Just one week after I got to hike with the Grayson Highland ponies…..another bucket list hike was slated on the calendar: Seneca Rocks. We have often passed this area in our drives between Virginia and Ohio, and have just been waiting for the right time in our schedule to make the climb.
That time came in the form of an annual family tradition: each summer we take turns planning a weekend away, and that right/honor/responsibility cycles through each member of the family. We self indulgently call the weekend the ‘H Holiday’…..after our last name. This year, it was Mickey’s turn. He has always been especially interested in the area around Seneca Rocks, specifically the German Valley area because of its beauty and its wild weather patterns. And, because he had heard from friends about some amazing cabins that overlook the German Valley in which we could stay. (aptly named German Valley Overlook Cabins, and they are incredible!)
He rented us the Lookout Cottage, designed after a fire tower (being a former firefighter, this was also quite apropos) and we were off to spend two nights. This location is quite glorious. Check out this pano view from the porch (though it does not even come close to doing it justice!)
We spend the entire weekend in pajamas, looking at family scrapbooks, watching movies, reading and enjoy the view. We had no phone service, which really allowed everyone time to completely disconnect from the outside world, and connect with each other. The weekend was divine….the only downside being that dogs are not allowed in the cabins.
I took 8 family scrapbooks and it was such a joy looking through all of them together!
It was our best ‘H-holiday’ to date……and Billy and Mickey have vowed to make this cabin their go too for all of their future times planning the weekend!
Another ‘usie’ at the top.
We only left the cabin once: to hike Seneca Rocks. The hike is a short little jaunt (3 miles roundtrip),leaving the visitors center and ending at a platform overlook to the side of the rock out cropping. The hike is well maintained, and full of a multitude of switchbacks as you make your way up the steep terrain. But, it is really nothing special at all. Then, when you get to the top, you are actually to the side of the rocks, and not on the outcropping themselves. I know this is done for safety purposes, and of course we held to the warnings to end our hike where we did . (It is very obvious from the evidence of several makeshift ‘trails’ at the top that not everyone does so.) But, it was a bit of a let down to not actually get on the rocks that we had seen in passing by for so many years.
The view is still breathtaking……and I can only imagine what it would look like in the fall. But, on its own, this hike is decidedly average.
The best part of the entire hike is captured in this ‘usie’: a really cool bridge with Seneca rocks in the background:
Nonetheless, I am glad we have finally hiked Seneca Rocks. I think the big drawl to this area is all the adventure that surrounds it…..Spruce Knob, Dolly Sods, the river, caverns and mostly rock scrambling. So, it is well worth a weekend away. (specially if you stay in the German Valley Overlook Cabins!) But, on this particular weekend, we were not interested in all of that. After our hike, we were content to head back to our cabin in the woods, put on our PJ’s and just ‘be’. Can you blame us? We had our own slice of heaven to enjoy.
The inside of the cabin was just as fabulous as the view it provided.
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