Hiking in central Virginia, the individual hikes
10/7, Beagle Gap to Rockfish Gap and back, 11 miles, 1000 feet
I had not completed one last little bit of the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park. Since the south entrance involved only a minor detour from the trip to the house we were renting, I decided to complete this segment. Ironically, AD had the same idea and we actually met on the trail, when she was going north and I was heading south. AD had merely a one-way hike, since she was being shuttled by RH. I, on the other hand, was on my own, so my hike was a there-and-back. The hike itself was not especially interesting. The sole viewpoint (at the communications tower) was obstructed by clusters of trees. But it was a lovely day and it was very pleasant to walk amid the foliage as it was just beginning to change color.
10/8, Rte. 621 to Rte. 630, 10.7 miles, 2400 feet
Most of the hikes I started with BM from one end of the route while AD, RH, and others started from the other, so that we could access cars at both ends of the segment and were not obliged to spend time on shuttling. BM and I generally received the options with the greater amount of elevation gain. On this hike the two groups met almost at the precise center of the segment, where we lunched together. The route that BM and I used started with an ascent that lasted for four miles. It never was very steep but it contained several short rocky patches that sometimes were a bit of a scramble. Towards the summit we passed the Eastern Continental Divide. There were many views along rock slabs on the north side of the ridgeline. One part of the valley below displayed autumn foliage in full color, contrasting with the green-leafed slope above. The second half of our hike contained several minor ascents, never lasting very long and not at all difficult. We met two very pleasant women section-hikers, whom we were to see again on several of the subsequent hikes. There were several curious stone structures close to the trail. They could not be kilns or ovens, for they had no hollow area, and the rocks were too carefully fitted to one another to be stones discarded by farmers as they were plowing the land. My guess is that they are some sort of burial mound, but it is only a guess on my part. The final descent was easier than I anticipated; it contained several stone steps cut in to aid the hikers. This was the coolest hike of the week, after which the weather became steadily warmer; but even on this day it was never cold and the sunny skies made the air seem warmer.
10/9, Rte. 632 to Rte.630, 8.3 miles, 2400 feet
The first half was a pleasant but average hike. But the final few miles were more memorable. We began by ascending about 2½ miles, a shorter ascent that the one we experienced yesterday, but somewhat steeper. We met the same two section-hikers we had seen yesterday, after which we went along a rather steep descent to a shelter, where we had lunch. From there we came to Sinking Creek Valley, where we saw lovely, far-ranging views of farmland flanked by mountains. The overlooks were different from the ones usually seen from “balds” (mountain summits with few or no trees); the views are similarly expansive, but seen only a few feet above the fields instead of hundreds of feet above them.
10/10, Rte. 632 to Rte. 635, 11.2 miles, 2300 feet
This hike was somewhat less enjoyable than the preceding ones. BM and I started with two friends of his (they eventually turned back 3.7 miles into the hike) up an ascent that was fairly gradual. But after it became relatively level there was a two-mile segment that was covered with rocks, almost as bad as some of the worst parts of northern Pennsylvania, especially as they were strewn with wet fallen leaves. Parts of the path were overgrown as well. Then the trail became less rocky and led to the Wind Rock overlook, which provided 180-degree views of the valley below. Again we met the two section-hikers, who were completing a period of backpacking and planning to return to their cars in the afternoon, The final descent was quite steep for the first mile, but afterwards became more gradual.
10/11, Rte. 635 to Groundhog Trail, 10.7 miles, 2300 feet
With this hike both AD and I completed the portion of the Appalachian Trail that runs through Virginia, nearly one-quarter of the entire trail. But it was somewhat anti-climactic. The beginning consisted of rolling ups and downs, followed by a very gradual ascent to the Peters Mountain ridgeline, with numerous switchbacks. There were no overlooks to speak of. The only highlight was an encounter with a herd of goats that obviously had belonged to a farm at one point. They were quite bold in approaching me, and in any case wild goats are not native to the eastern American forests. When they seemed to be coming too close I banged my hiking poles together to intimidate them with the clacking noise. It worked; they turned and fled, going along the trail in front of me. They would run on for a bit, then slow down, and as I started coming towards them along the trail they would run again. The descend along the Groundhog Trail, which leads from the ridgeline to a parking area, was easier than I expected.
10/12, Groundhog Trail to Pearisburg, 15 miles, 2800 feet
On this hike five of us all went together, using shuttling to have cars at the beginning and end points. AD, RH, and I had actually done this hike before, but it was several years ago and the trail has been slightly rerouted since that time – so at least we were assured. It was difficult to see where any rerouting had taken place; possibly in the area at the summit of Peters Mountain, near the powerline. The ascent along the Groundhog Trail contained nearly half of the total elevation gain for the hike. Once we reached the ridgeline we went along minor ups and downs for six miles, eventually reaching the Ricefield shelter. There were several views at Symms Gap Meadows and more in the vicinity of the communication tower, where the contours of the valley were highlighted by the bird’s-eye view of Pearisburg to the south and various unincorporated villages in West Virginia to the north. After we lunched at the overlook close to the shelter we descended very gently through forest that contained autumn foliage at its peak. A brief ascent to Hemlock Ridge broke up what could otherwise have been a monotonous continual downhill. The only drawback was the last mile of the route, which went along a major traffic artery (Rte. 460) and the bridge over the New River—noisy, with an abundance of exhaust fumes from the trucks on the road. After going over the river the trail returned, thank Heaven, to quiet forest canopy. The five of us covered the 15 miles in 5¾, and we spent over 15 minutes for our lunch break, which meant that our average moving speed was about 2.75 MPH for the entirety of the hike.
10/13, Hanging Point Observatory, 2 miles, 850 feet
Most of us were inclined to take things easy, partly because the forecast originally called for rain (which never materialized). AD, CB, and I went to the Hanging Point Observatory in the morning. The hike is brief, slightly over a mile in each direction to the tower and back, but rich in results; the views from the tower are spending. At the tower we met “Mischief,” a bilateral foot amputee who has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and who intends to hike dozens of other trails for a total of over 25,000 miles. I will not recount his story in detail, since he has several websites of his own that describe his experiences; suffice it to say that his feet became frostbitten after an accident in 2019, forcing him to undergo operations that removed portions of both feet. Doctors told him that he would never be able to walk again, but he has managed not merely to resume walking on paved ground to hike hundreds of miles on trails, a truly amazing study in sheer determination.
In the afternoon CB and I went to Lost World Caverns, a cave filled with stalactites and stalagmites, and rock walls with intricate natural filigree patterns and many unique formations. The “Bridal Veil,” a column of sparkling white calcite, is perhaps the most striking of these. We liked it much better than Luray; it is self-guided, which meant that we were spared the annoyance of a guide flooding us with irrelevancies, and there were no gimmicky artifacts such as the famous (or should I say notorious?) Stalacpipe Organ. The tour contained various placards alongside the main trail winding through the cavern providing brief explanations of the factors that created the unique formations which visitors could read at their leisure; outside of these aids, the beauties of the rock wonderland were allowed to speak for themselves.