Duncan Knob Winter Backpacking

This was the third time I've done winter backpacking up in this area. It's just west of Luray, VA in George Washington National Forrest and I think is some of the best wilderness camping there is near DC. I also finally made it up to Duncan Knob which had even nicer views than I thought and a real fun rock scramble on the way up. A few notes below.

• Luray, VA is a great jumping off and after coming out of the woods town. Broad Porch coffee there is great, there's a little outdoor store, and Chophouse Bistro is a newish higher end restaurant with good vegetarian options.
• We parked at Camp Roosevelt Campground and took the Massanutten trail in and there's a good spot to filter water before heading up on the Gap Creek trail. There's a few little fire rings and camp spots near Peach Orchard Gap including one up ontop of Duncan Knob, but it would have been too windy and dificult to find firewood up there.
• I always pick a favorite piece of gear and for this trip it was a Silky Gomboy folding saw. We had a fire going for a good 5 hours and processed two big downed trees easily to keep it going.
• I brought a very small pad to sit on and should have hauled up my Helinox chair instead.
• We got real lucky with the weather. High 40s going up and stayed just above freezing at night.
• The road that goes next to most of these trails (724 / Crisman Hollow Road) is closed in the winter so there's barely anyone in there which is nice.
• This was my first time using a treking pole tent (Lanshan 1 Pro) which went great, but I think I'll only ever use one if I know there's going to be good weather. It likely would have been bad news in the rain.

Route

Day 1

Day 2