A Waterfall, a Bear and Lots of Rocks

Our latest adventure started while talking to a co-worker.  During a conversation about some of the cool trips we have taken, he asked if we had ever been to the Devil’s Marbleyard.  I told him we would check it out.  After looking it up, we put it on the “places we definitely want to explore” list.

The night before our trip ended up being a very late night at work, so we opted to sleep a little longer and not stop for breakfast (we did hit the Mickey D’s drive-thru on our way out of town).  Having grown up in the Virginia mountains, I absolutely love them.  I don’t think I will ever not feel that moment of sheer delight when I catch my first glimpse of them.  With a smile on my face, we continued our trek into the mountains really enjoying the scenery.

Our first stop was a lackluster lunch at Penny’s Diner just off the interstate.  After lunch, we meandered down the back roads to Roaring Run Falls.  There is a nice sized parking lot and rustic bathroom facilities.  The hike to the falls is just over 1/2 mile and follows a stream.  There are nice bridges to use as you traverse back and forth across the water.  It is a beautiful stream with several small waterfalls and gorgeous rock formations.  Roaring Run Falls at the end of the trail is stunning.  It looks as if the water is falling in slow motion.  The trail takes you to a large flat rock very near the falls.

On the way out there is a second trail to the parking lot that veers away from the water and goes on a more woodland route.  We decided to take that path back.  There were plenty of lovely mushrooms to see.  The higher route also allowed for views of the mountains around us.  I was slightly disappointed with the colors.  Normally the third week in October is peak fall color season, but this year the summer lasted until about a week before our trip.  There was very little color, just a slight hint of yellow on some trees.  Apparently, we were a week early for the show, as I have seen photos taken at the falls this week with beautiful foliage.

As we followed the trail there was an overlook with a nice view of the mountain next door.  The sun seemed as if it was following us.  We were enjoying the walk when we rounded a bend in the trail.  In front of us, about 60 yards away, was a black bear cub.  It was very exciting to see our first bear.  I attempted to get a picture, but between the nerves of not knowing where mama bear was and the distance, I was not able to get a good shot.  The adorable cub looked right at me as I attempted to take the photo.  We retreated back down the path the way we had come and followed the streamside trail back out.

Before leaving we stopped at Roaring Run Furnace.  It is in ruins now, but it was still cool to see what once was an active iron ore smelting spot.  The waterwheel is no longer there, but you can see the rock frame where it once operated.

We had a 45-minute journey to the campground in Natural Bridge and enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the drive.  Spectacular views of the James River enchanted us.  The tiny town of Eagle Rock was lovely.  And, of course, there were those mountains that I can never get enough of.

With a bear sighting, we were feeling lucky so stopped at the gas station next to the KOA to buy a MegaMillions ticket.  At $1.6 billion what could it hurt?  We also picked up a $5 scratch ticket.  We were discussing which ticket we needed when the mature woman behind the counter quipped about the Powerball ticket “you mean you don’t want the mere $645 million?”  We ended up having a great conversation with her about the Devil’s Marbleyard.  It was quite refreshing to talk to such a lovely person.   The scratcher was a $20 winner, but unfortunately, we didn’t win the billions.

We settled in at our campsite and had steaks for dinner.  As usual, Chris prepared a delicious and satisfying meal.  It ended up being a very cold night (it got down to 30 degrees) so the roaring fire was amazing.  We turned in early (for us).  Sleep was a little difficult, though, as there was a dog (and sometimes two) barking on the other side of the fence all night long.  That made me long for the more out-of-the-way campgrounds that we normally stay in.  Funny, but as soon as the sun came up that dog stopped barking.

In the morning we had breakfast at The Pink Cadillac Diner as we had enjoyed it so much in July.  We were not disappointed.

After breakfast, we made our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at Thunder Ridge Overlook, touted as the prettiest overlook along the Parkway.  I am not so sure about it being the best overlook, but it was quite spectacular.  We could even see the Devil’s Marbleyard from the vista.

From Thunder Ridge, we headed back down the Parkway and turned on to a little side road.  We followed the small, one-lane roadway for about two miles (we only had to back up once for an oncoming car) down the side of the mountain.  We finally reached what Google Maps said was our destination.  We parked, pulled out our gear and anticipated an exciting adventure.  As we looked at the sign, nothing seemed familiar.  Of course, deep in the mountains, there is no data available, so we could not look up the information that we needed.  The trail on the sign was not one that I remembered from my research on the area and unfortunately, I had forgotten to screenshot the page with directions.  Chris suggested that we continue driving down the little road to see what we could find.  I am so glad I listened to him.  Not too far down the road, we started to see houses.  Just when we were ready to turn around and go back we found the parking lot for the Belfast Trail, which I did recognize as the trail we were looking for.

Excited to get started, we crossed a bridge and passed through a gateway.  We found a clearing with fire rings and some obviously man-made rock formations.  Curiously there was a row of unopened gallon jugs of water and brightly colored objects sitting on a rock wall.  As we approached to investigate further, the brightly colored objects were tomatoes, peppers, and all kinds of vegetables.  Apparently, there was a Boy Scout Camp here almost 100 years ago.  There is a sign with information and a picture from the heyday of the camp.  As a mother of three Eagle Scouts, this discovery was fascinating to me.

We continued on the beautiful trail.  It follows a stream with several crossings.  This trail is very rocky and definitely requires focus.  After we walked for a mile we got our first glimpse of the Marbleyard.  The pictures I found on the internet do not even come close to what I saw.  The Marbleyard is a massive collection of giant rocks on the side of the mountain.  In the pictures, it looks like a field of rocks.  I was not ready for how steep it is.  Our plans to scramble to the top of the rock formation changed when we realized that we had too much gear with us to do so safely.  A man we talked to said that he had heard of a trail to the right, but had never been able to find it.

Knowing that the trail continued up to the top of the mountain, we went to the right to look for the trail.  It was pretty easy to find but looked fairly treacherous.  We had to work our way up a steep rock climb.  Once we made it over the rocks the trail flattened out again and was somewhat easier to navigate.  Don’t be mistaken, though, this is definitely the most difficult trail we have ever hiked.  We continued our journey through the woods to the top of the mountain.  Unfortunately, the leaves on the trees blocked the amazing view of the mountains that we expected to see.  We ate our lunch (an amazing black forest ham and prosciutto quesadilla with Danish blue cheese, Swiss cheese, butter-poached, cognac flambeed pears, walnuts, and arugula).

As we descended the mountain we were able to catch a glimpse of the view that we were looking for peeking through the gaps in the trees.  The trip down the mountain was definitely easier than the trip up had been, but we still careful as the trail is quite rocky and narrow, with steep drops next to the trail.

When we came back down to the top of the Marbleyard, we found an offshoot trail that went over to the rock field.  We put our gear off to the side and made our way out on to the rocks to enjoy the view.  We weren’t quite to the top of the rocks but close enough for now.  Scrambling around on the rocks was fun and I would definitely like to go back just to play on them.  The view is absolutely breathtaking from the top.  Having enjoyed the rocks, we made our way back down the trail, which now seemed very easy.

We had been on the mountain for a little over four hours.  Tired and hungry, it was time to go home.  As we followed the road out we realized that we were only a few minutes from Cave Mountain Lake Campground where we stayed in July.  The next trip won’t need as much research.

We thought about going to the German restaurant we had eaten at before but realized that they were not open on Monday.  Instead, Chris found Foothill Momma’s BBQ Juke Joint and we had a nice meal before heading home.

Trip cost – campground $33.69, a little over 2 tanks of gas $74 (we are now traveling in a 4Runner so our gas costs are higher than before), firewood $18.