Nov 9 Greenbrier Off Trail

My hike today is to scout an area I'll be leading in January 2017. I wanted to look at a couple creek crossings and get GPS waypoints for some of the places I want to visit. The route begins at a tiny parking area 1.8 miles in on the Greenbrier Rd. The trail is unmaintained and not marked but is well used. It follows Rhododendron Creek from the road to the Grapeyard Ridge Trail. What makes this a special hike right from the start are the beautiful waterfalls you face while hiking up alongside the creek. they are small but very scenic.

Once you have reached the Grapeyard Ridge Trail, turn right and walk through a wonderful Rhododendron tunnel. Very shortly, my first side trip is a faint trail on the left leading to the "Stone Cube of Greenbrier". That is my name for it. It is a solid cube of drystack stones.

The Stone Cube of Greenbrier

After retracing back to the trail, we head on our way until a another side trail to the left. This one is marked by a carved arrow on a tree and a few quartz rocks placed at the start. As you follow the faint trail a couple trees have a cross carved in them, indicating this is the way to the cemetery.

After eating lunch here, I retraced my route back to Grapeyard Ridge Trail. Instead of continuing on to the Injun Creek Trail which is my Jan plan, I walked out the Grapeyard Ridge Trail to the Greenbrier Road at the junction with Ramsey Cascade Rd. Along the way I met a couple with a GSMA History Hikes book. They were looking for the cemetery I had visited. In the book, I saw the map they were using and noticed another cemetery near the Greenbrier Rd and Grapeyard Ridge Trailhead. Another cemetery was located near the spot where I began my hike. I managed to find both these places. the latter was a steep climb. I decided to bushwhack back to my car as it looked very close on my GPS. However, it may have been close but so steep, I could hardly head down at all. Finally, after falling once, I slide down on my butt, after taking everything out of my pockets and securing them in my pack.