The contrast of up-to-lunch and down-to-car was especially keen on this walk with grandson Matthew, as on the way up he said he was a little tired, and so he and I ended up lagging well behind The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All at several points, as she attacked the climb as she usually does.
But after a good lunch at Cove Mountain Shelter and the chance to step out into the woods after a couple of deer that passed nearby, Matthew was ready for the descent, not least because he decided he would run ahead to find big trees to hide behind and then jump out to startle The Day Hiker, whose good nature is tested by such things in the house, but which she accommodates well in the woods, especially when she has an inkling some such thing may indeed occur.
It took us an hour and a half to reach the shelter and an hour and 15 minutes to get back to the car, where it sat alone as it had when we started, having had the woods and the shelter fully to ourselves.
Appalachian Trail at Jennings Creek (Va. 614), south to Cove Mountain Shelter and back. 6.4 miles.
How to get there: I-81 Exit 168 at Arcadia onto Va. 614 to small parking area where the AT crosses.
