Mt. Pleasant, VA

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Mt. Pleasant (Henry Lanum Trail)- (8-20-09) This was certainly an adventure. I had Dante dressed and ready so we could hit the road by 8 am. This trail is located in the Mt. Pleasant Scenic Area which is north on I-81. Take 60 east through Buena Vista and then after 10 or so miles of driving through an ivy covered wonderland you make a left onto 634. As I drove through this neighborhood, I wondered several times if I had made a wrong turn. However, there were the familiar brown signs which told me I was headed in the right direction. Once I hit the gravel/dirt road, I had to turn around to make sure I didn't miss a turnoff. I hadn't so I slowly drove down the gravel path and eventually came to a small parking lot with a kiosk nearby. The trail had two directions; to the right was the Mt. Pleasant trail and to the left was the Mt. Pompey trail (I thought they were the same thing.) We decided to do the whole loop so we went right. The first mile was nothing but a delightful walk in the woods marked with blue blazes. Wide trail, cool breeze (it was 66 degrees when we started) and sunlight streaming through the forested canopy. We crossed a creek 2 times and then the trail became more rocky, steadily increasing its grade. There were numerous huge boulders and oceans of ferns waving in the wind. Eventually we made it to the part of the trail where the spur splits of for half a mile to the summit of Mt. Pleasant. This was fairly steep (not overly so) and rocky and we passed by lots of those twisted mangrove like trees. To see the summit, we had a choice either the west or the east overlook. Of course we were going to see both, so we chose the west first. There were nice places to camp there as we saw old campsites. I didn't see a clear view from the summit here until I saw a small path that lead to a group of rocks and it was like coming up for air from the ocean. Nice view even with all the flies buzzing about. We had a short lunch and went to the east overlook. All I can say is...AWESOME!!! The skies were fairly clear and I think I saw two falcons. Mountains stretched off into the distance and wildflowers shined on some of the rocky slopes. There was a nice breeze and we took it all in. As we reconnected with the trail, it was a walk through a less dense forest. Peaceful I would say. I saw a deer and then saw what I thought was the same on farther down the trail. Again, another walk through a sunlight strewn, cool green forest. The path was very clear an not so very steep up or down. Due to the extra weight I was carrying I had to stop and get some water to rest a bit. It was a welcome sight to see the Jeep peeking through the forest. All in all this trail ended up being 6.8 miles according to my pedometer. We had a great time and I cannot wait to take the wife during the fall colors. 5/5

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