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Date of Hike: Saturday, July 31, 2010 |
My wife and I picked this hike to do on a summer Saturday because we thought it would not be crowded, and we were not disappointed. We did the 10 mile loop hike that excludes the spur out to St. Mary's falls. I suspect that's why we missed seeing so many people. We were just looking for a good workout in the mountains and a brisk walk for our two dogs. For that it was great. My wife was unnerved by the fact that there were so many intersections and forks to take with no blazing, and few trail signs, but we just followed the directions that accompanied this website, and it was no problem. I don't recommend taking the hike without the trail directions/maps or someone familiar. The overgrowth on portions of the trail really make you wonder if your heading the right way at times. But the ripe blueberries were a welcome treat! There are sections just lined with blueberry bushes. Lots of bear evidence, and a close call with a timber rattler made for an overall interesting hike. I recommend it.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, June 26, 2010 |
| I parked at the end of FR 41 and made the 2-mile hike to the falls. Despite several warnings at various websites that the trail was in poor condition due to flooding caused by Hurricane Isabel, I found it to be very manageable with only a handful of stream crossings necessary. There are plenty of beautiful swimming holes, but I think the best one is just upstream from the main falls. Climb up to the left of the main falls and follow a well-worn path for about five minutes.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, January 09, 2010 |
Snow, thick snow everywhere! Ice everywhere! Treacherous!
We hiked a short version of this from a trailhead at the end of FR 41 (St. Mary Fall Rd?) to the Falls. It's about 2.5 miles each way. High 25, Low 8 degree's....
We camped overnight...
The hike from 41 is likely challenging in good conditions, but was quite technically challenging in these conditions with lots of slick ice inviting disaster. The trail is often times very close to nearly on top of the river. Washouts from hurricane Isabel in 2003 necessitate numerous river crossings which were bad ideas in these temps. It is possible to navigate without crossing, but very difficult and dangerous. We didn't cross on the way up and decided to forgo the risk of life for some temporary wet feet on the way back.
However, the hike was gorgeous. The views with the snow and ice simply could not be had at another time. I wish I had taken more pics on the way to the falls because there were innumerable ops for incredible photography. But I needed both hands at all times and with a group of 7 I needed to press on.
Early January is not the best time for this hike unless you are well prepared, with good gear and boots and with several experienced hikers in case of emergency.
Check out www.everytrail.com and do a user search for javaslinger for some pics
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| By:
GFL
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Date of Hike: Friday, October 09, 2009 |
| All in all, a pleasant hike. The area was beautiful, and there were enough trails to keep us busy for the three days that we were out in the mountains. We hiked in from the top side on the parkway, which is the entrance suggested by this site. It should be noted that there is another trail that leads down the river to another parking area. We set up camp at the last spot that you are supposed to camp, basically at the T of the trail where it meets the river. I suggest camping further back up the trail away from the river, as we had virtually no privacy during the day. The site itself was beautiful, but anything more than a few days would get boring. My two biggest complaints were related to seclusion and trash. Over the three days, we encountered roughly 50 people on the river trail, most being day hikers from the lower parking area going up to see the falls. At night, we were alone however, which was nice. Trash/clothing was found at various points on the trails and the river. Also, while the info says the trails are no longer blazed, have no fear of getting lost. The trails are well packed and hiked often enough that they are easily seen and followed. Have fun, safe hiking.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, May 16, 2009 |
Great hike and not as many people as we expected over the busy weekend. Cloud cover and light sprinkling kept the heat down. we had out 7 yr old with us so we broke the hike in half and stayed the night near the St. Mary&rsquos trail junction. Very nice camp site about 250 yards of the trail. Only down points were the lack of respect by other backpackers and hikers, a few camp sites had trash in them, some trash was found up by green pond, and we even found a smoldering camp fire at one site we that we put out.
That said the rhododendron were blooming and it was just beautiful with some fun stream crossings and a great view at the top of FS 162. We are glad we found this site with the hiking directions and printable maps.
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Derek
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Date of Hike: Sunday, March 08, 2009 |
The beginning of this hike is great the stream is lively and steep, and the plantlife is abundant. However, after the initial descent into the valley, the hike gets boring pretty quickly. I would recommend that most, actually, all, hikers go to the waterfall and go back the way they came. I'm about to get really negative, so let me emphasize that hiking to the falls and back would be a completely enjoyable experience that I would highly recommend to anybody who hikes in the area.
I see no reason for anyone to do the circuit hike. After the rhododendrons, the trail becomes very boring, Green Pond is not very compelling, and an awful lot of time is spent on a very be-littered Forest Service road. (You do get to pass a deserted bus, for those of you looking for assurance that you're going the right way.) The trail is fun again once you get onto the Bald Mountain bit, but this final two miles hardly justifies the 3 or 4 miles of unadulterated lameness on the FS road. Even hikers simply looking for high mileage hikes would do well to avoid this circuit due to the litter.
I can't really comment on the difficulty. My miles were kind of slow, but then I haven't hiked or biked all winter, and I don't run, so my legs are non-existent right now.
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| By:
Nate
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Date of Hike: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 |
Some friends and I did a two night trip over New Years Eve. It was windy the first morning and well below freezing the next. Not a hard hike, but the river crossing were difficult with ice on the rocks...I got pretty wet. We all jumped in the river by the falls for a few seconds just to see how it feels, very cold! This is my third time camping here and I need to come back in the spring.
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| By:
Jeff K
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Date of Hike: Friday, August 22, 2008 |
| Had a great time hiking this with a friend over two days. Just be sure to bring enough water with you. After we left the last campsite before you start your climb out of the valley (about 2.75 miles into the hike w/o the waterfall) we did not have much luck with finding water until after we came off FS 162 and got off the ridge. Also when we went to the Green Pond it was dried up so we were not able to get any water from that (not sure if I would liked to have got water from a pond named "Green Pond"!) Still had a blast and we did not see many other people. The first day we didn''t see anyone and the second day we saw one hiker on the trail, 1 truck and 3 mountain bikers on the FS road. The bugs got bad every now and then and the only tick I found was when I was cleaning my gear off at the end of the hike.
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| By:
IntheVA
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Date of Hike: Sunday, July 20, 2008 |
| Good challenging hike, not to many people on the trail which is always a good thing. Mine Bank trail is nice steep trail which drops into a bigger stream with a few crossings. Streams were fairly low, but still nice to cool off in. I would say this hike is very similar to a Ramsay's Draft or Locust Springs.
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| By:
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Date of Hike: Sunday, June 15, 2008 |
| We did the full 15 mile hike and thought it definitely deserved a 5 - the climb up to Green Pond was a beast! Rhodedendrun were in full bloom and the falls were wonderful. Mosquitos were pretty abundant, and spending any time at Green Pond was asking to be eaten alive. The loop of the hike from after the campsites on St. Mary's Trail leading up to Green Pond was pretty overgrown, but you weren't really in danger of losing your way. Our group totally blew by the Bald Mountain Trail junction though - glanced at it, didn't see the trail, and kept moving. Keep your eyes peeled if you don't want to exit the FS road on Blue Ridge Parkway and walk the last half mile along the Parkway.
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Date of Hike: Saturday, September 01, 2007 |
Whoa! I've lived in SouthSide VA since 1999 and had often heard people talk about going to "the mountains" for the weekend. If this is what they were talkin' about then rock on!!! Camped for the weekend and enjoyed every moment! Swam in the falls and the streams above. Deadfall timber was scarce. Relied heavily on "drift" wood.
Suffered one spider bite in a group of 6 in three days. Zero mosquitoes AND ticks. There were none.
Top notch site. Cannot wait to return.
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| By:
B. Gordon
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Date of Hike: Saturday, June 23, 2007 |
| I had a great time hiking this trail with Tony and hooking up with Mike on the Fire Road who had just taken some photos of a Timber Rattler. We couldn't have asked for a better day with temps in the upper 70's. Pay attention to the directions and look out for the Forestry Service side grade used to clear debris on FS162. We almost missed the unmarked trail that took us to the best views of the day, great place to eat lunch. This is a very diverse hike with wide open areas, the pond at the top, creeks, thick Rhododendron Trails, fern trails, etc. Certainly a worthwhile hike and it was interesting to see Tony map it out using his GPS. It made me appreciate the time and effort Tony puts in to setting up these trails on the web for the rest of us to enjoy, thanks Tony.
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| By:
Paul B.
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Date of Hike: Thursday, April 22, 1993 |
Actually hiked and camped at St. Mary's many, many times over the years and planning a trip soon.
I've taken small and large groups there as well as a date... If you enjoy backcountry camping in the Blue Ridge,
you'll enjoy this trip. If it's July or August, expect it to be hot and buggy. In the early spring, the streams flow high and fast- by late summer most of the smaller streams go dry stay near the main stream and you'll have plenty of water.
Green Pond (if you can't tell by the photos) is just a bog that sometimes dries up- not terribly scenic. The main falls are nice and the wading is nice too (cold!). Hike up from the falls to the first old mine site and camp in the glen adjacent to the old drainage field. Go into the drainage field on a clear night and you can easily see the Milky Way.
I remember being there on a summer's night long ago and the sounds of the bugs at night- like crickets etc.- were amazing. Same site used to have a massive blackberry bush too.
Derek's comment about seeing no point to hiking the entire circuit is evidence of a person who has great expectations and is probably let down often. If you enjoy hiking, the loop is a nice one. And, if you know the right valley to hike down into (no trails), there could be some wonderful surprises in store for you. This is a great place to explore. Highly recommended.
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Date of Hike: Tuesday, April 05, 1910 |
St. Mary's Falls
If you have not seen the falls do the hike. It's about a two mile hike from the parking lot and a little hard in spots. There are good trails on both sides of the water which you will have to cross to find the falls. There are a few well used camping spots along the trail that which would be great for overnighters. Once you see a few deep pools around 6 to 12 feet deep you are almost at the falls. My kids had a great time swiming in these pools. One had a very nice natural slide. You will get a little wet reaching the falls so be prepared.
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