12.7 mile AT Hike - VA 601 to VA 615

Two of us did this rather strenuous hike. It was an all day event.

The first 4 miles of the hike was fairly easy. Nice comfortable trail, with few ups and downs.  We went through the longest rhododendren tunnel I have ever seen. Almost a mile. The white rhododendren were blooming on this section of trail.

After 4 miles we came to the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area Headquarters. It was all locked up. No one around. After a short break, we continued.

After the break the trail seemed to go straight up. More ups than I expected over the last 8.7 miles. The trail also became very rocky for the first 8 miles also. 

There were a couple of nice views on the hike though.

This is a one-way hike on the Virginia Appalachian Trail and will require an auto shuttle. We will drop a car at the termination point of the hike at VA 615, and the Settlers Museum of Southwest Virginia. After dropping a car we will drive to the start of the hike on VA 601 (Pugh Road).

The hike will begin with a series of ups and downs along a ridge-line. Not much in the way of views for the first 4.1 miles where we cross VA 16. At VA 16 is the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area headquarters, which will give us a nice rest stop.

Leaving VA 16 we will begin an ascent of about 500 feet, from 3300 feet to 3800 feet, over the next 1.2 miles through hardwoods and rhododendrons.Once reaching the crest we shall have a series of ups and downs along the ridge line for about 3 miles. Then we'll start our last climb to Mt. Glade over the next mile. From Mt. Glade we will begin a long descent of about 3.5 miles (good views) to VA 615 and the Settlers Museum of Southwest Virginia and the end of our hike.

Plan on spending 7.5 hours on the trail for this hike. That does not incude driving time.