another day in the mountains [11.14.09]
back in november i took another trip to waynesboro for a hiking adventure. i went with alex, charlie and fathead. we went to spy rock, elevation 3,701 feet from sea level. my car was not doing well in the mountains and literally 50 yards from where we were going to park one of my mufflers fell off...
then it took us a while to actually figure out which way was th trail. the real way looked like it was on private property and there was no trespassing too. it was really confusing. but we finally figured it out and were on our way. the trail was really steep. a lot steeper than it looked and a LOT steeper then we were expecting. we were out of breath and having to stop multiple times on the way up. it was also an actual path for vehicles, i don't know if i would call it a road but it was clearly well traveled. we eventually made it to the halfway point and stopped to get more in touch with nature and refuel because we were already worn out.
we continued the strenuous hike to the top. there were a lot of off roads from the main one that led to houses. we also heard hunters shooting a decent amount so that was a little scary but we knew just to stay on the path and keep going. there were a few times when we thought we were basically at the top only to find out that we still had quite a ways to go. when we finally did get to the top we saw a lot of people that were setting up tents. this spot is right on the appalachian trail. it was really neat, actually. then all we had left was to climb up the rock and we're at the top. we're trying to go as fast as we can because the sun is close to setting and we don't want to be stuck in the dark. well the rock ended up being so difficult. it was ridiculous. we took probably seven different ways to get up. at one point we were literally rock climbing.
we finally made it to the top but had limited time to spend up there because it really was getting late. the view was absolutely breath taking. you could see so far in the distance. i literally felt on top of the world. spy rock is right in the middle of the mountain chain so there were mountains all around, a 360 degree view!
on the way back down we definitely did get stuck in the dark. i was secretly freaking out the entire time because of the off roads. it really made me feel like at any moment we could be in a slasher flick situation. and hearing the hunters shoot was not making me anymore comfortable. there was even times when trucks were coming down the path. that freaked me out a lot. i was convinced they were only driving by to kidnap and torture us. luckily that never happened and we finally made it back to the car.
i think i liked this trail better than humpback rock, but that may be because the weather was nicer and i was scared when we were in the dark and i could have misattributed the fear arousal for excitement. but maybe i just really liked it. i think we went to humpback rock at a better time in the season though. much more foliage which is really enjoyable. i can't wait until it gets warmer because i am ready to tackle another trail.