Grapeyard Ridge Trail

Date: 12/26/13
Distance: 15.2

Grapeyard Ridge is a trail that connects Greenbrier to the roaring fork motor trail.  This time of year, the motor trail is closed, so I started at the Greenbrier end of the trail.  At approximately 1 mile, there was the 1st of 5 creek crossings.  None of them was "easy" as the water was moving fast and was deeper than most of the good rocks for hop rocking.  I probably spent 10 minutes looking for a good crossing spot at the 1st one.  Each of the next 4 were a bit easier than the 1st, but still troubling.  There was ice and snow on all of the logs laying in the creek, so many of the good options were treacherous.

 There was a light snow on the parts of the trail in the shade making the trail very scenic.

At 3.2 miles, a short trail goes down to Campsite 32.  I didn't go down to investigate as time was short.  

1.7 miles after the campsite, there is a sign for the Big Dudley Horse Trail.

 At the end of the trail, there are several rustic buildings.

I had read that there was a steam engine on this trail, but I missed it on the walk from Greenbrier to the motor trail.  I had phone service during the walk back when I got up high, so I looked it up on the Internet.  The engine was located 2.85 miles from Greenbrier.  It was obvious in the creek on the hike back once I knew to look.

There was a decent climb along the way with several up and downs.  It was a pretty good workout.

Total time was 6:19.  I'd guess that the creek crossing cost me at least 1/2 an hour.