Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Royal orchards

After more than 10 years of running trails in the Shenandoah National Park, Gill and I know every nook and cranny. We know every trail in the park, every gavel roads on the eastern and western portion of the park, and every fire road out there.
This is why I was incredibly surprised to find a whole bunch of jeep roads right off Rockfish Gap, which I never knew were there. The gravel roads are partially on the property of Scott's Castle, also called the Scott residence, and huge Scottish castle on the eastern flank of the mountain. I have always tried to respect the Scott's family property, and I have often seen them on their horses. The jeep roads Gill and I found this weekend come up from the valley floor toward the Appalachian trail, and are not, I believe, on private property. At least, we did not see any signs.
All these gravel roads allow us to add a whole bunch of distance to our usual route from Rockfisn Gap to Beagle's Gap on the Appalachian trail.
All of them are ATV roads, more than jeep roads, but are wide and in pretty good shape. Nevertheless, they are about as steep as it gets, for any jeep road or trail. By the end, my quads were done!
I loved the run because it always changes, and it can be made as short or as long as needed, without getting boring. Enjoy!


No comments:

Post a Comment