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Weekend Hikes - Week 86
WEB EXCLUSIVE
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The weekend hikers: Gail and Kurt Rheinheimer stand on top of Rice Fields, a bald southwest of Blacksburg, Va. along the Appalachian Trail. They were photographed in May by a couple who were thru-hiking the AT with their two children. |
Week 86: 10/2/05 - Again seeking to stay fairly near home (with wedding still pending, porch still under construction), we were pleased to find a loop hike we’d never done. The Terrapin Mountain Trail is not far from the little town of Sedalia, north of Bedford on Va. 122, and when combined with the Reed Creek Trail, makes for a nicely varied 9-mile loop from a large, grassed parking area off of Forest Road 45.
The hike starts with a strong, rocky, sustained climb to the top of Terrapin Mountain – by far the most difficult stretch of this pleasant walk. The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All had us pause, ostensibly for a look at witch hazel, but perhaps also to let me catch up. The climb is marked by views back to the left and then a short spur to the right to a rock outcropping affording a fine view west and south, with Onion Mountain the highlight of the vista. Gail took the occasion to use her every-hike line when we are perhaps a mile into the walk and we come across a pretty spot: “Time for lunch, right?”
The Terrapin Mountain Trail then makes its way along the ridge of the mountain, with views to the left, and then descends rapidly and over rocks. On this day, with abundant acorn fall amid similar-size rocks – all covered by the first fallen leaves of autumn, the footing was occasionally downright roller-skatey, a situation that caused a rarity on our hikes – me in the lead! At other stretches we were nearly completely beneath a canopy of rhododendron – beautiful and thick, though leaves were curled, apparently in response to lack of rainfall.
The Reed Creek Trail materializes on the right at about three miles and then makes its way along the mountainside on an old forest road that is for long stretches still wide enough for side-by-side walking. Along the way are nearly a dozen hollows where on this day no water flowed, but clearly does at wetter times than this day after a nearly completely dry September. We ate lunch just past one of them, on rocks slightly up the hillside, overlooking the valley below. The trail then crosses Reed Creek – its flow still healthy – two times and then winds its way back up the mountain, popping out of the forest onto FR 45 within view of the parking area.
Click here for the archive of Kurt's Hikes
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