Veach Gap Trail - Front Royal (Fort Valley), VA

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Only a couple of pictures from this one. Nonetheless it was an interesting walk. I picked this one with an eye toward scenic views, a little longer mileage than my usual walks, not too challenging terrain, and simple directions from Hiking Upward. This trail satisfied on all levels.

Getting there was straightforward. Head down Fort Valley road for just over 10 miles, hang a left on Veach Gap Rd., then follow it to the dead end. As was arrived there were three vehicles in the parking, and room for five or six more if everyone was careful. Even though it was opening day for squirrel season, we actually only encountered a couple of hunters as we made our way down the path. That being said, we did encounter four or five groups of people on the trail, so this is probably not a hike to to be alone (at least on beautiful weekends).

The turn onto the Tuscorora Trail off of the Veach Gap trail was just a bit difficult. There was more than adequate signage for various endpoints along the trail system, and if I had investigated the area more carefully they might have meant something to me. While the directions say to follow the red and blue blazed trail, the only blaze for the correct path visible from the intersection was the blue blaze. We chose to follow the blue blaze and the trail heading nominally up and in the right direction. About a 100 yards down that trail, we saw our first red & blue blaze to confirm our selection was the right one.

This was the longest stretch of the hike as it gradually ascended the valley after crossing the stream. It was not particularly difficult, but there were a few places (near the stream crossing) where the footing was a little tricky due to numerous rocks. It is very clear that this trail was the anchor for the firebreak that stopped the fire they had up hear a few years ago. Charred, cut trees are still visible to the right all the way up the path, but the undergrowth is starting to come back and that part of the forest is starting to live again.

The most interesting part of this path was when we stopped for a water break. We noticed a strong peppermint like smell all around us. We remarked on the smell, but didn't investigate it further. On the way back down, we stopped at the same place and investigated  further. Crushing and smelling the leaves of various plants around that area, we finally discerned that the smell was coming from a fern like plant which looked similar to thyme. We are still trying to figure out what it was, but I can say the the smell that it gives off is strong and pungent, especially in the warm sunlight. It was only growing up there, next to the fire area around the path and no where else at the lower elevations of the path.

My original planning for this hike was to bring the mountain bikes and ride them for the whole way. I can now say that with the exception of the last mile of so up the switchbacks to the summit, that would be entirely possible and even the summit part of the trail would be doable by an experienced biker. The only caveat would be the stream crossing area (only a few hundred feet) would probably prove too rocky for enjoyable riding. I would even say that a weak rider like myself could peddle a good part of the way up the path.

After the 1.5 mile gradual ascent up the valley, the trail makes a sharp right across a wash, and then ascent up switchbacks to the summit begins. The grade of these switchbacks is not particularly difficult and the trail is fairly easy to follow. Due to the fire, there were actually a couple of places on the ascent that gave some nice views of the Fort Valley side of mountains. Once we reached the ridge line the path became a little harder to follow. The maintainers of the trail have done a wonderful job blazing marking the trail after the fire. Whenever we became unsure of the path's direction due to difficult to see wear marks, there was a blue blaze to guide us.

We reached the turn around point where the campfire circle and the overlook was located. The vista was as spectacular as we expected.

Front Royal was partially visible to the left, but mostly screened by the trees. That river curling around in front is the Shenandoah. We had our lunch here, then began the nice walk down. One the way down we encounter a fawn just starting to loose it's spots. Since this is a hunting area, we made a point to scare it enough for it to run out of sight, as it is not good for the wildlife to become too accustom to humans here. All in all it was a good hike on a spectacular weekend day.