Elliot Knob

I had done hike to Elliot Knob on 27th September 2014 . It is located in Virginia State.
Hike Location
Name: Elliot Knob
Distance: 115 miles from Richmond(approx)
Total hiking distance: 8.5 miles(approx).
Altitude: 2425 ft.
Hike Team: Rajesh, Sujay, Vishal and me.
Hiking Experience: Started around 10:45 am. Picked Sujay and left to destination. Reached around 12:45 pm. There was not much space for parking. Parked the car just to the side of the main road. There was a barricade at the entrance of the trail preventing vehicles along the trail. Had bananas and started the hike around 12:52 pm. It is an yellow blazed trail. The trail is wider and covered with trees on both sides. It is not dense and exposed to Sunlight. It was a bright sunny day and could see the glitters of the sun through the gaps among trees. The steep is moderate and slowly traversing around the mountain though the midst of the jungle. We could see nice fall colours along the trail and it was a good scenic view along with the shiny sunlight. The path is pretty straight forward and sometimes lead us into deep of the jungle and sometimes to an open area completely exposed to scorching heat. After hiking for around 1.5 miles the trail narrowed down. Narrow trail with thick trees on both sides and shade of the trees falling on the trail made it ideal for a hike. We crossed many empty streams along the path. Almost entire stream bed was dried up due to summer heat. There were fallen trees, huge stones across the path. Steep of the trail started increasing as we went ahead.

Around 2:20 pm we entered the gravel road leaving behind the natural trail. The gravel road is much wider and fully exposed to sunlight. The steep drastically increased and the scorching heat  added to the difficulty of the hike. It was a lengthy boring walk as it was not like a natural trail and more like a road. The gravel road was very slippery due to small stones along the path. There were electric poles all along the trail leading to the top of the mountain. The steep of the path kept on increasing at a steady pace making it more and more tough. Took couple of breaks wherever possible under the shade of the small trees enjoying the cool shade. As we hiked further, we can feel the cool strong breeze. Slowly we reached the top of the mountain after strenuous walk. There was a transmission station to our left and we went little ahead and turned left into the grassy trail. The trail is wide and is to the extreme west of the mountain and could view the entire base of the mountain. It was a very beautiful view and could see entire county from the path. Went little ahead and finally reached the Elliot knob, the highest point in the entire county around 3:15 pm. There is a watch tower at the top. we climbed up the watch tower and good glance through the entire area and it was a nice experience.

Came down the tower and sat for lunch around 3:22 pm in the camp site covered with huge trees, fully shaded and abundant constant cool breeze. Had Lunch and started descending around 3:55 pm. We felt very cold when we started. Could feel the coldness in fingers. Reached the gravel road and due to steepness of the road we were almost running while descending. The slipperiness of the trail made us cautious while coming down. We reached the natural trail to our left  around 4:22 pm. Felt so much relieved after started hiking along the natural trail. Traversed the mountain through the midst of the jungle, crossed the empty streams again. Reached intersection where we need to take a right turn(indicated by 3 diamond shaped yellow plates) around 4:33 pm. Continued walking along the trail in the midst of the jungle and reached the parking around 5:25 pm. It was a great hike overall. Had some refreshments at Starbucks on the way and reached home around 8 pm. All is Well.