Old Rag Mountain pt 3

This is a continuation of a post on climbing Old Rag Mountain in May 2010.

The rock climb is beautiful and personally a little challenging.  I can hike up and down mountains all day, but something about the rock climbing portion seems to wear me out.  The pay back for the work are fantastic views up towards the top of Old Rag Mountain (click on the image to see a larger picture)

This view looks up towards the peak on the top right of the image.

Some advice on enjoying this part of the ride:

• Be sure to focus on being careful with your footing.  It would be a long hike down from here with a sprained ankle.
• Remember that you will not have the usual Virginia canopy of trees overhead protecting you from the sun and elements.
• Try to get here early!  Due to heavy crowds later in the morning/afternoon it is not unusual to have to wait in line to get some of the tighter spots (like this one)

It is hard to find photos that can express the size of the rocks!  And fortunately I was hiking early enough so there aren't too many other hikers in my pics.  But believe me - the views are worth the climb: