The weather was perfect for a bushwhack, followed by a steady climb, followed by hiking on a nice wide fire road. In the 60’s and sunny, 15 folks gathered at Mark Walkup’s residence in Greene County for an action and history packed day. CairParavel Farm was the starting point for our new trail/bushwhack into PATC’s 244-acre Entry Run Tract for which Mark is the tract manager. A steep descent through boulders and near small caves was followed by a scenic ascent along a stream to a waterfall. Great pictures of Claire Cline, Todd Patrick, and Patrick Cory were taken here. Completing our off-trail section, we reached the John’s Rest trail which seemed very well traveled after the path so far. Passing by the lovely John’s Rest log cabin (relocated from West Virginia by PATC volunteers), we had a brief snack before a steady climb up the Entry Run Trail toward the SNP. Views were awesome as we followed Dan Funkhouser, Pat Choloski, CJ Woodburn and David Crowe up the trail. Bill Holman was sweep to keep us all together. Mark Trail hiked with us today as a prep for his TransAmerica bike ride beginning next week in Yorktown, Va and ending in San Diego, Ca. Iva Gillet enjoyed chatting with Jayne Mayne, joining us from Fredericksburg, and Neil McKinney, who was discussing medical mission trips. Rounding our group were the veteran hiking couple- Bev and Pete Fink. Along the way we passed the Lamb cemetery in the saddle of the ridgeline and the Rosser Lamb cabin (circa 1914), located in a poplar hollow near Entry Run.
After climbing into SNP backcountry toward Lewis Mountain, we lunched at the ruins of the Upper Pocosin Mission’s school and chapel buildings, which formed a community center from 1905 until the creation of the SNP. A short retracing of our steps, and the group consensus was to descend on the fire road to avoid more of the hilly terrain. Our final point of interest was a house at the entrance to Rosser Lamb which was built from materials salvaged from the Lower Pocosin Mission. There is a lot of great local history in this area.
Upon returning to the farm, Mark offered farm tours and refreshments to those who had the time. What a wonderful day we had on Pocosan Mountain, and many thanks to Mark Walkup for sharing his home and the history of the area.
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