Hike to Humpback Rocks

I had done hike to Humpback Rocks  on 27th October .It is located at Charlottesville in Virginia State.

Hike Location
Name: Humpback Rocks
Distance: 90 miles from Richmond(approx)
Total hiking distance: 7 miles.
Hiking Experience:Started around 9am in the morning. Filled Gas at Exxon at Exit 138 on I-64 around 9:40 am. Left the station and had breakfast at burger king on exit 119 around 10:40 am. Left for the destination around 10:55 am. Reached the Humpback parking around 11:25 pm. The parking was full and had to park the vehicle outside the parking lot on the side of the road following others. Started Ascent. The climate is very cold and windy. The trail is narrow and very steep. The trail is covered by long trees both the sides. After half an hour along the trail, there are wooden steps(like ladder) but not steep. once the ladder is crossed, it was a flat trail and leads through the jungle of the Dobie mountain. As I reached the top of the mountain the temperature increased and cool breeze deceased.
                                                The trees along the trail are very colorful as it is the fall season. Along the trail there are benches on left side for hikers to rest. After an hour of hike, rock patches started and there was a small cave to the left of the trail and the trail is muddy and rocks are bit slippery. After crossing the rockpatch, there is a signboard which states humpback rocks towards left around 800 ft and humpback picnic area around 2.7 miles. went to the humpback rocks. These rocks are huge white rocks. from the top of rocks we can see the Shenandaoh Valley. It was an amazing view. There was a cold breeze at the top of the rocks and these rocks are rigid and tough. went towards the humpback picnic area. There are proper blue trail marks all along. Blue indicates it is blude ridge parkway. After 0.1 miles walk the trail merges with Appalachian Trial(trail with white marks) .After an half an hour walk there is a diversion towards left. This would take back to the parking lot forming a loop. The straight route follows the Appalachian trail. I have taken left to traverse the loop. The trail is very colourful and through the jungle. It was a descent and while descending the temperature increased and could feel the heat os Sun. Reached the parking lot by 3:30 pm. Left for home and reached Richmond by 5:00 pm. All is well.

                                

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Hike to McAfee Knob

I had done hike to McAfee Knob  on 20th October . It is located in Virginia State and along the Appalachian trail(A.T.)
Hike Location
Name: Mcafee Knob
Distance: 65 miles from Lynchburg(approx)
Total hiking distance: 8 miles.
Hiking Experience:Started around 6:55 am in the morning. Had Breakfast(pancakes only veg available) from McDonald's around 7:00. Started from McDonald's at 7:15 am towards the destination. Reached the destination by 8:30 am. The parking lot is on the right side of the road. The trail starts on the left side of road and there is a sign board at the start of the trail which says about the mountain height and distance of the trail.It is a well maintained trail. Most of the trail is along the Appalachian Trail. Trail is narrow and wooden steps along the start of the trail to prevent erosion. The trail is covered by trees on both sides. It was a sunny day and soon the morning coldness withered away and forced to remove the Jackets. Along the trail, every mile there is an Appalachian Shelter. There are small wooden bridges to cross the rock patches. There are five bridges. As this is the fall season , the leaves on the trees were very colorful.                                                          Huge white rocks on the way add to the scenic of the area. As we ascent, we experienced cold breeze. As we reach the top of the hill we could see valley to the left and was an amazing view of trees, base of the mountain and barren land. We reached the McAfee Knob around 10:30 am. At the top there is a huge rock which is exposed to the valley and get very good view of entire valley and other hills like otter. Also runway of Roanoke can be seen.  Had theplas and fruity at the top. It is approximately 2000 ft high. It was cold at the top in spite of Scorching Sun due to cold breeze. Started descent around 10:58 am. On the way we have seen small lizards. The trail is very clear and no trash at all. There were many fellow hikers along the trail. The trail route is easy to identify as there were white markings along the trail and only single place where there is diversion. Reached the parking lot by 12:34 pm. There is a trek register as well. Went to Roanoke, had lunch and reached Lynchburg by 3:30 pm. All is Well.

                                   

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