Date: 2015-11-05
From: Blue Ridge Parkway mile 51.7

To: VA 56
Miles today: 36.3

I¢m closing in on the last few blazes that I missed due to cellulitis this summer. Princess and I spent this week in Lexington, VA, hiking the section of AT between NoBo mile marker 795.5 (where the AT crosses mile 51.7 on the Blue Ridge Parkway) and NoBo mile marker 831.8 (where the AT crosses VA 56 at the Tye River). We used the road crossings at US 60 and Spy Rock to access the AT and break the distance into smaller sections. I¢m getting lazy and we enjoyed ourselves in Lexington, so I decided to lump the hikes into one journal entry. The AT in this area is quite nice and well-maintained. Starting at the southern end, the trail descends from Rice Mountain to about 1,000 ft. for 3 or 4 miles, then climbs to Bald Knob at over 4,000 ft. From that point there are a series of hills and gaps ranging from 3,300 ft. to 3,900 ft. until a final climb up the south side of The Priest to 4,063 ft. and then a rapid descent to under 1,000 ft. at the Tye River. The trail is largely wooded with occasional views and a few features, including Bald Knob, the Pedlar River suspension bridge, Spy rock and The Priest. Princess and I did key swaps on 2 of the sections, where I dropped her off to start hiking at one end of the section, then I drove the car to the other end, parked it and began hiking back toward her. When we met somewhere in the middle, I gave her the car keys, she continued on to the car, then drove it back to pick me up when I finished at the other end of the section. On the last day, Princess and I followed a shuttle driver to the end of the day¢s hike and I parked our car, then the shuttle driver took us to the start of the hike and we hiked back to our car. I¢ve included a few pics from points along the trail. The sky was overcast for parts of the hikes, but we were fortunate to avoid any rain. The hardest part of the section came on the last day when we decided to hike The Priest in the southbound direction. We started at the parking lot on VA 56 by the Tye River and spent the next several hours climbing over 3,000 ft. to the summit. There were a number of switchbacks in 2 parts of the ascent and the grade was relatively consistent all the way up. There were some rocks in parts of the climb, but nothing compared to the scrambles found in the Northeast. We passed several hikers on the way up, Bright Angel and Gray Wolf are from Austria and doing the southern section of the AT up to Waynesboro. Two SoBo thru-hikers (Huggy Bear and Jelly Belly) were taking a break at the viewpoint partway up the climb. We met a northbound lady (Fiddle) who was finishing up a Springer to Harper¢s Ferry section. And we passed a solo day hiker who had come up on the Crabtree Creek Trail and was heading toward Spy Rock. The AT end point for us was Spy Rock Road, where we walked about a mile down the rough road to a parking lot behind the Fish Hatchery. We saw over a dozen hikers and hunters coming up Spy Rock Road as we headed down. Otherwise, there were nice views from several points along the trail and Bald Knob provided long-range vistas. We saw a number of hunters parked and camping along the gravel access roads, but we never heard any gunfire. The only wildlife we saw were squirrels and chipmunks.   We stayed at the 502 South Main Bed & Breakfast in Lexington, VA. This B&B is about 17 miles from the nearest AT access, but we¢ve stayed there several times before and we really enjoy it. It¢s extremely comfortable, with plenty of amenities and Lexington is an upscale historic community with good restaurants, watering holes, resupply options and an outfitter. It¢s also home to Washington & Lee University, and the Virginia Military Institute. Mary Stuart & Russ operate the B&B and treat their guests like family. So now I¢m about finished. I have one more short, day-hike down south that I plan to do around Thanksgiving and that will complete my AT trek this year.