1st stop - Pine Grove Furnace State Park
We got to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, it sits along the AT with Museum of Appalachian Trail right there and historical area documenting the ironworks which were here for about 130 years, until late 1800s.
Campground is nice, a bit small, and the site we have is private, with woods in the back and plenty of room. The weather is still cold, so sitting outside late into the night is not something I’m willing to do.
We don’t have cell service or Wifi, it is a forced separation from all that. Every time we run into a campground without service, it shows me how much I’m dependent on that. It is very good to remove yourself from it occasionally. It slows things down, sitting at the campground, just listening to the noises - birds, some power tools in the distance, neighbors talking.
I’ve explored the AT and the lake around the Pine Grove Furnace day use area. The AT is a gravel road, easy to walk or bike, passed the lake for another mile. Then it splits and starts ascending. The trail runs along a pretty creek, with turns and small waterfalls. There are ruins of Girl Scout camp, with large cement frame of swimming pool left over. Another small trail runs along the creek, Koppenhaver Trail, and there’s one more that explores the “swamp”.
We biked along the AT section, called Hiker Biker trail, which continues after AT splits. There’s a beautiful Laurel Lake recreational area with pretty beach and lots of fishing spots. The surface is packed gravel and paved, old rail bed, so it was pretty much uphill on the return. Thank goodness for the e-bike!
Aside from section hiking the AT, there’s the Poole Trail, which we hiked today, pretty steep, about 500ft gain in 0.5 mile. The view from the top was nice, it overlooks Laurel Lake and Pine Grove Furnace park. There’s a spring close to the parking lot for the trailhead and we loaded up two gallons with it. We talked to some folks there, they have been coming to get water from that spring for years.
After returning, we took the bikes back to Fuller Lake for a picnic. Tom loaded up the chairs on back of the bike so we were super comfortable just watching the beach, the stream and people walking by. As we returned, we saw some young boys playing in the creek, that water must be very cold! Only young kids can do that!
Last dinner here, something simple and then we will be on our way to Luray VA, meeting our friends there!
