Hike: Hone Quarry Circuit
Trails: Heartbreak Trail (435A) > Hone Quarry Mountain Trail (435) > Big Hollow Trail (430)
Location: Hone Quarry Recreational Area, about 20 miles west of
Specs: The trail is about 6 miles in length and gains 1250 ft. of elevation as you climb to the top of Hone Quarry Ridge. The trail is marked with yellow blazes and National Forest Signs at trail junctions. Note: all trails are blazed yellow so there is no change of blaze color to indicate trail change.
Difficulty: Moderate > Difficult
Description: I started out at the Hone Quarry Campground where I had spent the night. You follow a gravel road for a no more than ¼ of a mile until you hit a sign for a National Forest trail that points you up a logging road to your left. As you enter the woods you will find a sign for Trails 435 and 435A and a yellow blaze. Next you come to a wooden sign that points you onto the Heartbreak Trail, you could go right and follow the Big Hollow trail and do the circuit in reverse but I would recommend following the Heartbreak Trail to the left.
The heart break is a beautiful trail that climbs up the face of the ridge. It crosses several streams so be ready for water if there has been recent rain. My favorite parts of this trail were the places where it cut through rock beds. The Forest Service has done a wonderful job of moving the rocks and creating a stone stairway up the sides of this very steep ridge. There were still a lot of leaves on the trees but I would imagine that as they fall this trail will lend itself to beautiful views of the valley below. The trail gets steep at some points and never stops going up. My map shows that it climbs from 1850 ft. in elevation to 2500 ft. over 1.5 miles. The trail ends at the
The Hone Quarry Mountain Trail is a beautiful trail that runs along the spine of Hone Quarry Ridge. There were still some beautiful little flowers growing on the top of the ridge which was surprising because it has been getting reasonably cold down here in the evenings and there were strong wind gusts that were blowing across the top of the mountain. There were several points at which the ridge got really narrow and whenever the leaves fall off of the trees you will be able to catch majestic glimpses of the valleys on either side of the mountain. This trail continues to climb, with the exception of a couple down hills as you follow the rises and runs of the ridge top, to the high point of the circuit where the HQMT meats the Big Hollow Trail at 3100 ft for a total elevation gain of 1250 feet over the course of 4 miles.
The Big Hollow Trail then winds its way back down the side of the ridge wrapping out around a finger of the ridge and back through a draw before it begins to follow an intermittent mountain stream down to the base of the ridge. Walking down this trail was even harder than walking up the other two because you loose all of your elevation in 2 miles making it a rather steep descent. The trail is cool though as it is hidden in the shade of the ridge and if you were able to hike it when the stream had water in it, it would be a lovely place to sit and eat a lunch or just spend some quiet time. Make sure you wear a good pair of boots because there are many rocky sections and it would be easy to sprain ankle.
Point of Interest: There is an amazing overlook about 1.5 miles into the HQMT. My intention for the hike had been to hike along a narrow ridge in hopes of finding some great overlooks to sit and spend some time at and I was getting frustrated because everything was hidden by the tree leaves. Then as I made my way up what I thought was the last climb on the ridge (it turns out that I still had .5 miles to go) I could see a break in the trees and just as the trail cut to the right to go down a bit of a steep rocky descent there was a little rock bed that opened up the trees just enough to allow for an amazing view of the valley. You couldn’t see any roads just wilderness as far as the eye could see. I can’t even begin to describe the view, all I can say is that it was amazing and I would recommend to anyone that you go and check it out. It makes the hard up hill hike well worth the effort. And it provided a great place to sit and just be amazed for a while at all that God has so wonderfully and awesomely made.
Inspiration: Hiking in general is a good thing. It keeps you in shape and allows you to build an appreciation for God’s awesome creation. It lets life slow down for a while and takes you back to simpler things. However, all of that is pointless without the one who made it all and spending time with Him is always my objective on any wilderness voyage.
Today I walked through the Psalms for a while as I sat there looking over the gorgeous valley. First I read Psalm 42, a great place to start when you are out side. It is a Psalm that encourages you to place your hope in God and to be reminded of that as you gaze out over the vastness and majesty of what He has created is something special.
Then I read Psalm 40 and was reminded of what God has brought me out of and that He has indeed set my feet on a rock. A foundation that will last even longer than the huge boulder I was sitting on, longer than even the mountain itself.
Finally I read Psalm 71 and was reminded at the end that though God has brought be through some really low points in life He is always faithful and that He will always lead me back into the mountain tops.
And as I was hiking out I began to think of faith. Being reminded of what God has done for me is good, but it is not something to put faith in. How can I have faith in something that was already done, if I sat in a chair it wouldn’t take a lot of faith in it to sit again? I know what God has done for me, I am continually reminded of it and thankful for it but I place my faith and hope in the future and what I know that he will be faithful to continue to do, that He will always pour out His rivers of Grace into my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment