TR: Standing Stone Trail in June
Oct 6, 2014 21:37:08 GMT -5
Post by AegisIII on Oct 6, 2014 21:37:08 GMT -5
Part I
Photos
Near the end of June, looking for a new hike, on the short side, I decided to knock off a few more miles of the Standing Stone Trail, this time near Hoopers Gap on Jacks Mountain. The road up Jacks Mountain is still in bad shape, perhaps a bit worse with deeper ruts and more erosion due to the wet spring.
I started at the large clearing along the road where the gated Butler Trail gravel road leaves it to the west. This is also the Standing Stone Trail, following the road first west, then south for a bit. Saw one turkey quickly crossing the road. Where the SST leaves the road, I continued south on the gravel, figuring it'd be best to get that done first. Shade, unfortunately, was often minimal on this hot sunny day. When climbing, I could turn around and look at Butler Knob with its talus slopes and communication towers. Further on is a view to the west looking past Hoopers Gap. The road seems mainly traveled by turkey, deer, bear, and coyote. I didn't see any human-made tracks other than from a PGC grader which was parked back at the turn of the gated road. The road soon started a descent, before reaching the SST again at the bottom of a dip.
I took the SST back north, first heading southwest on a tall grass covered logging road spur. Thankfully, the SST soon leaves it on a reasonably nice trail, and soon joins an old woods road. It descends through a fern field, before joining with a mostly dry streambed, which the woods road uses for a bit. One large boulder to get around. The woods road once again leaves the streambed, following it from above. There is a faint animal path along the trail, but otherwise I would say it qualifies as overgrown in most places, until pine and hemlocks make up more of the canopy further down. At the base of Hoopers Gap, the trail crosses a small stream in what would be an easy rock hop save for the fallen tree along the stream.
Across the stream, the trail is overgrown and wet as it meets up with a second, better woods road. I begin the ascent as the trail dries, and then turn north as the ascent intensifies. The trail leaves the woods road as it enters a "jungle" area, a regrowing area after what looks like an area opened up from windstorm damage. There are some window views here. The trail rejoins the logging road, which soon enters more mature woods and the ascent becomes gentler. The woods road suddenly ends next to a large clearing, where it is blocked by a long wall made from the fallen lumber. The trail makes a sharp left turn, and begins climbing again next to the tree wall, often through tall grasses and often sunny. The trail gets rocky as I approach the summit of Jacks Mountain, and then makes a sharp turn north along the ridge. The Link Trail guide mentions an overlook just south. There is no trail to it, and probably never was. Instead a rough bushwhack over rocks and fallen trees. The overlook is along a narrow talus slope, and was only of the southern part of Jacks Mountain (it is possible a better view could be obtained by wandering the talus, but I wasn't going to do that).
Back on the SST, I head north on the rocky ridge. One turn is far from obvious and I almost lost the trail here. It headed back off of the rocks, and soon entered
an area of loosely spaced trees and reasonably heavy undergrowth. Blazing was sparse here, but I was able to make it through following the barely discernible trench in the undergrowth. Past here the trail alternated between fern fields, young growth areas, and massive wooded talus fields. The trail was mainly easy to follow, though there were a couple of spots which required some trail finding skills. After finishing with the ridge, the trail begins to drop back down to the gravel road, using a series of log skids. Back at the gravel road, it was just a short walk back to the car.
Photos
Near the end of June, looking for a new hike, on the short side, I decided to knock off a few more miles of the Standing Stone Trail, this time near Hoopers Gap on Jacks Mountain. The road up Jacks Mountain is still in bad shape, perhaps a bit worse with deeper ruts and more erosion due to the wet spring.
I started at the large clearing along the road where the gated Butler Trail gravel road leaves it to the west. This is also the Standing Stone Trail, following the road first west, then south for a bit. Saw one turkey quickly crossing the road. Where the SST leaves the road, I continued south on the gravel, figuring it'd be best to get that done first. Shade, unfortunately, was often minimal on this hot sunny day. When climbing, I could turn around and look at Butler Knob with its talus slopes and communication towers. Further on is a view to the west looking past Hoopers Gap. The road seems mainly traveled by turkey, deer, bear, and coyote. I didn't see any human-made tracks other than from a PGC grader which was parked back at the turn of the gated road. The road soon started a descent, before reaching the SST again at the bottom of a dip.
I took the SST back north, first heading southwest on a tall grass covered logging road spur. Thankfully, the SST soon leaves it on a reasonably nice trail, and soon joins an old woods road. It descends through a fern field, before joining with a mostly dry streambed, which the woods road uses for a bit. One large boulder to get around. The woods road once again leaves the streambed, following it from above. There is a faint animal path along the trail, but otherwise I would say it qualifies as overgrown in most places, until pine and hemlocks make up more of the canopy further down. At the base of Hoopers Gap, the trail crosses a small stream in what would be an easy rock hop save for the fallen tree along the stream.
Across the stream, the trail is overgrown and wet as it meets up with a second, better woods road. I begin the ascent as the trail dries, and then turn north as the ascent intensifies. The trail leaves the woods road as it enters a "jungle" area, a regrowing area after what looks like an area opened up from windstorm damage. There are some window views here. The trail rejoins the logging road, which soon enters more mature woods and the ascent becomes gentler. The woods road suddenly ends next to a large clearing, where it is blocked by a long wall made from the fallen lumber. The trail makes a sharp left turn, and begins climbing again next to the tree wall, often through tall grasses and often sunny. The trail gets rocky as I approach the summit of Jacks Mountain, and then makes a sharp turn north along the ridge. The Link Trail guide mentions an overlook just south. There is no trail to it, and probably never was. Instead a rough bushwhack over rocks and fallen trees. The overlook is along a narrow talus slope, and was only of the southern part of Jacks Mountain (it is possible a better view could be obtained by wandering the talus, but I wasn't going to do that).
Back on the SST, I head north on the rocky ridge. One turn is far from obvious and I almost lost the trail here. It headed back off of the rocks, and soon entered
an area of loosely spaced trees and reasonably heavy undergrowth. Blazing was sparse here, but I was able to make it through following the barely discernible trench in the undergrowth. Past here the trail alternated between fern fields, young growth areas, and massive wooded talus fields. The trail was mainly easy to follow, though there were a couple of spots which required some trail finding skills. After finishing with the ridge, the trail begins to drop back down to the gravel road, using a series of log skids. Back at the gravel road, it was just a short walk back to the car.