Hiking - Roaring Rock (1.54 miles)
I'm on my way up to see Joe after not seeing him since December 2019. The poor guy has really missed me - I guess it's nice being missed. With the Covid, I wasn't keen on flying so I decided to drive. I really like my car and love listening to podcasts so I was off. I stopped at a Holiday Inn Express in Troutville, Virginia. I asked the front desk receptionist if she knew of any good hiking areas nearby and she recommended Roaring Run. I looked on AllTrails.com and saw some other hikes also, but ultimately decided on Roaring Rock.
It was a good 35 minute drive away from the hotel, and through the Virginia countryside. The parking lot is a large circular, gravel lot and there were no other cars there. I wasn't afraid of being alone, but I did start thinking about bears. A friend happened to text me on the trail and I told her that if I didn't make it, this was to be my headline, "Mama Bear attacked by Mama Bear". (No matter if it's a mama or papa, it just makes for a better headline. But...the information sign didn't mention anything about bears so I figured I was safe. There are two trails to the falls. The Streamside Trail follows the creek and criss-crosses over the stream for 3/4 mile and this is the trail I took up. I should have counted, but I think there were at least 3 bridges - rock and also wooden. It was a beautiful trail.
At the base of the falls are some very steep rocks that one could walk on - if they weren't steep and wet. Also, there's a sign there cautioning one not to go on the rocks and that deaths have occurred, which is what the young girl at the hotel also mentioned. I stayed off the rocks!
On the way back, I took the Woodland Trail, a 3/4 mile trail through the woods. It's a nice walk and nothing spectacular as it's away from the tumbling water. There is supposed to be an overlook, but I missed it. Not sure how I missed an overlook! I'm thinking I was supposed to go up the mountain, but the trail wasn't well marked. Anyway, as I got to the bottom, there is the Roaring Run Furnace, a 19th century iron furnace on the National Register of Historic Places. There was a sign there with instructions to look for slag and sure enough, the ground was covered with shiny pieces of rock/slag.
