I was looking at the scenery and because I'm a klutz. It really is a great ride.

Nice ride, except that tunnel looked a little scary. How does a bike perform on that hard-pack gravel surface? I'd be afraid my tires would sink in or the bike would slide out from under me.