Thought I’d share a couple pictures from a recent hike, so some of you that have read my rambling on about this little part of the world can see what it looks like from a fairly high vantage point, 3000 feet above sea level. I like coming up here a couple times a year, if for no other reason than to stomp around in the woods for a while. I had another week of leave to burn after surviving the 81st Annual Old Fiddler's Convention the week before, so I figured it was about time to take a little walkabout...
These first pictures are meant to be a panoramic view of the Roanoke valley seen looking Southeast to Southwest from the summit of Fort Lewis Mountain. I live on the lower slopes of the Northwest face of this mountain in a little community called Mason’s Cove, about 1600 feet below. Took me about 4 hours and 3 quarts of Powerade to get up here… it’s an unbelieveably steep and rocky climb in places, and there isn’t much of a trail once you get out of the foothills and start up. Once you reach the top, there’s a jeep road for access to various communications sites along the ridge. The woods though, for the most part are open without much thicket to deal with, and are relatively unspoiled. Nothing much moving around up here but deer, bears, and the occasional rattlesnake. Most of the mountain is a State Game Preserve, (Havens Wildlife Management Area) but one of my neighbors owns a sizable tract between my land and Havens WMA. (he’s cool with me hiking through it though.)
