Sinking Creek is named that because the creek disappears underground near Hoges Chapel on VA 42.
It was a balmly windy 23 degrees when Dirigo, SIMS, Gran, and I stepped out of the truck on VA 42. We met SIMS at the VA Journey in 2011 during one of our hikes and were thrilled that she and Gran could join us this weekend.
There is no parking on the road next to the trail crossing so we had to park further up the road near a Stop sign. The trail initially went through a field and up a hill. Once we got into the woods we got some relief from the wind.
We crossed Sinking Creek on a small foot bridge and posed for some pictures. SIMS looked like she was a member of a SWAT team with her wind mask on.
After about 1 mile, we crossed VA 630 and there was a single car parked there along with a very old well house without a door. After we came out of the woods, we saw the huge Keiffer Oak – according to the guide books it is over 300 years old and the largest oak tree on the AT in the south.
We then spent the next 2 miles climbing to the ridge line. We had a nice view in a clearing for the power line. The rocks around the power line were all very black and reminded us of lava from a volcano.
SIMS told us that she was sick on Wednesday so her energy level was a bit low on this hike. We told her to rest if she needed to – we reiterated “hike your own hike.”
We reached the sign for the Sarver Hollow shelter and decided to pass since it was 0.4 off of the trail (and somebody has written “all downhill” on the sign).
Gran found a nice lunch spot that was out of the wind and in the warm sunshine. This was much appreciated as we had been battered by the wind most of the morning.
We came across a sign for the Eastern Continental Divide and we had hiked across several piles of rock outcropping that were at a slant. As we were hiking we came across a few piles of rock, and it was said that farmers stacked them there so they could farm their lands.
We came across a down tree in the middle of the trail and Dirigo got to practice her MovNat moves!
We stopped to stop for a second and as SIMS was just standing there, she fell. Glad she was OK, but it was funny as she was not even moving when she fell.
We had a long gentle descent into VA 621. We stopped for a short break at the Niday shelter. The privy was very new and was in immaculate condition.
As soon as we got off the trail we headed to The HomePlace! We arrived around 5:30 and had to wait for 20 minutes but it was worth it. You are always served fried chicken and we decide to order ham as the second meat. The ham was really really salty so unless you like really salty ham, we would not recommend this option.
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- Eastern Continental Divide
