Dragon’s Tooth Trail to Appalachian Trail to Dragon’s Tooth; back on AT to Scout Trail and back to Dragon’s Tooth parking lot on Va. 311. 5.6 miles.
We waited out the rain on this day, and settled on a short walk with rock-climbing challenges for puppy Cookie, who successfully took on all but one or two of the scrambles near the top of the mountain.
And at the top, on this threatening day, we had the mountain to ourselves, and scouted a bit to find just the right rock – no, we don’t climb the Tooth even when there’s no dog along – for lunch. The view was to the east and into the valley as the day tried to clear.
On the way down, we crossed a couple of sets of hikers who’d come out into the better weather of the afternoon, and likely would have seen more had we not chosen, at Lost Spectacles Gap, to stay on the AT rather than go back down the popular Dragon’s Tooth Trail. Staying on the AT takes hikers past Rawie’s Rest and provides a good view of the walk ahead toward the AT’s crossing of 311 on Catawba Mountain. We turned, far short of that point, onto the Boy Scout Trail, which goes less than a half a mile to rejoin the Dragon’s Tooth Trail very near its end at the parking lot.
May 17, 2009
