Carvin's Cove (Roanoke area) conditions?

D-Town said:

Thinking about taking a quick little trip up there tomorrow and wanted to see if the trails still have snow or just plain old muddy.

Thanks!

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I think that at least some parts are going to be a mess of epic proportions. It was below freezing for a few weeks, and the ground is frozen, with snow and ice on many parts. Then, starting yesterday, it began warming. So now you will have it thawing from the top down, and the frozen ground underneath will prevent any draining.

The conditions up until now were pretty good, with everything frozen solid. I was out yesterday morning and through most of the lower trails there is a clear path where the trail is. It was actually dusty in a number of spots (kind of strange, since the ground all around is covered in snow and ice), but I suspect that there is water frozen underneath and the melting snow on either side of the trails will get everything soggy.

I would be interested to hear first hand what it is like out there over the next few days.

Dont ride.

For the sake of our trails. The lower loop will be awful

Matt 891 said:

Dont ride.

For the sake of our trails. The lower loop will be awful

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That's what I needed to hear. I'll wait until the trails dry and I can spin everything without the extra mud weight.

Thanks!

Im not trying to waffle on you here... but here goes.

The trails up on the mountain shouldnt be that bad. Buck will be a flowing creek though.

Gauntlet, Trough and Hi-Dee-Hoe seem to drain pretty well. If you are hell bent on riding you could give those a try.

But as I said before - THE LOWERS WILL BE HORRENDOUS

I think I am bagging it until things dry out and then make a longer trip out of it.

D-Town said:

Thinking about taking a quick little trip up there tomorrow and wanted to see if the trails still have snow or just plain old muddy.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Was out there today (Sat, 1/16) from 10-1 and it was actually not as bad as I thought it might be. I went out there to do the uppers, but 1000 Foot Climb looked like a miserable slog, so we did the bottom loop (minus lower comet and the 1st section of enchanted forest). It was muddy as noon rolled around, but not all THAT bad. The only part I thought was really bad was the far end of Songbird after things warmed up. It was sort of greasy clay and inch or so deep in places with standing water. Everything else was not that bad.

From 11-3, I did the 1000 ft, (it is miserable) then down Gauntlet best of any trails I saw today (made it worth the mess to get there), up Trough started thawing and was a soft, swampy climb in some places, started down Hi-Dee-Hoe but snow over my hubs so I turned around and went down fire road to Arrowhead which wasn't too bad but horses left it with deep holes and manure. It seemed Trough and Arrowhead were just begining to thaw out and were getting worse. Warm weather = horses and manure. I think it will be a mess tomorrow with or without rain.

D-Town said:

Thinking about taking a quick little trip up there tomorrow and wanted to see if the trails still have snow or just plain old muddy.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

A buddy and I rode the upper trails today (Tues, 1/19).

1000' climb > Gauntlet > Trough > Buck's Rut > road back to the lot (skipped Hotel).

It was all in pretty good shape, but 1000 foot climb was soft the whole way and was a real hard slog. I never slid out, or dug anything up, but left a three mile long track in the soft dirt about a half inch deep. Everything else was OK, though we did walk around a few parts climbing Trough that were too soft.

Ran into someone who just finished the lower trails and said it was really, really bad. Songbird, Schoolhouse, Little Bell, all a mess. Arrowhead was apparently OK, which is not surprising, as it is an older trail and hilly.

Here comes the snow again...

BikerJen said:

Here comes the snow again...

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I have resorted to extreme measures..... spin class:madman:

I rode my hardtail about 4 miles at 2 am this morning.

Full moon + cloud cover + snow falling + along the Roanoke River = Best road ride evarrr