Ascent of Stone Mountain on 2011-03-19| Other People: | Solo Ascent
| | Date: | Saturday, March 19, 2011 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Stone Mountain | | Location: | USA-Virginia | | Elevation: | 4940 ft / 1505 m |
Ascent Trip ReportThis was the first peak on a 19-mile day hike, my longest ever.
Starting at the Grayson Highlands SP campground, I headed NW on Seed Orchard Road (signed as Bike Trail), crossed 3 creeks on stepping stones (including Quebec Branch, which I had been unable to ford in February), crossed the AT, and continued NE on Scales Trail. These are horse trails with easy grades.
At the Scales junction, the fields are wide open, and I made my way E to the summit, about 0.9 miles from Scales and 4.5 miles from the trailhead. Grand 360-degree view, which I had all to myself except for 11 of the famous Wilburn Ridge ponies.
After coming this far, you'd be wise to continue another half-mile E to Third Peak. Ignore the sign for Third Peak Trail (which is coming up from the valley N) and continue E through the gate to the Little Wilson Creek wilderness. Stone Mountain and Third Peak both crest in the 4920 contour, and because Stone is bald and Third is forested, it's hard to say for sure that Stone is higher. I can't verify the 4940 elevation for Stone Mountain, unless there's a 10-foot interval contour on a more detailed topo than the one I used. There's no BM on the rock outcroppings at the summit.
I returned to Scales jct and continued NW on the Crest Trail, which follows Pine Mountain toward Wilburn Ridge and Mount Rogers. See those peaks for the remainder of the trip reports.
Stone Mtn is my 9th peak of the 13 on the Virginia 4500 list. To-do list: Beartown, Balsam Beartown, High Rock (Buck Mtn), and Little Ridge.
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| Summary Total Data | | Elevation Gain: | 700 ft / 213 m | | Elevation Loss: | 420 ft / 127 m | | Distance: | 5.7 mi / 9.2 km | | Quality: | 8 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Road Hike, Maintained Trail, Unmaintained Trail, Open Country | | Weather: | Cool, Breezy, Clear | | Ascent Statistics | | Elevation Gain: | 700 ft / 213 m | | Extra Loss: | 80 ft / 24 m | | Distance: | 4.8 mi / 7.7 km | | Route: | Bike Trail/Seed Orchard Rd/Scales Trail/AT S/open | | Trailhead: | Grayson Highlands campground 4320 ft / 1316 m | | Time Up: | 2 Hours 18 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Elevation Loss: | 340 ft / 103 m | | Distance: | 0.9 mi / 1.5 km | | Route: | open field W to Scales Jct | | Trailhead: | Scales junction 4600 ft / 1402 m | | Time Down: | 22 Minutes | Ascent Part of Trip: Grayson Highlands
Complete Trip Sequence:
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