We are all smiles just before another long trek uphill.

Today was moving day. Big Meadows was our first base camp on this trip. After spending three days at Big Meadows, it was time to move south, down the Appalachian Mountains, to Cave Mountain Lake National Campground in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. We will spend four days at Cave Mountain Lake. I wonder why they didn’t call it the George Washington and Thomas Jefferson National Forest? Jefferson’s first name is officially not included. Maybe they secretly meant Jefferson Davis.

Before aiming Saturn and V-Jer south, we had to tackle that “easy” 1.4-mile Dark Hollow Falls Trail. At the trailhead, however, the sign now listed the trail as “moderate”. What happened to the “easy” label that the other sign promised? Anyway, moderate was defined as “for the novice hiker looking for a little more challenge.” OK, it might have morphed easy to moderate, but it still sounded good.

The word “hollow” in the trail name should have been a tip-off. Hollow indicates going downhill. We have always preferred starting off a hike going up, to get the hard part out of the way. A mountain trail, for instance. A hollow trail means the opposite. We were going down first, no doubt about it.

The downward angle started fairly moderate. It quickly gained incline to the point that we were faced with steep rocky narrow switchbacks identical to yesterday’s arduous Lewis Springs Falls Trail. Again, we were early and had the trail to ourselves.

The falls were wonderful consisting of a series of steep cascades plunging some 70 feet. These small creeks can really put on a show in these mountains.

On the return, we were buoyed by the fact that our ascent will only be half as long as yesterday’s. On our way up, the crowds swooped down. Again, lots of elderly and young dads with the proverbial kid-carrying backpacks. There were also many large overweight people heading down. And again, we just smiled.

The trail might have been punishing, but Fall Colorama was popping out and the woods were beautiful and vibrant.

The trail followed a small creek.

This is the first steep cascade.

This is the main falls.

The drive to Cave Mountain Lake Campground was scenic, as a third of the trip was on Skyline Drive. The campground is remote, nestled in the mountains. The thick forest is just starting to turn red and orange. Colorama is beginning.

Our site at Cave Mountain Lake National Campground.

Once set up, we drove to Natural Bridge State Park. This park is laid out in a strange manner. Basically, its sole purpose is to guard over the Natural Bridge. There is a parking lot and a visitors center. You buy your $9 ticket to walk the Cedar Creek Trail to the Natural Bridge. I had purchased the state senior pass for $40 online before coming. That covered the cost of all these state park fees. There are three other completely separate sections, each with their own trails and parking lots. One section features a cavern. The girl at the visitors center ticket office indicated that the cavern section of the park is completely separate, but our senior pass would cover the cavern. We planned to hit the cavern tomorrow.

The Cedar Creek Trail starts, you guessed it, going down. At least the stairs were easier than the rocky paths we’ve gotten used to, however, they aren’t as picturesque. The Natural Bridge itself was as impressive as anything we saw out West. The small creek did a nice construction job. The bridge dangled 255 feet in the air and spans 90 across.

As an interesting side note, George Washington surveyed this very spot in 1850. Legend has it that he scaled the wall and carved out his initials in the rock. We saw the initials that are claimed to be his, but it looked more like OW, or even QW, than GW.

Later, on July 5, 1775, Thomas Jefferson bought the site from King George III for $2.40. Hmm, after that extraordinary deal, a year later he turns around and declares independence from King George III.

During the Civil War, soldiers on both sides made detours to see it. It was quite the famous landmark in these parts, and deservedly so.

We came across this giant speciment at the very beginning of the trail to the Natural Bridge. It is an Eastern Arbor Vitae tree. It lived an incredible 1600 years before succumbing to old age in 1980.

In the 1700s, Niagra Falls and the Natural Bridge were considered the two most impressive natural features in North America.

This is supposed to be young George Washington’s initials carved some 23” above the stream. Well, I don’t know ‘bout dat.

This updated survey marker is exactly where George Washington’s official marker was located.

The trail goes on for another 3/4 mile to a water falls. All told, we hiked another 2 miles.

The trail ran parallel to the stream.

This is a hidden stream running in the interior of the cliff face. It is revealed by an opening in the cliff face.

We liked the downtown outdoor seating.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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