3 Days of Campfire Cooking and Hammock Camping

Hammock Camping, Trail Cooking and the search for an Elusive Hearth in the Woods of West Virginia.

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For this early February hammock camping trip, I set out to hike a 3 day hike with a nostalgic goal – to find a giant campfire hearth that my friend and I had built five years ago, somewhere off of the Appalachian Trail near the town of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. I had always wondered if it was still standing after all these years, and thought it would be a great excuse to spend some time in the woods and cook some hearty camping meals.

My weather conditions were forecasted to have a pretty wide range during this trip, from the upper 50’s down to 30 degrees each evening. I had a rough idea of the hearth’s location. We built it at camp not too long after leaving the Harpers Ferry National Historic Area’s boundary heading south on the Appalachian Trail. My goal for the first day was to get myself to a legal camping area in this general area so I could search for it the next morning. If I found it early, I would have the option to do a day hike to Loudoun Heights and Split Rock for views of the Shenandoah River and Potomac River below the ridge.

For sleep and shelter on this trip, I went with a simple hammock camping and ultralight tarp setup (gear list below). I used the extra space in my winter backpack to load up on extra clothing layers, a saw for harvesting firewood, a stool for working in my makeshift camp kitchen, and my white gas stove system paired up with a fry pan and diffuser to try my hand at baking some trail bread at camp. The cooler temps also allowed me to bring some “real” food, so I brought along some ingredients to make some smoked sausage one day and pasta with a slow cooked meat sauce the next.

For an easier read and downloadable GPS data, check out my full blog post
http://www.sintax77.com/3-days-of-campfire-cooking-and-winter-backpacking-harpers-ferry-west-virginia

Trailhead: Lower Town Trailhead
171 Shoreline Dr, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425
39°18’54.6″N 77°45’19.7″W

Located at the National Park Visitor Center. You can register for free to camp and park overnight at the back of the lot. Camping is not permitted within the park, so you will have to hike outside of the park a few miles on the other side of the river in order to legally camp.

Trails Used Day 1

Lower Town Trail
Appalachian Trail South
Camp along the AT about 1/2 mile after exiting the NP
This is an unofficial spot located on a shelf down from the ridge. Watch out for the white boundary signs below the ridge, and make sure that you camp on the correct side. This is a dry site, bring water.

Day 1 Mileage: 3.3 miles
(plus searching for the hearth, but hopefully you won’t have to do that!)
Day 1 Gross Elevation Gain: 1,012′
Day 1 Gross Descent: 540′

Trails Used Day 2

AT North
Loudoun Heights Trail
Arrive at Split Rock for sweeping views of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the town of Harpers Ferry with it’s numerous railroad bridges.
Follow the AT South back to camp

Day 2 Mileage: 5 miles
Day 2 Gross Elevation Gain: 1,092′
Day 2 Gross Descent: 1,092′

Route Day 3

AT North
Lower Town Trail
Return Parking

Day 3 Mileage: 3.3 miles
Day 3 Gross Elevation Gain: 2,644′

Grand Total Mileage: 11.6 miles
Grand Total Elevation Gain: 3,075′

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of my links.

Notable Backpacking Gear

Fjallraven Kajka 75 Backpack https://amzn.to/2Uj8Ew4
Dutchware Half-Wit Hammock w/ Beetle Buckle Suspension https://dutchwaregear.com
Hammock Gear Burrow 20 Top Quilt https://www.hammockgear.com
HG Phoenix 0 Underquilt
Hammock Gear Dyneema Hex Tarp
Byer of Maine Trilite Camp Stool https://amzn.to/38xgTx1
Optimus Polaris Optifuel Stove https://amzn.to/2MoOno4
Stove Heat Diffuser https://amzn.to/3Ih7DvL
MSR Flex Skillet https://amzn.to/2L4B4IT
Light My Fire Mini Fire Steel Striker https://amzn.to/30S3rxm
Toaks 750ml Titanium Pot https://amzn.to/30S3rxm
Sea to Summit Long Handled Spork https://amzn.to/3lBguOW
Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets https://amzn.to/3uYZ1TP
RevolutionRace Men’s Norwand Pants https://amzn.to/3G53ief
Outdoor Vitals Adventure Jacket, Loftek https://bit.ly/3r4nhDI
Nitecore NU25 Headlamp https://amzn.to/2YVsp0A
Silky F-180 Folding Saw https://amzn.to/3Fi6F0l
Benchmade Bugout Knife https://amzn.to/2JVfBS5
Sangean DT-400W Weather Band Radio https://amzn.to/3qy8UoM
Packit Gourmet Backpacking Meals https://www.packitgourmet.com/
Spot X Satellite Messenger https://amzn.to/3adSjBr
GoPro Hero 8 Black https://amzn.to/2D8n6lL
GoPro Shorty Tripod Grip https://amzn.to/2MPhGOM

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