Previous | Hiking Home | Next

The following has been transcribed directly from the journal that I kept while hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT).

Tuesday, October 16th, 2001
10:00 am 53º Montebello, Virginia. We were spending three days in a 170-year-old cabin in the mountains of Virginia. On the second day, we woke up and prepared to go for a hike on the Appalachian Trail. We drove a few miles down the main road and found a sign just past the Montebello, Virginia post office. The sign was for the Virginia State Fish Hatchery. We turned down that road and came upon a fenced in area with signs that indicated it was a parking lot.

We parked the van and Stef got out to look at a concrete canal near the van. She waved us out of the van and we found that the canal was full of baby trout. The canal was divided, much like a Locke system, every 30 feet and the water was flowing down to the lower canal with each step.

There were thousands of fish in each section and the kids thought it was great the way they kept jumping up and splashing them. The fish in the water particularly intrigued Anabelle and I am sure that, if given the chance, she would have jumped right in with them.

After following the canal and looking at what must have been 30 separate Lockes, we came to the end. The last Locke (or first one depending on your perspective) was at the top of a small hill and lurking next to it were several large turkey vultures just waiting for something to die. We walked back to the van and continued driving a very short distance to a parking lot that was established for hikers.

We parked the van and put Anabelle in the backpack and on my back. We all wore light jackets and Stef carried a small pack with food and water. Emily and Benjamin carried sticks and leaves. From the parking lot we began our walk (up hill the whole way) towards the summit of Spy Rock. Spy Rock was a Civil War look out that was used by the Confederate soldiers to monitor Union troop movements.

The leaves were full of vibrant colors, which were mostly reds, yellows and oranges. It looked like a fire in the trees. The sky was beautifully blue with only a few wisps of clouds. We slowly walked and worked our way up the mountain while the kids poked along behind us gathering sticks, leaves, and rocks.

We continued along the woodland road through the woods and up the mountain looking for signs of the Appalachian Trail, which would indicate that we were close to the summit. We had no trail map but we were able to look at a rudimentary map back at the parking lot. We knew that we had to make a turn somewhere off the main trail at a road intersection before getting to the Trail.

We found the poorly marked turn and hesitated before we moved along the next section of the road. We were on private land and at times we were uncertain as to whether or not we were on the correct trail.

We came upon a white metal gate that seemed to signify that we were going in the right direction. Finally, after 1 hour of walking we came to another crossroads where we noticed the telltale 2" x 6" blazes of the Appalachian Trail! There was also a sign at the crossroads, which confirmed where we were and how far we had to go: 0.5 miles to Spy Rock. We took some pictures and continued up the narrow trail towards the summit of the mountain.

As we clamored over rocks and felled trees we began to see the silhouette of a rocky dome. We knew we were close to the summit. We rounded one last corner and the trail leveled out and as we looked right we could see Spy Rock. It looked like a giant turtle shell sitting on top of the mountain. We walked to the base of it and attempted to walk around in search of a marked path to the top. We found nothing. Instead we passed the kids up one at a time as we scaled the rocky walls. We wedged our feet into a crevice and tried to find handholds on the rock that was slippery with moss. We scaled over 30 feet to the top of Spy Rock. We had walked uphill 2 miles and it was worth the journey.

The view was magnificent and clear in all directions. There was a stiff breeze blowing from the northwest and the sun warmed the rock and our bodies as we lay enjoying the view and the company. The kids managed to find some water puddles and pretended that they were fishing and Stefanie, Anabelle and I lay down on the flat rocks and soaked up the sun. We stayed on the dome for about an hour enjoying snacks, water and the solitude.

We took some pictures of the 5 of us then worked our way back down the mountain, to the Trail, onto the wooded road and to the parking lot. Our journey only took 45 minutes on the way down compared to 1 hour and 40 minutes for the trip up. The kids were wonderful and we found that if we don't push them and let them walk and explore at their own pace it is a much more enjoyable experience for them and for us (the parents).

Today’s total: 4 miles Round Trip (1 mile on the A.T.)
Trip total: 4 miles