sw virginia hikes: Dismal Creek and Sugar Mountain Loop, June 25 2017

July 20, 2017.Reading time 8 minutes.

Recently, the focus of my effort on travel2walk have been on getting the many backlogged large trip reports out. I still have the two trips from this year that I’m working on. A side effect of my focus on trip reports is that other sections of my page has been neglected, such as my local Virginia hike reports. A poor fall 2016 foliage season due to the warm weather wasn’t very motivating for me to work on the section either. A second side effect of the long trip reports is that I don’t get as much content out as quickly.

With that in mind, I’ve revamped the sw virginia hiking page and you’ll see more quick hiking reports like this. The thesis length trip reports will still come, but at a slower rate. I’m hoping I can get those out in time for you to reference while planning for the following season.

mini-trip report: Dulles airport and Great Falls Maryland, September 2016

November 10, 2016.Reading time 15 minutes.

Sometimes trips doesn’t have to be very far. It could just a nice weekend. The area around Dulles airport (IAD), Reston, probably isn’t your first thought of a weekend get away. But, it might surprise you what the area has to offer. So next time you have a stopover at IAD, maybe you can skip the monuments and the traffic downtown. I definitely didn’t have an expectation of this area, but a mattress run gave us the reason to explore.

sw virginia hikes: Channels of Virginia and summer wrap up, June-August 2016

October 5, 2016.Reading time 15 minutes.

With summer coming to an end and the fall colors for us to look forward to, it’s appropriate for me to do a local hike dump of places we’ve walked this summer.

sw virginia hikes: Apple Orchard Falls and Cornelius Creek Loop, July 10 2016

July 14, 2016.Reading time 8 minutes.

information

Apple Orchard Falls and Cornelius Creek Loop
type: loop
distance: 6.1 mi (listed at 5.6 mi)
elevation change: 1578 ft (listed at 1680 ft)
time: 3 hours with stops along the way
location: Jefferson National Forrest near Arcadia, VA
There are multiple ways you can do this loop including getting all the way up to the AT rather than taking the fire road connector and multiple trailheads to start at. My preferred trailhead is the trailhead at FS59 as described by hiking upwards in the link above. That way you do the climbing first before the downhills.
On the loop, there are many stinging nettles, especially on the Cornelius Creek Trail and the fire road. So it is recommend to cover your legs in the summer.

sw virginia hikes: Big and Little House Mountains, April 2 2016

May 3, 2016.Reading time 3 minutes.

information

Big and Little House Mountain
type: in and out
distance: 9.4 miles
elevation change: 3329 ft
time: 4.5 hours
location: near Lexington, VA
There are 2 possible overviews on this hike, Little House Mountain and Big House Mountain. If you are looking for a shorter hike, you can do only one of the peaks.

sw virginia hikes: pilgrimage to Tinker Cliffs, October 24 2015

October 27, 2015.Reading time 7 minutes.

2020/10: The updated report of this hike is available here with standardized formatting, updated photos, and a video.

For much of my travels, I don’t mind the number of people on the trails. I understand it; everyone wants to see these most aesthetically pleasing views out there. If people are going to spend their hard earned money to fly across the world, the least we all can do is share the experience. Plus they can all be potential drinking buddies. This is why I don’t include seclusion as a criterion on my rating system. While traveling, most places we will walk are going to be popular.

I do also enjoy the aspect of getting away from it all when I am hiking, this is especially true when I’m close to home. Here in the southwest Virginia area, there are many well-known hikes and sections of the Appalachian Trail within an hour drive from my front door. It’s not uncommon that on a sunny day, you’ll see a traffic jam on the on the curves up Catawba Valley Dr and people trying to squeeze their cars anywhere they can at McAfee Knob or Dragon’s Tooth trailheads. Both are well worth the hike and I eventually write about them (see links above). However, my local favorite is Tinker Cliffs via the Andy Layne Trail and it is the only hike that I will make the yearly pilgrimage to in the fall.