Seneca Rocks (3.0 miles; d=4.70)
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My hike up Seneca Rocks as depicted a la Google Earth...
The approximate track of my hike up Seneca Rocks...
The view from the picnic area near the visitors center. It's 1.3 miles to the top from here with a vertical climb of 900'. As the most used trail in the Monongahela I figured we could make good time...
This plaque near the trailhead honors the members of the 10th Mountain division who trained here in World War 2...
Testimony to the huge numbers of people that make this hike every year are the two steel bridges that take you across the South Branch of the Potomac River...
The South Fork of the Potomac River
About a quarter mile in you pass this small barrage of informational signs...
The cliffs rise above the trees at the second river crossing...
The South Branch of the Potomac was beautiful albeit quite low for all the rain the area had received in the previous weeks...
After the second river crossing the trail splits...left being towards the cliffs...
As the trail crosses underneath the cliff face the forest floor becomes littered with boulders of every size which long ago had fallen from the heights above...
The majority of the vertical climb is saved for the last half of the trail. The popularity of the trail has left a well-worn path that is actually quite easy to walk despite the steepness...
Views are pretty much non-existent on the way up. This was the only one I caught shortly before reaching the top, looking west...
How do you prevent people from cutting across switchbacks? Build a big 'ol wall, of course!!
The forest cuts off any views you might otherwise have on the way up...quite typical of the southern mountains and the relatively low elevations I was still at...
Seneca Rocks Trail Observation Platform
This is the stunning view west from the observation platform 'atop' Seneca Rocks. Only problem is...it's not really atop Seneca Rocks. This was nice but we wanted more soooo...
...we continued upward into the "danger zone." Seriously, why climb to the top of Seneca Rocks without actually getting out on the rock?!
The vegetation here clung tenaciously to the cliff edges...
Breaking out into the open...the South Branch Potomac River valley heads south through the Allegheney's. See those rocks to the left...yeah, that's where we were heading next...
A remarkable display of free-climbing by a local resident on the way out to the edge...
To get out to the cliff edge we had to descend this narrow crack...
...and then ascend this small outcrop...
This really IS as narrow as it looks, maybe 4 feet wide with 700' cliffs on either side...
My brother Nate in scrambling heaven...