Jun 1 Three Sisters Ridge

June 1 was a splendid day for a hike at Hanging Rock State Park. Sunny, low temperatures and low humidity was on the menu. Will and I met at the beginning of Orrell Road to set up our shuttle. Wearing Covid facemasks, we carpooled to the Visitor Center where we stepped on the trail to Hanging Rock itself. The first mile or so was on trail and then we stepped off toward the Three Sisters. We spent much time at the start of our off trail taking in the north and south views.

We had to make the obligatory stop at this cantelevered rock which has been discovered and vandalized with multiple spray paint taggings. The stone furniture here, gets more elaborate each visit.

Next stop was the big cave at the base of the cliffs. Not as "discovered" as the cantelevered rock, it does have some graffiti etched onto its sides. From here, we wanted to find a way back up on top of the outcropping without backtracking. We did find a scramble route up the rock face.

We stopped at this viewpoint to see the Indian face side of Moores Knob. Heading on, we followed the spine of the ridge as best we could, looking for easily traversed forest. The greenbrier covered pathways were behind us now.

It was a gnarley climb up Big Sister. We found this wonderful lookout on top. It continued to be a rough scramble atop Big Sister until we headed to the gap. At the gap with Middle Sister, there is remnants of an old road which crosses from one side to the other. The climb up Middle Sister is much easier, especially if you walk around to the other (East) side and backtrack to the top. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch here.

Little Sister has an old road along one side which some folks use to avoid the climb. I have found the climb easier than battling the Laurel and Rhododendron in the old road. Once on top, there is a long gradual decline down to Sheeprock. We tried to stay as close to the south side of the ridge to look for interesting views and outcroppings. Above is one we took advantage of. Note Will is sitting on top. We also located the keyhole we have seen previously. It is much more obscured with the trees fully leafed out. 

Finally, at Sheeprock, we spotted several patches of Greenland Stitchwort hiding in the rock crevices. Now, it is time to leave the ridge and look for a way down the mountainside. We follow my previous gps track and Will sees an possible route down on Avensa which we take. It was just 5 or 10 minutes of steepness we had to negotiate before we reached the old road with rock wall. I am surprised to see some recent trees chainsawed off the trail. It appears horses are using this old road often enough for there to be some heavy duty sawing.

We follow the old road back to the intersection with an another old road alongside the fields by Mill Creek. We pass several tobacco barns. We are just 10 minutes from the car when we decide to take a loop on old roads which I had a gps track of. These roads were not as easy to follow and we did have to push our way through some tall vegetation at a couple points.

Once we exit the forest, we are in the field with this beautiful chimney. We stopped to admire the rockwork. While there, I noticed a couple pines that appeared to have pink blooms in them. Wondering what kind of a vine that was, we investigated and see that it is Roses which have gone wild and are blooming all over the field. 

Great hike. I did pick up 4 ticks and have some other bites which could be early chiggers. That is my cue to "chigger up" for the summer.