Timber Hollow

We had done hike to Hawksbill Mountain/Timber Hollow on 5th August . It is located in Shenandoah, Virginia State.

Hike Location
Name: Hawksbill Mountain/Timber Hollow
Distance: 80 miles from Herndon(approx)
Total hiking distance: 5.5 miles.
Elevation Gain: 1260 ft
Hike Team:  my wife and me.

Hiking Experience: We started around 5:50 am. Reached the Destination, Timber Hollow Overlook around 7:27 am.

There were no cars around the overlook, so looks like we were the only one doing this hike at that time. The climate was moderate hot with sun started to show his presence. The view from the overlook is great. we could see the valleys, hills, small houses, farms , clouds. It was a very good panoramic view. We have done few hikes in Shenandoah (skyline Drive) but this was our first hike which started from the overlook. It was as though we are climbing down the hill straight with all the steep. We followed the trail from the overlook which was very narrow and there were small beautiful flowers on both sides of the trail. Soon the trail connected us with the Appalachian Trail(A.T.) having the white mark and we need to go south of A.T. (left). The trail is full of small stones and not much steep at the start. Soon we were in the middle of the large trees on the hill. We were in midst of forest with dense trees and rocks so the sun rays could not pentrate. This helped us to hike easily and as we continued, the trail got wider and we could see huge rocks, big stones on the trail and chopped trees along our path. As it rained heavily the previous two days we could see small waterflow over the rocks and heard the water clapping sound.

It was very pleasant and the water was very cold. we climbed steps which were overflowed with water and continued our path. The steep gradually increased. The trail was very good with jungle on both sides , stones on it. Few sun rays managed to reach the ground which made the hike very interesting and motivating. We crossed many small waterfalls on the rocks along the A.T. We were traversing the hill as we could hear the vehicle sounds (moving on the Skyline Drive ) above us. The steep increased and we reached intersection where we took left onto blue blazed Salamander Trail. The trail was leading us to uphill into the woods. We had our breakfast on the rocks of the trail around 9:00 am. We continued on the uphill. We met couple of fellow hikers on our way. It was continuous steep hike , which was strenuous. We saw a deer which was grazing in the woods. It was so engrossed that it was not perturbed when we approached near her. We reached the Hawksbill summit, around 9:30 am, which has a U shaped rock built structure. The 270 degree view from the  summit is amazing. There were huge rocks to sit and relax and enjoy the view. We could see old rag mountain, Shanenadoah valley from the summit.

There were wooden compass with iron arrow as well at the summit rock. We stayed there for 10 mins or so and enjoyed the natures' peace and pleasant atmosphere. There was shelter(known as Birds Nest) near the summit with a picnic table which looked like one of the typical shelters we have on the A.T. We continued our hike onto the blue blazed lower Hawksbill Trail. It was very Steep down. It appeared as though were were running due to the gravity and steep. We met many hikers along the path. soon we reached flat trail which connected to A.T. We took right(north) onto the A.T. This was the same path which we hiked at the start. we retraced our steps crossed the waterfalls and reached the overlook where we started around 10:48 am.Overall it was wonderful and amazing experience. we sat at the overlook for few mins to relax and then headed back to home. while we just started in car we saw a small bear on the cliff. As our car came near it vanished into the woods. We reached home around 12:36 pm. All is Well.
Photos