I’m so glad my window looks east into the sun rising…. It’s so splendid to see the morning coming up over those long hills and glowing through those sharp fir tops. It’s new every morning, and I feel as if I washed my very soul in that bath of earliest sunshine.”
~L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables.
May 20, 2021
Hike from the Seeley-Woodworth Shelter to VA Rt 56 (the Tye River suspension bridge)
AT miles: 11.4 miles
Ascent: 1536’
Descent: 4326’
Weather: sunny and 80
High points: Spy Rock and its amazing 360-degree views
This morning I couldn’t resist taking a picture of my tent with the sun rising over it.
Waking up to the chirping of birds must be one of the best ways to wake up ever! I did not need my alarm clock this morning!
The climb up to Spy Rock was beautiful. The path was mostly open and grassy and I had the sense of just walking in a lovely park, complete with bunnies hopping across the trail and birds flying from branch to branch just in front of me!
Spy Rock is 0.1 miles up a blue-blaze trail from the AT. I am always cautious about adding extra mileage to my hike, but I have walked to Spy Rock before and I know that it has one of the best (and only) 360-degree views in central Virginia. And since I was there so early in the morning I had the whole place to myself!
After Spy Rock the trail went up and down until I reached Cash Hollow Road (another odd name!), and then the trail climbed steeply up to The Priest.
Despite the steep climb, the trail was lovely.
And here is an interesting piece of geological rock sculpture near the summit.
Despite its height (4063’), The Priest doesn’t have any views to speak of. I do miss New England‘s rocky summits where almost every summit has a great view!
The Priest is infamous for its extremely steep north face, where the drops 3000 feet in not a lot of distance. Supposedly the trail here has 36 switchbacks! (No, I didn’t count. I was too busy looking at my feet!)
On the way down I did see a fern that is familiar to me–interrupted fern, so-called because the fronds are “interrupted” by some spore-bearing leaflets called pinnate. Despite a lot of work, I have great difficulty in identifying ferns, so I get really excited when I see one I am familiar with!
I was also delighted to see that the rhododendron and mountain laurel are starting to bloom!
The mountain laurel were absolutely everywhere. Every time the trail did the switchback, there were heaps of new blooming mountain laurels around the bend!
The odd thing about today’s hike is that despite The Priest being a very popular trail I only saw three hikers all day. I guess hiking on a weekday in the spring is a great way to have the trail to yourself!
I finally made it to the parking lot, where I saw the sign. It made me giggle! Do those hikers have jet-packs on their backs?
Today I finished this 2-day section of the AT, and I now just have one tiny 6.5 mile stretch to do before I will have done approximately 160 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia! (And that doesn’t include the 117.2 miles I did in Tennessee!)
Today is a great day to take a long walk in the woods!