Douthat State Park

Trip legs (latest at top):

7 Nov 04 - Traveling to Douthat State Park, Virginia
Sunday morning we strike camp from Big Meadows campground and drive south the remaining length of Shenandoah National Park along Skyline Drive. As we exit Skyline Drive the road south immediately turns into the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Blue Ridge Parkway North Entrance
Hey look! A sign!
Log Cabin at Humpback Rocks
Soon after entering the Blue Ridge Parkway, we stop at the Humpback Rocks Visitor Center. The Center isn't open, not even the bathrooms. But they have a nice display of Appalachian settler structures, most found nearby and reconstructed here.
Root Cellar at Humpback Rocks
This structure has its cellar buried into the hillside.
Breezy Barn at Humpback Rocks
These barns weren't really built to keep the animals warm. They kept the livestock dry and contained, and protected them from predators.
Bear-proof Pigpen at Humpback Rocks
Visitors are supposed to guess which feature makes this pigpen bear-proof. My guess is the logs on top.
Rabbit Trap at Humpback Rocks
Now that's just pretty cool.
Blue Ridge Mountains
Photo taken from the Blue Ridge Parkway just before we left the parkway and headed west.

As daylight is threatened, we choose our campsite at Douthat State Park at the end of White Oak Campground, the only campground left open this late in the year. We pitch our tent on a bluff overlooking Wilson Creek, which provides the sound of rippling water day and night. It proves to be an excellent place to meditate outdoors.

8 Nov 04 - Exploring Douthat State Park, Virginia
Monday morning is our first day camping at Douthat State Park in the mountains of western Virginia. We won't leave until 14 Nov, the following Sunday. In mid-November, Douthat is remote and private, and we share the single campground remaining open with only a dozen other campers all week.

Cheesy Potato Breakfast
Dawn has become quite adept at cooking using our two-burner camp stove. Instead of our usual hot cereal breakfast, today she has sautéed onions and potatoes, then let them sit at low heat so the potatoes cooked through. At the last she covers them with sharp cheddar. We eat pretty well.
Beards Gap Trail in Douthat State Park
Our first hike in Douthat starts out straight east and uphill. Although the day is overcast, we are immediately struck by the quiet beauty of these Virginian mountains. The steep ravines are covered with the crisp, crunchy leaves just fallen, and the footpath is all but hidden..
Douthat State Park Stream
Along Beards Gap Trail. At the end of the trail we head north along the ridge on Brushy Hollow Trail, then return west and downhill on Buck Hollow Trail. We pass no other hikers all day.
Lichen, Moss and Leaves
I really like the juxtaposition of colors and textures found by the side of the trail.
Douthat Primary Spillway
After returning downhill, we explore Douthat Lake, made by damming Wilson Creek. Like most of the structures at Douthat, the dam was built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) in the 1930's. This spillway is made from individual hunks of rock fitted together like brickwork. The water makes a nice rushing sound as it sheets over the rocks.

Here is video from the spillway: CCC-built spillway damming Douthat Lake, Douthat State Park, Virginia, 8 Nov 2004 (19 MB, 66 sec)

Douthat Secondary Spillway
This is actually another spillway just downstream of the first. Again you can see the beautiful stonework.
Dawn Walking Log
As we return back towards camp, Wilson Creek separates us from our campsite. We can either walk south .5 mile to the campground entrance, cross the creek, and return north on the far side, or just cross the creek here. Just above Dawn's head you can see the tan rain fly of our tent.

9 Nov 04 - Hiking to Lookout Rock
Tuesday morning we wake to the first hard frost we have encountered on our trip, with a thin coating of ice on every surface outside our tent. After breakfast we hike from our campsite southward to the campground entrance, where we start uphill northwest on Tobacco House Ridge Trail. We turn west on Blue Suck Falls Trail, and soon find Blue Suck Falls. A "suck" is a spring which provides some salts, so the woodland critters would congregate to get nutritional minerals.

Douthat Mountains from Lookout Rock
We stop for lunch on a big boulder about 10 feet high called Lookout Rock. This is the view from our lunch spot, looking east to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Douthat State Park.
Which Way?
After lunch on Lookout Rock we retrace our steps east down Blue Suck Falls Trail, until we turn south on Locust Gap Trail, and then east again on Beards Gap Hollow Trail. As we near the end of our hike at a service road, we find this pair of signs intended to show hikers where to transition between the service and the footpath.

When we return to camp we find that the water spigots at all the campsites have been removed, most likely due to the hard frost last night.

10 Nov 04 - Exploring CCC Structures at Douthat State Park
All our hikes in Douthat were accessible from our campsite. We really like the idea of not having to drive to start a hike. By Wednesday morning we are still not sick of hiking, so we head to the ranger station to find the CCC structures in the park.

We get a warm reception from the ranger staff, as we first try to identify a conifer we had seen on the hike yesterday. We settle on Table Mountain Pine, which has a very limited range.

We also joke with the Connie of the park staff, that we should get some of our money back because they turned off the water service to the campsites after the frost. She is amused, but unrepentant. We also get directions to the library in Clifton Forge, because it is supposed to rain tomorrow. The park staff doesn't know whether the library has wireless internet access. They also give us a brochure for the C&O Historical Society in Clifton Forge, which sounds cool, but which I doubt we will have time to visit.

Douthat CCC Picnic Shelter
We hike north on Wilson Creek Trail to this beautiful shelter.
CCC Medallion
We had learned a bit about the CCC during our visit to Shenandoah National Park, which was largely a creation and showpiece of the CCC. Douthat is one of four state parks in Virginia to have been built primarily by the CCC. Most of those structures still stand today, and are just as handsome.
Douthat Beach
Hiking downhill from the picnic shelter we reach the sand beach on Douthat Lake, created when the CCC built the dam and spillway. We had been issued swimming permits when we paid for our campsite, but the beach is closed and deserted. Not that we're really in the mood for swimming, or that we need a beach or permit, but curious nonetheless.
Douthat CCC Cabin
Hiking northward along the lake, we espy many of the CCC cabins available for rental at Douthat. As a matter of fact, at this time of year, there are more guests of Douthat staying in cabins than in the campground. The park staff had shown us a presentation folder with info and pictures of each of the 31 cabins, and for non-campers, they look like a terrific way to visit this secluded state park.
Dynamite Storage
Later in the afternoon we park near the south park entrance, and hike a short was east and cross a steel suspension foot-bridge. Following the path, we reach the dynamite storage shed built and used by the CCC.
Blasting Cap Storage
Continuing 200 yards into the woods, we find the storage shed the CCC used to store blasting caps. The shed were separate to prevent accidental detonation of the explosives in case of fire or lightning.

11 Nov 04 - Discovering the small town of Clifton Forge, Virginia
Thursday dawns wet and windy, and after breakfast we head to Clifton Forge to buy groceries, and then find the library. Turns out the library is happy to tell us about their wireless internet access, but I can't get past their login screen. They put me on the phone with a gentlemen named Mack, but the two of us can't figure out what's wrong. So Mack generously invites me to his office at... the C&O Historical Society. Before we leave the library, the staff recommends lunch at the Club Car Cafe.

We meet Mack at the historical society, and immediately excuse ourselves for lunch. Mack recommends... the Club Car Cafe. We walk down the 6 blocks or so, and upon entering the restaurant find... park staff we already know from Douthat. We exchange greetings, explain our search for wireless access, and the park staff says, "You know, I think they have wireless access... right here in this restaurant!" The waitress walks up and says. "Yes, we do... Mack set it up for us."

After lunch Mack gives us a tour of the C&O Historical Society, which we find very impressive. They have an image archive of something like 40,000 negatives, and put out a glossy color magazine every month. All rail fans should certainly be aware of this amazing organization. He sets us up in the climate controlled archive, and we use the internet for most of the afternoon.

12 Nov 04 - Dawn Hikes Douthat
Friday is a camp day for me, as I read and sit zazen. Dawn goes on a solitary hike in the afternoon, west on Beards Gap Hollow Trail, south on Locust Gap Trail, and then southwest on Stony Run Trail to Stony Run Falls. We have always hiked together, so before she leaves she gives me a trail map marked with her exact route, promises not to deviate, and tells me to expect her back in 4 hours.

Dawn: It was nice to go for a "power hike," where I hike as fast as I can. Usually Stephen and I take a leisurely pace so he can take lots of pictures, so it was nice to be on my own and go as fast I could. However, I am not as good of a trail finder, so I lost the trail at Stony Run Falls. I scrambled up the ridge to try to find the trail with no luck, so I had to turn back. I had planned to go further to Tuscarora Overlook. On the way back to camp I saw a few mountain bikers, but other than that I don't think we saw anyone else on the trails during our visit.

13 Nov 04 - C&O Caboose at Smith Creek Yard, Clifton Forge, Virginia
Saturday I take off by myself for a few hours to visit the Smith Creek Yard in Clifton Forge. Here the C&O Historical Society has their collection of rolling stock, including a beautifully restored caboose.

Before I reach the yard, I stop in at the historical society to pick up a book I had seen earlier, on the history of the New River Gorge, where friends and I raft the New River every July. Because the C&O freighted a huge amount of coal out of the gorge from the 1890's to the 1950's, the railroad's history is part of the gorge's history. I bump into Mack again, and we chat in the gift shop. Just as I am about to leave, a woman comes out of the office and he says, "Hey, meet my wife who's visiting me on her day off." And I look at the woman... hug her by the shoulders, and turn to Mack and say... "Oh, I know Connie, she's the one who wouldn't give me any money back after she shut off my water!"

C&O Caboose Exterior
I was so fascinated with the pristine condition of this caboose I must have taken a hundred pictures. Literally. Many were artsy composition of the bright yellow railings, or the rivets along the car side, or the immaculate C&O logo from different directions.
C&O Caboose Interior
The caboose was locked, but this photo from the door window shows the terrific condition to which it has been restored.