29 September: The Backbone Rock Recreation Area, in Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest, has a small campground, a picnic area, and short hiking trails for exploring this interesting feature. Backbone Rock is a “spur fin” jutting out from the lower slope of Holston Mountain toward Beaverdam Creek. It forms a wall of solid rock with vertical sides, much taller than it is thick. A hiking trail climbs up one side of it, along the narrow and flat top, and down the other side. The trail and some of the structures in the picnic area were built by the CCC, which is evident from the attractive and well-built stone steps in the steep sections of the trail. There is a small loop trail under hemlocks and rhododendrons nearby that passes by Backbone Falls in a small tributary stream feeding into Beaverdam Creek. There is also a trail branching off from the Backbone Rock Trail to ascend Holston Mountain to a junction with the Appalachian Trail.
In addition to the natural beauty of Backbone Rock, it is also interesting for the tunnel that was blasted and drilled through it in 1901 to provide railroad access for mining and lumbering south of Damascus, Va. Manganese ore, iron ore, and timber were transported from Crandull and Shady Valley down the Beaverdam Creek valley to Damascus. After those resources had been exhausted, this area became part of the national forest and the former rail corridor was converted to the auto road that uses the tunnel today. This tunnel is said to be the shortest tunnel in the world.
30 September-4 October: Our last objective on our way home was to camp and hike in Shenandoah NP. This wasn’t far from the home of Paul’s second cousin Cindy and her husband Paul in Charlottesville, Va., providing a good excuse for an overnight visit with them. Growing up, we would often see each other on summer visits to our grandmothers’ adjacent summer houses on Cape Cod. Some fifty years later, we are grandparents, so we enjoyed showing pictures and talking about our own grandchildren, and also reminiscing about some of our travels over the past decades.
After arriving at our campground in Shenandoah in mid-afternoon, we went for a hike on Bearfence Mountain. The clockwise loop we took ascended a ridge, followed the ridge crest over the “Rock Scramble,” passed a couple of very good outlooks, then reached a junction with the Appalachian Trail, which descended gently to the trailhead parallel to but downslope of the ridge crest. The Rock Scramble section threaded among rough and angular pieces of metamorphosed volcanic rock that were jumbled together, with thin edges projecting upward and sloping faces, making for challenging footing and slow progress. We were rewarded amply, though, by the great views from the top and the easy second half of our loop.
Bearfence Rock ScrambleOld Rag Overlook
The next morning, we hiked around a counter clockwise loop on the park’s highest peak, Hawksbill Mountain. At the top was a fine viewing platform with plenty of space not to feel crowded, even on this fine sunny Saturday. Many of the hikers had made shorter climbs to the summit as out-and-back hikes rather than the loop we did, but our route was only three miles, not very steep, and we thought the Salamander Trail (which was not part of the shorter climbs) was a very pleasant path. Noticeable along the trail were the fruits of mountain ash and witch hazel. After hiking, we had plenty of time to relax at our campsite and enjoy some of the early fall color.
Mountain ash with berriesWitch hazel with fruitFall colors at Big Meadow campground
When we left Shenandoah, we were only a two-day drive from home. On our last camping night, in central New York, we were subjected to the first rain since our first day out, two and a half months before.
It was a great trip, but it was also good to get back home before freezing temperatures set in. This trip was definitely more biased toward family visits than our earlier long trips were. Spending quality time with our little granddaughters was priceless, though, and they will all too soon be more absorbed in a lot more than just having fun with grandparents.
We did notice that our hikes and bike rides weren’t usually as long as on previous trips—is it just because we are getting older, or was it that the heat in the Southwest was warmer this year than normal? We managed to meet some nice people along the way, and see several beautiful and interesting places, too. The scenery in Chiricahua probably impressed us the most, but each state has no shortage of special places to explore.
