The New Blog

First, I want to mention my new blog at www.MySpace.com/ExperienceWintergreen.  This blog has been posted for little over a month, and has gained a great following of over 300 “reads” per week.  Currently, I am posting each morning, and topics have included Spring skiing and riding, Hiking in Wintergreen & Nelson County, Geocaching, coupons and sales and restaurants. There is also an up-to-date calendar of events as well as new photos.   So, if you are interested in learning more about Nelson County and Wintergreen Resort, check out the blog.  The postings stay active for several weeks.  If you have any suggestions for blog topics, please email them to me.  In early April, I will be taking readers on a virtual tour of Nelson County’s Red White and Brew….that’s red wine, white wine and beer.  It will be a nine day series of blogs and information.

One of the most popular blog postings has been about Geocaching in Nelson County and Wintergreen Resort.  So, I am re-printing the story about Geocaching in this month’s newsletter.  See below.

Easter in Wintergreen Resort & Nelson County

As of today, we are still skiing and riding in Wintergreen.  We hope to have the slopes open until Easter weekend.  Besides skiing and riding (and tubing) the resort has many exciting activities planned for Easter weekend.  It is not too late to make a reservation for a condo or home rental.  You may also want to check out www.VRBO.com for Vacation Rentals by Owner. 

Last week on the blog, Dan, owner of 326 Dobie, let us know that he is running a special for the rental of his 2BR condo for Easter weekend.  Rent two nights and add a third night for free.  There will also be an Easter basket with a Nelson County wine for check-in.  Find out details at www.IIMoose.com

Some of the Easter weekend activities include:

Family Egg Decorating and Crafts on Saturday

Also on Saturday, Tea with Fairy Tale Characters

Easter Bunny Tuck-Ins

Worship services on Sunday

Easter Egg hunt on Sunday at 10AM with 1500 eggs

The famous Easter Brunch at the CopperMine (reservations needed)

Check out my blog calendar for additional ideas for weekend activities outside of the resort.  Several Nelson County landmarks will be serving brunch.

Geocaching in Wintergreen & Nelson County:

One thing that I want to mention is please tread lightly on our nature.  Leave nature the way you found it while Geocaching.  Replace the cache in a responsible fashion.  (more on this in later posts)

Getting started:  Create an account on Geocaching.com for a free membership.  The zip code for Wintergreen is 22958.  Check it out, there are several caches in the area of Wintergreen Resort.  Friends and family are already having fun with this sport in the resort.  Decide which cache sounds interesting to you and print-out the details.   Don’t forget to bring something to go into the cache once you find the box.  Bring something that reminds you of your hometown and you don’t mind giving away.

Create a waypoint in your GPS unit for the cache, using the latitude and longitude coordinates from the cache’s webpage. (on the print-out from above)

Use your GPS unit’s navigate feature (or equivalent) to produce an arrow on the screen pointing you to the waypoint you just created.

Using the arrow as a guide, make you way towards the cache.

Once you find the cache, take note of how it has been hidden.  You will need to replace it in an identical fashion.

Open the cache and browse the trinkets within it.  You should always trade something of equal or greater value to keep the sport fair.  You don’t have to remove any items and you can help re-stock a poorly filled cache by leaving your item and taking nothing.

Find the logbook within the cache.  Make a new entry in the book noting the date, time, your caching site username and a sentence about your journey to this cache.  Then, hide the cache box exactly like you found it.

Return home and log back into the caching web site.  Log your visit on the web site.

More Geocaching Information from the blog….

Thing you will Need for Geocaching:

1. A GPS Unit:  Prices range from $100-$150.00 but be sure to check out eBay.

2. A computer with Internet and a printer

3. Cache items for trading  (Check out the Wintergreen Logo store in the Mountain Inn if you forgot to bring some items from home)  Favorite cache items include commemorative pins, patches, crafts, etc.

4. A pen or pencil to signing the log book

5. Your day pack  (tomorrow’s blog will provide a list of day pack supplies)

Variations on Geocaching:

Multi-Caches:  Send you to more than one waypoint prior to you finding the final chache location.

Microcaches:  smaller containers, uses a small log sheet.

Puzzle Caches:   May require you to solve a puzzle of some kind to obtain the coordinates for the cache.

Virtual Caches:  These have no container at all, but require you to find some information at the location or take a picture to prove you found it.

Locationless Caches:  These are like a Scavenger Hunt and challenge you to find an object or landmark that could be anywhere.  These are not listed on geocaching.com.

Moving Caches:  These begin with the original coordinates of a real location, but when found are moved to another location.

Nelson County and Wintergreen Geocaching

Here is just one of the Wintergreen Cache clues:

Located in Wintergreen Resort. Access is free. Maps of Resort and trails are available at Trillium House. Please be mindful of possible wildlife encounters in and around cache areas, especially during warm weather. Bears and snakes are among Wintergreen's many residents!

Park at the Three Ridges Overlook and wear shoes with good treads.
Original Contents:
Wintergreen Golf Ball
Tennis Ball
Baseball
Flashing Ball
Rubber Ball
5 Marbles
Monster Duel TB (Found in Howlin' Good Time at Bark Camp Lake)
Log book, pen, pencil.

Begin your quest at the Three Ridges Access Trail.
Keep your eyes open and you will prevail.
Fire and Brimestone can be viewed another day,
Your Fortune lies down a gentler way.
Continue your journey to where the crossroads appear.
Take a moment to rest and the way will be clear.
Walk both sets of planks, the treasure is near.
Once the boards end, take the way of the deer.
The forest's hand points to the sky,
knot to lead you but to catch the eye!

For the full information, go to www.geocache.com, sign up and search on zip code 22958

Day Hikes in Wintergreen Resort and Nelson County

There are 32 miles of marked hiking trails in Wintergreen Resort.  Usually, weather permitting, those trails open in early April.  You can pick up a map of the Wintergreen Resort trails at The Nature Foundation in the resort.  (across from the WinterGarden Spa) In addition to those trails, the Appalachian Trail cuts across Nelson County and through Wintergreen Resort.  There are many marked day hiking trails across the county including these:

The Rockfish Valley Loop Trail:  The Rockfish Valley Foundation has developed this network of trails that is currently open for hiking.  You will enjoy easy, flat trails surrounded by spectacular mountain views.  The trails can be accessed from Rt. 151 at the Spruce Creek Gallery or the trailhead just south of the Rockfish River bridge.  Check out www.rockfishvalley.org for more information.  We just went for a walk on this trail this week and it was very enjoyable.  (no pets allowed at this time)

Crabtree Falls:  Visit the highest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi—a series of 5 major cascades and a number of smaller ones that fall a distance of 1200 feet.  The first overlook is an easy 700 feet from the parking lot.  (bring $3 in cash to pay for parking)  This is one of my favorite hikes in Nelson County.

In upcoming months, I will be posting information about additional hikes in the county.

New Building Lots in Nelson County

Are you looking to build your dream house in Nelson County?  You want an amazing view?  You want to be near Wintergreen Resort and all of its amenities, but not within the Wintergreen Property Owners Association?  Then, check out Rockfish Heights.  It is a very short drive to Wintergreen and shares some of the same valley views.  We have 3 acre-5+ acre lots, starting in the $180’s.  Call or email if you would like additional information about these beautiful building lots.

Other Real Estate News

We are starting to see some signs of the Real Estate market picking up in both Wintergreen Resort and Nelson County.  The contingent and sales reporting sheets have seen an increase in activity.  If you have been thinking about purchasing property near the ski slopes, remember that April is always the best month to possibly get a bargain on these properties.  Ski season will be over and the Summer season will be about a month out on the calendar.  That usually says “motivated sellers” in the ski areas. (Although the key locations have been selling…so, don’t wait while thinking that you could get a better deal later)  Spring also usually brings listings of golf-front homes.  We already have a few really nice houses that are golf-front properties listed for sale.  Last year, golf properties were hot, as soon as the weather warmed up.  So, if you are interested in a golf-font home, don’t wait until May to decide.

We have some building lots starting in the $80s.  Great lots with flat building sites.  If you would like to meet some builders or have a potential builder review a lot with you, just send an email and we will arrange the meeting.