Crane Trail, September 11, 2014

Nine strong hikers converged near Lexington to tackle a true wilderness trail and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.  Hikers included 7 from the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club and Marit Gay, Jeff Monroe, and Gracie the Fabulous Hiking Dog from the Charlottesville Chapter of the PATC.  

This group answered the question, “What if you schedule a hike and arrive to find no evidence of a trail?”  We bushwacked through the woods until coming across faint evidence of the trail alignment suggesting the Crane Trail, and followed that until it became a real trail climbing Rough Mountain through the Rough Mountain Wilderness.  

This remains a trail best hiked with someone who has been on it before, and we minted 8 new veterans to the small list of folks globally who have experienced this nice trail.  After summiting Rough Mountain (clipping back vegetation as we moved), we continued on the Crane Trail over the mountain’s western slope, treated to views of the Cowpasture River Valley and Beards Mountain in Douthat State Park.  While the Roanoke group turned around about halfway down to gain more time for a leisurely lunch at the mountain's summit, the Charlottesville-based group (Jeff, Marit, Gracie) showed their toughness by following the trail until it reached private property near Route 42.  The western slope portion of the trail was in great shape, strongly indicating that local landowners see the Crane Trail as their own private entryway to secluded wilderness. Lucky folks!