A Slippery Situation: Shoe Creek and Flagpole Knob

One of the great things about getting out on the trail is that places you’ve been many times before can surprise you.  Unexpected things can happen and how you deal with them, and how well you prepare in advance drive the outcome. This past weekend our basic overnighter on George Washington National Forest Land surprised us with some pretty tense situations.

Flexy spot on Shoe Creek Trail

The plan was pretty basic and familiar.  Myself, my brother Taylor (Tacoma), and friends Terrill and Tony (both in FJ Cruisers) would meet up south of Charlottesville and drive further south to Shoe Creek Trail.  We’d drive the trail and then head to another section of GWNF west of Harrisonburg to drive up Flagpole Knob.

Spotting Tony up a tricky section at Shoe Creek

Taylor and I planned to camp for the night on Flagpole while Tony and Terrill were heading back home to NoVa and Maryland (respectively).  There was nothing unfamiliar about this trip; the goal was purely to get out and have some fun!

Left to Right: Terrill, Tony, Taylor, and Ben lined up at the end of Shoe Creek

We had a great time running Shoe Creek – there was a little bit of snow on the trail and flurries were coming down while we were out there.  The trail is pretty easy overall but there are a few sections where you may want a spotter or just get out of the truck to choose a line.

Shots from the Shoe Creek trail

We also ran into another group out on Shoe Creek running the trail in the opposite direction.  There were some unique and awesome rigs in their group.  My favorite was the “old school” Ford Bronco with cut-out wheel wells and a hole cut in the hood for the engine’s air cleaner.  It was definitely a trail mule but a cool one for sure.  My second favorite had to be the old Jeep Wagoneer with Hummer H2 wheels.  My dad had a Wagoneer when I was growing up – I’ve always liked them.

Vintage Bronco and Jeep Wagoneer on Shoe Creek

After Shoe Creek we drove about an hour northwest to Harrisonburg and from there on to a western section of GWNF to run Flagpole Knob.  The plan was to drive to the top of Flagpole in about 45 minutes and set up camp.  We were treated to an awesome scene when we turned off Route 33 to the Flagpole access road – Switzer Lake was completely frozen over.  Perhaps an omen?

In the first ~15 minutes on the trail I managed to lodge an entire sapling (roots and all) between my rear axle and my spare tire.  We had to drop my spare to get the tree out – we still have no idea how the heck it happened! Thankfully I got lucky and nothing was damaged.

Dislodging the sapling (yes, that is duck tape on the bumper…don’t judge)

We continued on down the trail – as we snaked up the mountain we encountered more snow but it was still nothing to worry about.  I felt a little wheel slip as the lead truck but nothing I was overly worried about.  Then, a little more slipping, and the guys behind me started lighting up the CB radio “Hey Ben, stop and get back here”.  What I hadn’t seen was that for the last ~200 yards we’d been driving on a road coated with a 1-2” thick layer of solid ice, covered with just a dusting of snow.  There was also a pretty good drop off on the left as well to contend with.

Two inches of solid ice on the trail…(hard to show in the photo)

As I walked back down the trail to the other guys, I found just how slick everything was.  In a split second I went from walking to being completely horizontal and sliding down on my back.  Taylor said he looked up and just saw my feet up in the air!  In addition to my fall, Tony also ended up wiping out before it was all said and done.

Terrill had been riding right behind me and had the rear-end of his FJ kick out in an uncontrolled slide towards the edge of the road.  Following that, his truck actually slid backwards on the road about 15 feet with all 4 wheels locked.  Taylor and Tony were not in much better spots.

Terrill’s FJ finally stationary after sliding backwards ~15 feet

At that point we all knew that the rest of the trail, one that we had driven probably a dozen times before, just wasn’t going to be doable this time.  Now the objective was to get all 4 trucks back 200 yards off the ice without damaging anything or anyone getting hurt.

The Crew, victorious (tired?) after getting all the trucks safely off the solid ice!

It was a game of inches and a constant battle, we used our winches to creep the trucks down the nasty icy sections of trail making sure to take the time to walk each truck down individually. We were able to keep each truck under control and a safe distance from the edge, there were some tense moments but with some good communication and faith in our spotters we managed to get it sorted out. Finally after 2 hours we were all pointed in the right direction, off the ice, and damn happy to get out unscathed.

I have an ongoing joke that every time I try to camp at Flagpole, I always seem to be chasing daylight to not set up camping the dark.  Here I was again, in the dark, setting up on Flagpole, but at one of the large wooded spots towards the bottom of the trail.  Didn’t matter.  Taylor and I were in great spirits and happy to be off the ice!

We set up our tents, got a big fire going, and enjoyed beers and brunswick stew around the campfire for a couple of hours – no shortage of things to recount from the day!  The temperature dropped into the 20’s at night, but with our warm bags we both slept like babies – and slept in late.  I woke up to Taylor restarting the fire.  We weren’t in a huge hurry so we fried up some bacon and eggs as some light snow started falling.

Scenes from camp, base of Flagpole Knob (Sunday morning)

I think for the rest of this winter I’m going to be a little more careful and on the lookout for ice.  While looking back we’ve got some good stories, I’m not dying to relive that stomach turning feeling of my 6,000lb truck sliding on ice.  Flagpole Knob, we’ll see you in the Spring!