The Great Channels of Virginia 200th Hike

The Great Channels of Virginia, truly a natural wonder of the Old Dominion

Well hello again! It's been quite some time since my last post. I think it was about my 100th hike. Well after about 2 and half years since then, I've walked another 100 hikes! I can't believe after doing so many hikes, that I've neglected to see the amazing natural wonder known as the Great Channels of Virginia. So I decided that reaching this milestone in my hiking career, I wanted view mountains and scenery I have never seen before. The Great Channels served that purpose.
 

Not bad, eh?

Let's get on with the hike!
Joining me on this adventure, were two great hiking friends Elyse and Wes. We had decided earlier to do the full 14 mile Brumley Mountain Trail. So with two cars, we parked Elyse's car at the trail's end in Hidden Valley, and my truck at the trail's start in Hayter's gap. Because my printer was out of ink, I couldn't print out a map. So I hand drew one. 

Wes and the big rock

So we began the hike on what felt like an old dirt road. The road seemed to zig-zag it way up the mountain passing private property, hunting cabins, and some big boulders. But, eventually we made it to The Channels spur trail, which led to the summit of Middle Mountain. On the summit there were great views, an old shelter and a fire tower.

Beartown Mountain

Now it was time for the fun stuff, The Great Channels of Virginia. The spur trail led down and icy path to the great labyrinth of the sky. Our best (and favorite) way of traversing the icy soil was to slide down the chasm on our hinds. It was a fun experience, but it ended up agrivating a per-existing injury to my leg. Navigating the rocks was a very unique experience. The air was much colder, the rocks had amazing colors and neat formations. At some points it felt like we were lost.

With the injury to my leg, I decided to turn back to call off the rest of hike for myself. Wes and Elyse ventured on to complete the rest to the 11 miles left. But alas, my adventure was still not over. Back tracking, I saw a lot of things I missed on the way up, such as views Mt. Rogers and Whitetop in the distance, other rock formations and a couple of vines that twisted together to form a perfect rope.

And it was even in a figure 8 knot ;)

But, the biggest surprise of all was on the drive back, my GPS took me by a beautiful waterfall called Logan's Run Falls. What a great way to cap off my 200th hike! 

Thanks for reading and hope to post more. Till then, keep on truckin!