After pouring over maps all morning Duma and I decided on the Black mountains and Snook's Nose trail off Curtis Creek Rd. Snook's Nose is one of those dotted black lines on the map that I have always wondered about. What about this? What is this trail like? But being forbidden to bikes I had never found the right time to explore it until today.
Starting at 1800' from the Curtis Creek Campground the 3.9 mile Snook's Nose trail climbs to 4760' at its terminus with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Anyone good at math knows that means elevation is gained rapidly over those four miles. After a brief false flat at the start the climb started in earnest with a 2000' gain over 1.75 miles up to Snook's Nose. From there it was a lot more Up, with only a very brief hint of Flat.
Three miles up it started raining and though I have a hunch outstanding views abound across the high ridge section nothing but a dense fog greeted us at every outlook. We got to the parkway faster than anticipated but decided to skip crossing the road and going to the tower on Green Knob and headed straight back down.
It had been awhile since Duma and I went on a good old fashioned hike. Normally it seems like I am always running around running myself ragged and it was a nice change of pace to simply be walking through the mountains on a trail we'd never explored before. There are several more of those mysterious black lines left left to explore and we'll back for more soon.
Dang. I'll have to get up there sometime -- that kind of elevation, that quickly, sounds perfect for a rainy day.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess it wasn't you on Butter or Long Branch yesterday? Someone had opened a couple of the more offensive drains out there by the time I came through in late afternoon, though they also left more than a few still clogged ...