Happy Trails
The weather has been nice for the past few days, allowing me to finish my annual trail maintenance for 2008. The trails were built when possible using deer tracks and the deer are helpful is kicking aside twigs and some accumulated leaves. However, manual removal of larger fallen deadwood and hand raking of the pathway along most of its length is still required. Then there is the pruning of the annual growth of vegetation into the open space of the pathway, general beautification and maintenace of rock edgings to do. Plus, this year, I replaced all the blaze marks with paints of different colors for each of the major trails. So, I can fairly say my trails are in the best condition ever.
There are now three major trails fully maintained, Sunset, Rock and Cross, plus a number of minor trails, often unmarked and only partially maintained.
Sunset Trail, bearing white blaze marks, is the primary trail. It extends from the front steps of the house to the back of our property ajoining the Blue Ridge Parkway when it makes a loop along our brook before your return to the house. All told, the round trip (as measured by my handy AARP pedometer) is about 2750 steps or 1.3 miles. The trail also undergoes a change in elevation from the house to the brook of about 400 feet. The total length, including the loop, that requires maintenance is 0.8 miles.
The Rock and Cross Trails are alternate sections of the Sunset Trail.
Rock Trail, bearing blue blaze marks, is about 700 steps or 0.3 miles in length. The most verticle of the trails, it takes you by (and over) some nice rock formations, including the spot where I fell off the moutain a few years back.
Cross Trail, bearing yellow blaze marks, is about 800 steps or 0.4 miles in length, is perhaps the easiest of the trails as it traverses back and forth across the side of the mountain and has only one moderately hard climb.
Now, adding all those steps together, we have 4250 steps of trail and that's a little less than half the number (10,000) the American Heart Association says we should take each day for a healty heart!
There are now three major trails fully maintained, Sunset, Rock and Cross, plus a number of minor trails, often unmarked and only partially maintained.
Sunset Trail, bearing white blaze marks, is the primary trail. It extends from the front steps of the house to the back of our property ajoining the Blue Ridge Parkway when it makes a loop along our brook before your return to the house. All told, the round trip (as measured by my handy AARP pedometer) is about 2750 steps or 1.3 miles. The trail also undergoes a change in elevation from the house to the brook of about 400 feet. The total length, including the loop, that requires maintenance is 0.8 miles.
The Rock and Cross Trails are alternate sections of the Sunset Trail.
Rock Trail, bearing blue blaze marks, is about 700 steps or 0.3 miles in length. The most verticle of the trails, it takes you by (and over) some nice rock formations, including the spot where I fell off the moutain a few years back.
Cross Trail, bearing yellow blaze marks, is about 800 steps or 0.4 miles in length, is perhaps the easiest of the trails as it traverses back and forth across the side of the mountain and has only one moderately hard climb.
Now, adding all those steps together, we have 4250 steps of trail and that's a little less than half the number (10,000) the American Heart Association says we should take each day for a healty heart!
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