Today's hike was just a warm up for the Lee 333, I wanted to get started hiking but also to drive around a bit in Fort Valley. I hiked three very short trails in the Elizabeth Furnace Recreation Area and kept out of the back country. It's hunting season and I do not yet know the area and hunting rules/dates well enough to feel safe.
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| Elizabeth Furnace Track |
I tried parking in the outer lot of the recreation area but it was full with mountain biker's cars. So instead, I parked in the camp ground and walked through the amphitheater into the recreation area. After crossing the suspension foot bridge over Passage Creek, I joined the Botts trail and headed south. From the Botts trail I made a turn onto the Charcoal trail loop and then the Pig Iron trail and finally finished up by rejoining the Botts trail near the auto bridge. It was a short 1.91 miles.
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Cabin at Elizabeth Furnace
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| Suspension Bridge over Passage Creek |
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| Charcoal Trail |
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| Pig Iron Trail |
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| Forge at Elizabeth Furnace |
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Forge at Elizabeth Furnace
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| The trail ended far too soon |
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Auto Bridge over Passage Creek
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After the Elizabeth Furnace trails, I explored the Fort Valley by car and eventually drove up onto the western Massanutten Ridge and then north along F66 to the gate just north of Little Fort Valley taking note of where trails cross the road for future trips. I passed many elaborate hunting camps including camper trailer and generators.
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| Woodstock Tower Track |
Turning around and heading south again, I eventually ended up at the Woodstock Tower parking area. Just after I pulled in, another car stopped. A very energenic guy immeadately engaged me in converastion. However, his english was not too good and my spanish is almost nonexistent.
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Me at the top of Woodstock Tower
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| Me at the bottom of Woodstock Tower |
After a few minutes, we walked to the Tower together attempting to chat along the way. We climbed the tower and took a few pictures but it was too cold and windy to stay long and soon were forced back down to ground level. We returned to the cars and parted ways. After that I drove towards Luray to complete a loop back to my home near Warrenton having drove out via Front Royal.
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| Amother Hiker I Met in the Parking Area |
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| A cold, windy but short climb |
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| View from Woodstock Tower (East) |
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| View from Woodstock Tower (West) |
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| View from Woodstock Tower (West) |
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