WINTER’S HERE (ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN)
The mountains of the
southeast finally got some snow this week, so I made a point to go see it. Dave has been craving snow all winter, so it
wasn’t hard to talk him into joining me.
As usual, most of the snow fell at the highest elevations, so we chose
hike in the Mount Rogers area of southwest Virginia.
I met Dave in Huntersville,
and rode with him north. We didn’t see
any snow until we reached Sparta, and even then there was only a dusting in the
shade. We still had some climbing to do
though, and remained confident that there’d be plenty of fresh powder waiting
for us.
We didn’t see much until we
neared the entrance to Grayson Highlands State Park. The road into the park was snow-covered though, and the woods
were full of fresh snow. We were eager
to start hiking, but the slippery roads required caution. We eventually reached the parking area
adjacent to the campground, and gathered our gear for a hike along Wilson
Creek.
We followed the dogs,
Saucony and Sasha, into the woods and descended towards the creek. There was 4-5” of snow here, which was
perfect. It was enough to make the open
hardwood forest exceptionally pretty, but enough to make the hiking
particularly difficult.
After a lengthy descent we
reached Wilson Creek and began hiking upstream. Wilson Creek is a beautiful stream, and the snow-covered banks
and boulders only added to its appeal.
We passed several nice cascades (one of which is referred to in the park
literature as a 25’ waterfall) as well as dense rhododendron and dozens of
glistening icicles. The trail along the
creek ended up being one of the biggest highlights of the hike.
We eventually climbed up
away from the creek and joined an old road.
The road led to a pair of creek crossings, which we were able to rock
hop with only a little difficulty.
Although we negotiated the crossings, Dave was still doomed. At one point, a muddy stretch of trail was
hidden by fresh snow, and Dave plunged knee-deep into the muck. Sometimes it’s good to hike in the back!
We reached a junction with
the Scales Trail, but passed it by to avoid a more challenging creek
crossing. Instead we continued upstream
to the AT, which we followed to a bridge.
Once across the bridge, we entered a meadow and met the Scales Trail
again. From here, we decided to follow
the Scales Trail to Scales. Scales
seems to be a focal point of any hike in this area, simply because several trails
pass through there. Oddly, I’d never
hiked the Scales Trail, as it is a popular horse trail. We didn’t expect to see any horses today
though, so we decided to check it out.
After a short distance we
stopped among some boulders for lunch.
We had a decent view of Wilburn Ridge here, and my soup was
beckoning. It would’ve been easy to
linger there for a while, as it was a sunny and surprisingly warm day despite
the snow. We still had a long way to go
before dark though, so we kept our break brief.
We hiked through more
meadows and forest before reaching the Scales trailhead and multiple
junctions. Our initial plan had been to
follow the First Peak Trail from here, and eventually loop back around to the
Wilson Creek Trail. We started out that
way, but quickly got discouraged by deep snowdrifts. Out on the open slopes of Third Peak, some places were bare,
while others featured knee-deep powder.
The wind had picked up, too, and we weren’t making very good time
climbing up Third Peak. I was concerned
that we wouldn’t finish our route before dark, and we decided to revise our route. We doubled-back to Scales, and joined the AT
for a climb up Stone Mountain.
Near the summit we diverged
from the trail to hike up to some rock outcroppings. At the rocks we found even more expansive views, as well as a
herd of “wild” ponies grazing just beyond.
Somehow the dogs didn’t notice, and we headed back to the trail to keep
from disturbing them.
We descended from the open
bald of Stone Mountain and into the woods.
This section of trail was exceptionally wet and muddy, and before long
Dave dunked a boot in the muck yet again.
His feet were already soaked from the earlier incident, but mine weren’t
a lot better. My boots had gradually
soaked through after walking in the snow all day. Neglecting to wear gaiters probably hadn’t helped, either. It was a bit of relief when we reached the
junction with the Scales Trail again.
From there, it was a short hike back out to the car.
On the way out, we noticed
that the creek crossings were more challenging due to higher water. It was sunny and warm, and the snow was
melting fast. Despite this, we didn’t
have any problems, although Dave did totter alarmingly in the middle of one
rock hop. We arrived at the car a bit
after 4:30, so it’s probably good that we switched to a shorter route in the middle
of the hike.
We’re both looking forward
to another snow hike this winter.
Whether we get the opportunity remains to be seen though. With more warm temperatures forecasted for
this weekend, it looks like last week’s snow won’t last long. Could all of this be related to global
warming? No, I’m sure it’s just a
product of my sweaty, feverish imagination.
Back to Virginia
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!