Last weekend, we went searching for the most elusive of hiking trips - one with solitude in a popular place during the peak of fall color. Although we saw tons of people at the end of the hike, we saw only a couple of folks during the first 7 miles.
Christy, Saucony, and I met Myron, Dorcas, Wayne, Linda, and Izaak at Massie Gap in Grayson Highlands State Park. We then piled into Wayne’s truck and headed down the mountain, despite the fact that the truck had very little in the way of brakes. We headed for the path less traveled by starting at the Little Wilson Creek trailhead. Although we passed a couple of groups of bow hunters at the start of the hike, soon we were in the woods. The only sound was the crunching of leaves under our boots. We enjoyed some decent fall color, though it seemed to lack the brightness of previous years.
We hiked up along Big Wilson Creek, and then turned to follow Little Wilson Creek across the wilderness boundary. We climbed a fair hill, but after a mile and a half, the trail simply ended. There was a faint old roadbed to the right, but no other sign of a path. The Mt. Rogers area map indicated that the trail ended this way as well. Myron suggested using a compass to find our way. I agreed, and fished one out of my pack. "ok", I said, "the top of the compass is heads, and the bottom is tails. If it’s heads, we follow the old road, if it’s tails, we bushwack straight up the hill". At this point, Wayne and Linda suddenly remembered a prior commitment and headed back for the truck. We decided to push on. This of course meant that we were committed to finding our way to the car at Massie Gap. Without further discussion, we headed up the hill.
The bushwacking was mostly easy, as the woods were fairly open and the grade was gentle. It took awhile, but eventually we stumbled onto the Kabel Trail, just like I had planned. We followed the pleasantly flat trail through the woods until we intersected the First Peak Trail. From there, we climbed up a rocky path over First Peak. We dropped down to some nice campsites at a trail intersection, and climbed again to 2nd peak. This summit was an open meadow, with nice views to the south and west. We stopped here to enjoy the sunshine and a late lunch.
After eating, we descended to another gap, and then climbed to an ideal lunch spot below 3rd peak. The views to the south from here were spectacular. We climbed on to the top of 3rd peak, which is mostly open meadows with the occasional fir tree scattered about. We descended to the horse corral at the Scales, and then climbed again on the AT up Stone Mountain. We had been hiking 4 hours, and we still had 5 ½ miles to go.
We enjoyed more nice views from the open summit of Stone Mountain. Then the parade of hikers began. We passed a huge group of teenagers backpacking. Afterwards, there was a steady stream of dayhikers and backpackers. It was a stunning change from the solitude we had been experiencing. We followed the AT back into the state park, crossing bridges over several forks of Big Wilson Creek. We then began our final climb of the day. We soon crested a ridge, with outstanding views to the foothills to the east, and the high mountains to the south and west. We descended towards Massie Gap, and passed several wild ponies. We were within sight of the car when I noticed that my camera case had fallen out of my pocket. I raced back to look for it, and luckily a kind couple had found it. Thanks go out to them, although I didn’t get their names. We finished the hike a little before 6pm, with about 12 miles behind us. It had been a good one, with perfect weather, some adventurous bushwacking, great views, and even some solitude.
Back to Virginia
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!