Boy, we've had another couple of days of rain. It seems like its rained every day or night for the past few weeks now. I had every intention of heading back to the Flannigan Reservoir to try another section but it was raining when I got up. By the time it stopped and the sun looked like it was coming out it was after 10am. It would have taken me close to an hour to drive the 20 miles or so to the boat ramp so I went hiking instead.
Breaks Canyon, in Breaks Interstate Park is 1600 feet deep making it the deepest canyon in the east. The canyon runs between Virginia and Kentucky so they share a state park together. I'd already been to the 4-5 turnouts overlooking some good views of the canyon and had also hiked the Overlook Trail that connects most of the overlooks.
Today I started out on the Loop Trail which would include 3-4 other trails along the way. The first trail I came to was Prospector's Trail. This trail follows along at the base of the cliffs on which most of the overlooks are located.
The trail wound down through thick growths of rhododendrons. Then it passed under a large overhanging ledge that was at least 20X40X8 feet. It then passed along some tall granite cliffs 40-50 feet high.
Then the switchbacks started as the trail dropped about 350 feet. The trail narrowed in many places to just 2 feet wide with a long slide down a steep slope in case of a misstep. I could partial views of the canyon through the trees. Just enough to tease you but nothing clear. Some huge slabs of granite had tumbled down on top of each other from one of the cliffs forming a cave.
I had to be extremely careful on this steep trail because of all the rain recently. The remaining dampness made the rocks very slippery. Roots, leaves and smaller stones also caused some problems.
I missed an improperly marked switch back and continued on around a cliff base on an apparent trail. It soon gave out and I retraced my steps to pick up the trail again. After passing under another large overhanging ledge, I came to some serious downs. I had to go down sideways and hang on to anything I could. When it leveled off a little it was to pass along the base of 100 foot sandstone (I think) cliffs.
I came to a trail junction for the River Trail. I knew this would involve a lot of down. My guess was I was still 1000 feet above the river but I started down anyway. 40 minutes later I the trail seemed to split so I assumed this was a loop back and it didn't really make any difference which way I went. Being a cautious old soul, however, I turned right where I saw more blazes.
I got to the river without having seen any good views of the far canyon walls. I think all the cliffs are on this side of the canyon. I picked up Grassy Creek Trail and began the long trek upwards. .5 miles later I switched onto the Laurel Branch Trail.
Except for the gnats, which were really bad, I was doing pretty good. But then I hit the wall. The legs weren't too bad but the heart would race like crazy and then I started getting dizzy as I trudged upwards. Dizzy is not good for me. So, I was back to resting after every 10 steps or so. This probably added 30 minutes to the hike.
As I finally turned back onto Prospector's Trail long rolls of thunder sounded in the distance. I knew I had another mile or so to get back to the truck once I got up on the road but I didn't have anything left to pick the pace up with. The thunderstorm held off until I got to the truck though. It wouldn't have made much difference because I was soaked with sweat already.