Nonforested

Last weekend, I took a hike. Literally. About 45 minutes or so from home are some of the tallest mountains in Virginia. At 4001 ft high, Flat Top is the highest of a triplet of mountains called the Peaks of Otter. My hike was on Sharp Top, which is the pointiest peak, and the third peak is called Harkening Hill. Fun fact: the state of Virginia is represented in the Washington Monument by a blocks of stone taken from these guys.

The hike from the restrooms to the top usually takes a couple hours. I took a few pictures along the way, and took plenty of rests–or, stepped aside to let people pass on their way down. The sign says it’s 1.4 miles, with a 1340 foot elevation gain. On a beautiful, cool day at the peak of the Fall season, it can get busy. That accurately describes last Saturday, and it was a challenge to find a parking spot at the trailhead. But the foot traffic wasn’t as bad as the parking, so that was good.

Because Sharp Top is so pointy, the view from the top is quite a panarama. This is what makes it such a popular hike. Most of the surrounding area is farms, orchards, or undeveloped. So the scenes from every angle are broken into nonforested sections cut out of what is mostly forested land. In one direction, one can see a bit of a rippled ridge, which I think looks much better in real life than in pictures. The opposite direction is where more of the farms and population would be seen. There’s also something of a viewing spot called Buzzards’ Roost, but it’s more rock climbing than hiking to get to the top. I slid into a decent position and took some pictures, though.

Nonforested is the opposite of forested, and simply means an area that is not covered with forest/trees/woods. Meadows, fields, farms, cities, neighborhoods–these are generally nonforested areas. Most of us spend most of our time in nonforested spaces. Then we occasionally travel to forested places for refreshment. That was certainly true of my Peaks of Otter trip. Maybe we should all just take a hike.