How lucky were we: a puppy AND a short hike on the AT at
Cold Mountain. Last weekend we met my sister a little over half way between
Columbus, OH and Va. Beach, VA to pick up an orphaned puppy. So I’m looking at
the atlas to see where half way is, and choose Covington, VA… but of course I
have to look to see where the AT crosses through Virginia. Low and behold, only
about an hour farther east.
Isn’t it great when the opportunity for an adventure just
falls in your lap? It’s not like we could go there and NOT hit the trail. I
found a better hotel in Lexington anyway (and some damn good pizza). So I jumped
onto trusty WhiteBlaze.net and within minutes had a response to “Where is the
closest trail head parking near Lexington, VA?” (Thanks, Mobius!)
We left Ohio at 7 a.m. Once reaching Lexington around 2:30
p.m., it’s off on US 60 through Buena Vista, left on Coffeytown Road, and right
on Wiggins Spring Rd. Definitely more of a spring than a road, Wiggins is a
dirt forest road and farther up was still snow, ice and slush over mud. The
Journey handled it fine and once parked, we stretched out legs, adjusted our
trekking poles, and we were hiking on the AT!
We didn’t have much time but hiked up to the top of Cold
Mountain and enjoyed the 360-degree view of the Virginia mountains from the
grassy bald. Snoopy only lost his iPod once, in the snow on the way up. But the
top was beautiful, the sun was shining and there was little snow up there. Not
so much like, as I found out, when my bro-in-law was hiking there with the guys
just a couple weeks earlier!
I am very ready to see and experience more of the AT.
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