I’m
blessed to live in a region with a diverse selection of hiking opportunities –
one of the best being Hidden Valley Lake near Lebanon, VA. It isn’t as well-known as other locations,
but Hidden Valley Lake is a unique geological feature which sits in a small
valley atop Brumley Mountain. The ridge that surrounds the lake is punctuated
with large boulders, cliffs, and outcroppings which combine to make for an
adventurous and scenic hike typically found at the cost of greater exertion.
While a bit out of the way for most, the hike doesn’t present very much
elevation gain – while the mountain itself rises over 2,000 feet from the land
surrounding it, the hike is a climb of only the final 400 – and is only about 3
miles in length out-and-back.
Several
weeks ago, Diana, my friend Micah, and I decided to take advantage of our
collective time off work – something which becomes more rare with each passing
year – and hit the trail around Brumley Mountain. Micah and I have made this
hike several times, but this was Diana’s first time to Hidden Valley; and as my
first guest-contributor, she’ll share her thoughts later in this post.
We
were granted a beautiful day for a hike, but being a trail less-traveled than
most, the wilds of southwest VA had begun to reclaim the path worn through the
woods. I failed to advise Diana on proper clothing for this hike – with all the
briars and brush, she really needed long pants – so I’m sure she didn’t care
for her experience of pushing through thick undergrowth in her workout capri pants.
Micah and I have plenty of experience in exploring off-trail in woods so
overgrown it’s hard to move and we are all too familiar with the challenges of
certain trails in the summer, so we and each wore a solid, thick pair of hiking
pants – when Diana and I picked Micah up from his house, I immediately realized
we were actually wearing the exact same pants.
The
first part of the hike wasn’t much fun for anyone – the trail, wet from recent
rains, quickly dives into laurel thickets and, at times, is merely the course
of a small creek. In places, crawling is necessary. The first 0.75-1.0 mile
slowly grows clearer as you gain elevation, and the wider portion of the trail
ends at a flat rock poised in an opening of the tree canopy and offers the
first of many scenic views.
From
this first vista, the trail is much narrower yet much more clear. The last
0.5mile-0.75mile is almost completely flat and the trail ends at a playground
of large boulders that leads to the best set of outcroppings and cliffs and the
terminus of the ridgeline.
I’ve
hiked this trail probably a dozen times over the years, but I never knew the
final outcropping had a name. While hiking the final portion of the trail, I
was surprised to find a sign recognizing one of my favorite spots as Buzzard
Rock. This section of the hike is a portion of the 14-mile-long Clinch Mountain
Trail which follows the primary ridgeline from Hayter’s Gap at Route 80 to Low
Gap below Hidden Valley Lake – directional arrows have appeared along the trail
over the past couple of years, the trail has become a little nicer, and now
there’s a sign.
As
I mentioned, the trail essentially ends at a large collection of fragmented
outcroppings and boulders and it’s up to the hiker to make it to the end at
Buzzard Rock. After jumping over deep chasms and climbing up and down small
cliffs and boulders, you emerge through the trees and rocks into the sun. The
views are well-worth the effort.
 |
| Oh, Buzzard Rock - now I get it |
We
all took our time and had fun on the exposed terminus of the ridgeline, taking
in the gorgeous vistas and enjoying the company of each other.
 |
| Micah, stop goofing off... |
 |
| The best view of the hike! |
 |
| I said to stop goofing off... |
 |
| Look, I'm not mad, just disappointed... |
 |
| The blades on this trip - notice Diana's knife on the far right |
We
traced the route back to my 4Runner and ended the day with great pictures, great
memories, and the great feeling which comes only as a result from experiencing
the best our local, relatively untamed wilderness has to offer. We brushed
ourselves off, kicked the mud from our boots, and met our friends Ben and Josh
for dinner at Macado’s in Bristol – it was truly the only way we could’ve
improved on the day we had.
 |
| Diana, leading us home |
Oh!
I almost forgot – as promised, Diana produced a brief account of this hike.
Enjoy her female flair! (We all know this bachelor pad of a blog could
certainly use a woman’s touch.)
---
For those that don't know me very well,
most people would say that most days I am the “make-up did”, accessorized,
girly girl. On occasion, however, I like to be adventurous and don’t mind
getting my hands dirty. That is just what I did with “the boys” on our day
hiking. You would assume that between my
loving boyfriend and his compassionate best friend, one of them would think to
let this girl know we would be hiking through thorny, muddy, off trail forest.
As you can guess, they did not, and while the boys were well-prepared with
their thick hiking pants, I was of course in my capri work-out pants and ready
for a stroll on a trail. It did not take long before we were crawling
underneath brush and through the mud. Luckily, only minor injuries were to be
had.
Don’t tell Ben, but I have to admit that
the view from Buzzard Rock and the laughs along the way were well worth the
scrapes, bruises, and definite muddiness at the end of the day.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment