Nov 21 Flat Shoals Mountain

"Tombstone Rocks"

The mountain has not changed since I last visited two years ago. Today, I parked alongside the park boundary on Young Road and walked up the mountain from memory. I attained the top of the ridge at exactly the same spot as before, by the "Tombstone Rocks". On the way up, look for a faint trail into the scrubby pines by the utility pole in the road bend. Head straight up along a faint spine. Eventually a draw will develop and then two draws, side by side. Then head for the top just to the right of a patch of pines. Once on top of the ridge, a manway goes in either direction along the ridge. To the left, there will be a couple open views of the rest of the Sauratown range, from Sheeprock to Pilot Mountain. When the leaves are on the trees, there may not be any views. The best views are where the ridge begins to drop off more steadily. Near here, you can head down the north side of the mountain and hit an old road. It is best to look for open forest on the way down, as Mountain Laurel can grow thickly on the north facing side of the mountain.

Following the manway to the right of Tombstone Rocks, you will within a minute or two, see a major rock outcrop. From the rim you can easily spot one of the caves here. Carefully pick your way down the rock jumble and explore along the base. Several of the exposed rock cliffs are devoid of lichen as seen in the photos, above and below. There are 3 caves in this area. One of which has a tight entrance but once inside, several people can stand and move around. None appear to be more than 15 feet in depth. This area is full of holes and unstable footing. It is a slow go around here. Further along the ridge are a few more rock outcrops but smaller in size. There are two basins before the ridge drops off. Walking down from the ridge you will again hit the old road, perhaps a mile from where I described the other access.

Sedimentary layers of Quartzite rock  

Old road on north side of Flat Shoals Mtn

I followed this old road for over a mile. There were a number of tagged trees like the one below. They were all dead trees. There was an area which looked like it might have been a staging area for timber cut. Huge vines ran up the trees in this area including one large hickory in the center of this possible staging area. Saw dust inhibits growth for some time and I have often seen vines growing in these areas. 

Killer Trees are labeled for your safety

The road continued onto private property which I walked a short distance to an abandoned cabin. I believe this property is off Harris Road and marked by purple paint by the road.

Heading back to my car on Young Road, I exited the ridge manway by the Tombstone Rocks and headed straight down, exiting the woods exactly where I started.

Nov 9 Rock Dam on Little Caraway

This is a massive stone dam on Little Caraway Creek near Mt Shepherd. Will and I made one wrong turn on our way here but managed to find the dam. The size of some of the stones is impressive. We stayed here about 15 minutes walking all around and on top of it. It was hard to imagine having built this structure without mortar or power equipment. Some very skilled people built this dam to last a while.

After marveling at the dam, we hiked up Mt Shepherd and accessed the lookout tower. I live next to one of those bumps on the horizon.

Nov 1 Lower Haw River State Natural Area

Haw River

The Lower Haw River State Natural Area is a 1000+ acre tract on both sides of the Haw. It was purchased from Duke University. The state's brief description of the property refers to a 2 mile hiking trail on the east side of the river. Other hiking websites describe a 4.8 mile trail from the Bynum bridge to the US 64 bridge on the east side. I parked in the tiny parking area on Rt 64, east side of the bridge. I believe there is a larger parking area on the west side.Heading down to the river, trails lead in several directions but it is not difficult to locate the one which follows the riverside. It is obvious, due to the litter, this area is used for fishing. I found the trail definitive but not used much. Near the bridge you have to push your way through a reedy area. For much of the rest of the way, you are at the edge of the river in a flood plain. At several point you could see homes through the trees.

Spider Flower blooming Nov 1

About a mile in, there was a grouping of rock outcrops overlooking the river. I saw many very large pine trees, a few large cedars and one big holly. There was some recent beaver activity too.

There were two tributaries which formed ditches. I needed to walk up the creeks a short way to find a crossing spot. After the second of these, the trail was no longer visible. I meandered in the flood plain looking for any sign of the trail. Finally, I walked to the edge of the flood plain where the land begins sloping up. Here was the state's boundary and a pathway of sorts. I followed this a ways but turned around, probably just over 2 miles from the starting point.

Faint trail follows river

Haw River

Oct 30-31 New River Trail Bicycling

My ride began in Draper on the New River Trail. It took 6 1/2 hours to bicycle the 46 miles to Galax where I spent the night. The following day I took the same amount of time to make the easier return ride to Draper.

Leaves covered much of the trail but I did not have any bad encounters with hidden rocks or nuts. As always, care needs to be taken when riding alongside the cliffs. Often there are fallen rocks in the trail; sometimes obscured by autumn leaves. 

Above is the approach to Hiwassee Bridge. The video at the bottom of the blog follows my approach and crossing of the bridge. The videos sometimes seem like I am traveling at a high rate of speed but really I am only doing 9 or 10 mph. 

The state of Virginia renovated the exterior of the Foster Falls Hotel during the past year. It served as a hotel and orphanage during its 125 year existence. I don't know what the state plans to do. There is a nice new parking area to accompany the hotel. The 3 adjacent buildings have either been renovated or are in the process. As you can see from the 2 photos below, the exterior is the only part which was renovated. I took the photos through a couple windows. 

My favorite bridge (near Ivanhoe)

Major work was being done to the Appalachian Power Company's Byllesby Dam. The wood planks which hold back the water had all been removed. The impounded area behind the dam has returned to almost its original riverbed. It looks like you could walk across the river in a number of spots on nice sandy surface. There was also some nice new sandy beaches. 

You don't want one of these to hit your head

It is an Osage orange which is related to mulberry not oranges. The small bumps are called drupes. The fruit has a latex based fluid and is not edible. This one is quite heavy and I'd hate to think what would happen if one hit your head.