As I mentioned, the first mile of the hike was up a road to the park boundary. It was a steady climb, but after last weekend, none of it seemed too difficult. Harris Hollow is one of the higher elevation boundary trailheads, so the climb seemed really short. We are used to starting way down in the valleys when we hike in from the boundary, but we had driven half the climb today. Soon enough, we arrived at the Gravel Springs Hut, which is just below the Appalachian Trail and Skyline Drive. There was nothing wrong with the Harris Hollow Trail, per se, but I can't say that I feel the need to do it again. There just isn't anything remarkable about it, either. We took a short break in the sun before turning downhill on the Bluff Trail. We took another break for lunch at the junction with the Big Devil's Stairs Trail. From there, the trail winds gently downhill for a couple of miles to meet the Mount Marshall Trail. The Mount Marshall Trail is an old road that descends steeply to the valley below The Peak. For once, we made it back to the car while it was still daylight.
It was nice to do an easy hike today and the bushwhack to the waterfall was definitely the best part of the day. The falls were actually a series of half a dozen or so cascades in a narrow valley. Getting to them was all kinds of fun scrambling over boulders. On the way out, we lucked into a deer trail, which made it much easier.
P.S. to the owners of Cafe Indigo in Sperryville: If you are going to be closed for the month of January, you might want to mention that prominently on your website instead of featuring your "current" menu.
Pictures (click to enlarge):
