Exploring Pine Mountain - June 29, 2018

I was up at 3:15 a.m. to start my Pine Mountain adventure.  I had taken the day off work and needed to get out in nature and hopefully get in a good training workout. Pine Mountain has always been a great place for me to decompress and reconnect with nature.  I must get that from my Dad, he has always loved that mountain and in fact he, along with the Breaks Park naturalist Ken Markley, were the first to blaze a trail along the northern section in the early 1970's.  You can blame the root grabbing climb headed north up Skegg Knob on them.

I started my adventure with my old beat up Stanley thermos full of coffee, a couple granola bars, a folding chair and an amazing sunrise up at Birch Knob Tower.  I had the mountain all to myself as I didn't meet a single hiker on the trail or at the tower all day.  That morning the fog had settled into the valleys on both the Virginia and Kentucky sides of the mountain.

In addition to being a trail runner I'm also a birder.  My day started by being serenaded by a Whip-poor-will and a Wood Thrush at the Birch Knob tower at sunrise. At 3,000+ feet I got to hear several species that I normally do not hear at the lower elevations in Buchanan County, VA. Higher altitude species that I noted during the day included Black-throated Blue Warblers, Blue-headed Vireo, Chestnut-sided Warblers and Dark eyed Juncos.  Juncos are interesting in that they seem to migrate vertically in this region - moving to the higher elevation peaks to breed in the summer and then back down to lower altitudes for the winter - becoming our familiar "Snowbirds" at our feeders during the winter months. I also noted my first Swainson's Warblers of the season - finding them at three different spots in the deep hollow Rhododendron thickets. The Ravens were quite active along the cliff lines on the Kentucky side of Pine Mountain. I also flushed a Ruffed Grouse off the trail and saw another running through the Rhododendron near Jenny Falls.

My first side hike of the day was down to Jenny Falls.  I had been there many years ago but it must have been when there was very little water because I don't remember the falls being this beautiful.  I was expecting a small waterfall but was pleasantly surprised at how high this waterfall is - probably at least a 100 foot drop.  If anyone knows the exact height please make a note in the comments. I have heard that the falls are named for someone named Jenny Rose who lived in the area but I don't know that story.
To see the entire photo gallery of my day on Pine Mountain Click Here .

My next side hike was down to the Natural Bridge.  The trail is almost completely overgrown and I think this would make a great service project for one of the local scout troops. Anyway, I had to practically bushwhack my way down to the rock formation. It's only a third of a mile or so to the rock bridge and the hike is well worth it.  The bridge is a slender spine of rock about 60 feet long.  You can walk under it and then climb up and walk across the bridge. Just down from the bridge is a rock slick with nice views into Virginia. On my way back up to the PMT I lost the trail and had to bushwhack my way through about 300 yards of Rhododendron thicket.  Anyone who has ever done this, or participated in the Breakdown Adventure Race at the Breaks Interstate Park, knows that there is probably nothing more difficult than crawling through a Sawbriar infested Rhododendron and Laurel thicket in Appalachia.  I escaped with only 15 or so long bloody scratches and banged up shins - I've had worse.

I then took one of the blue blaze connector trails down the Virginia side of the mountain to the South of the Mountain road (Rt. 611).  I have signed up for the Breaks 40 Miler in September and I'm quite a long way away from being ready for this race. The race consists of at least 6 big climbs - 5 up Pine Mountain and 1 up to the Breaks Park out of the Russell Fork Gorge.  That equates to well over two vertical miles of climbing during the run.  I took one of the connector trails off the mountain and then took another blue blaze trail back to the top - climbing the mountain at 90 degrees Fahrenheit will get your heart pounding but is great exercise - especially since the oxygen pressure drops about 8% on the climb up. The views from the overlooks on the Kentucky side were amazing.

Then I hiked back to Birch Knob tower along the PMT, through Dutton Gap, past the Birch Knob Shelter and back up to birch Knob Tower for one final look before heading home to Grundy. Overall, a great day to be on the trails and I had the mountain to myself the entire day.

Here is a shortened 11-minute and the full 20 minute video of my day with lots of video and pictures.  Be sure to watch it full screen and in HD1080p format if your internet connection can support it.

Short Version Video - 12 Minutes:

Long Version Video - 20 Minutes: