Camping Trip (Mid Eastern Region)

[Stormyva]

I am putting some feelers out to see how many people might be interested in doing a Mid-Eastern Region camping trip.....

Some of the possible areas for camping/herping that I was considering....
Front Royal, VA
Frederick, MD or Harpers Ferry, WV
Summersville/Richwood, WV


Any ideas or opinions???

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[pincess_wy]

I wanna go! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] And those places aren't too far from me...


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[JuliusSqueezer]

ahhh you wuss....that's ,like right in your back yard! How about somewhere in North Carolina? You would get quite a few more people to go that way and there are more snakes. I know this Georgia trip sounds like it's in some of our back yard too but it isn't...it's about a 5 hour drive from Atlanta. Raleigh is about a 5 1/2 hour drive too....WV is a terrible drive from anywhere LOL VA...hmm maybe but...what's there to catch? There has been some chatter about a possible summer South or North Carolina trip. Gotta go where the herps are!
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[dlamphere]

I 2nd the NC trip. I can go there more often than South GA.
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[John_White]

There's a great camping/herpin' event this weekend in VA:
Check it out: http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/vnhs/bioblitz.htm
We'll be collecting all sorts of critters (and plants)

Of course the best camping/herpin' event of the year (in VA) is Friday, May 30th - June 1st !!!
Check it out: http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS/2003_spring_meeting.htm

During this years survey we hope to extend the western range of the cottonmouth in VA. And if possible add a new species of snake (the banded water snake) to Virginia's fauna list. This event is free and is open to the general public (don't need to be member of the VHS).

John

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	Cottonmouth Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) - Also known as a Water Moccasin.

[Stormyva]

John, I am seriously considering that camping/herping trip on the weekend of the 30th.
What are the feelings on children at that trip? I will have my five (almost six) year old that weekend and he would love the camping and snake catching [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

I would be up for a NC trip.

The reason I suggested those areas is that I am little familiar with them and they would be closer to our northern friends. They are all 3 or more hours away from me so it was not because the are close to me.




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[Nyte]

Stormy- I would probably be interested in the more northernly camping idea, and so would probably my girlfriend, and a few other friends of mine up here. The Carolinas and Georgia are just too far for an affordable weekend trip for us up here. Keep us posted, and if you need someone to do some feeler work at sites and so forth in the Frederick, MD area, let me know.

Brian
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[John_White]

>>John, I am seriously considering that camping/herping trip on the weekend of the 30th.
>>What are the feelings on children at that trip? I will have my five (almost six) year old that weekend and he would love the camping and snake catching [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
>>

At my very first survey I tried to make a good impression on the other members. As hard as I tried many people caught more species than I did and my yield was just average. Toward the end of the survey the members gathered by an old farm pond to remove the last of the turtle traps. All of the sudden my oldest daughter (7) screams "Turtle!" and takes off at a full sprint toward water. She does a head first "Pete Rose" style dive, slides about 10 feet across the mud and disappears beneath the water. She surfaces holding the turtle above her head and shouts "Got it!" For the next couple years I was only known as "Jennifer's dad".

Even though my kids almost always out herp me I still bring them to the spring surveys. Normally, we have at least a few kids that attend the surveys.
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[Stormyva]

John, that sounds like a blast and does sound like it is kid friendly. I will talk to my son and see if he wants to go.

Nyte, sounds like we might be on to two different functions here [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] We can probably line something up at one of the many campgrounds along the C & O near Harpers Ferry. Although we may not get as many cool herps as a trip to NC we could still put some faces, and voices, to the names and have some fun!

Ok.... so count me in on a NC trip, the Survey Trip, AND a trip up to WV Eastern Panhandle/MD.

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[Nyte]

Stormy - Yeah, it can sometimes be harder to find herps around here, though not imposible. Might just be fun to have sort of a meet and greet type, laid back thing like you said. I am presuming your talking about during the "summer" meaning while kids are out of school?

Brian
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[Stormyva]

We not be able to catch as many herps as down south but we sure could have a good time!
If we do the KOA out in Harpers Ferry we could head down to one of the River Outfitter places and do a tubing trip down the Shenandoah and still get in some herping. We should be able to get some blacks, garters, coppers, and some other stuff. I think it would be a fun time!

Nyte I was thinking about summer time... I for have a six year old son that would have a blast out there!




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