Continuing my
section hike of the Appalachian Trail Southbound, I decided to conquer the
Roller Coaster this weekend. I started at the great commuter parking lot on VA7
at the intersection with 601. The AT is just west of the parking area along the
highway and clearly marked. There is a
Blue Blaze trail that also cuts down toward it, as well as a side trail to the
Bear’s Den Shelter. The goal was to hike
south to the Sam Moore Shelter and stay overnight there. It is approximately
3.8 miles from the VA7 commuter lot to Sam Moore. Sam Moore is a nice little shelter with a
separate covered picnic table area. The Spring is a small stone boxed area with
a sandy bottom under a tree right before the shelter. It was flowing OK and had
nice cold clean water. There is a nearby stream that I would not get water
from, as it looked a little spoogy. There are also nice flat sandy tent sites around.
The next day I continued south. Along the way I passed a neat campsite at
Buzzard Hill (no water), and an interesting spring near an old foundation
further south. At approximately 6.8
miles is a pretty big stream crossing that I could hear falling water off to
the left/SE from. I hiked up an unmarked, but well traveled, side trail to find
a pretty nice waterfall! It was a surprise
gift that was worth the very short walk to see. At 7.8 miles, the AT crosses Morgan’s
Mill Road (605). This is a dirt road with room for a few cars to park on.
People obviously use this to park and walk to the falls. The 1000 mile marker (NOBO
Sign) is at about 10.8 miles from the parking and the Roller Coaster ends (sign
posted) at 11.1 miles from the VA7 parking. Rod Hollow Shelter is nearby the
end of the Roller Coaster (~11.7 miles from VA7 parking). This is also a nice
shelter, but the spring was dry. I finished up the trip (13.8 miles total) at
the parking at 601 near I50. There is good parking for a few cars there as
well.
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