The Hiking Hokie: Crabtree Falls

Supposedly, these falls are the tallest falls east of the Mississippi. I didn't do the research, so I'll have to take those claims at their word. What I do know is that they are pretty beautiful, even in the dead of winter. Not that my photos ever do justice to the true natural beauty of any area, but these is particular don't depict reality.

The day started at 5:55 AM when my alarm clock woke me up in my pony themed bedroom of Northern Virginia. The plan was set. Casey was going to meet me at my home at 6:30 and we were going to caravan down to Virginia Tech, stopping for a hefty midday break to do an 8 mile hike from Spy Rock to Crabtree Falls. The day got off to a slightly late, albeit not unexpected start. Following this, the drive from 66 to 81 was uneventful. Upon nearing Montebello, VA, we began our winding drive up the mountain. We had not accounted for snow in the area. The roads were not horrible, but having come from an area that calls snow-days for "cold" (and by this I mean positive 15 degrees F) and panics at the thought of an inch of snow, I gripped the steering wheel like a little old lady. My tiny car dutifully rolled along and I had my first experience of what the anti-lock braking system feels like when activated. Needless to say, we arrived at lot #1 alive. Because this hike was an 8 mile, one-way hike, we decided to park one car at the Crabtree Falls lot and one at the Spy Rock lot. Casey left his car in the Crabtree Falls lot and jumped into my car to hitch a ride to the other lot.

I must say - karma is real and it's not friendly. I had read that the Spy Rock lot was in the back of a little fish hatchery.

"Good," I thought. "It must be decently maintained then." And so, when I saw the Falls lot which was covered in a nice layer of packed snow and ice, I became a bit selfish and let Casey put his car there. Long story short, I was wrong. After arriving at the fish hatchery (which was at least decently maintained) and then seeing a tiny sign in the back pointing up a one way, steep road covered in (not terribly packed) snow with a ditch on one side, I regretted my decision.

As much as I try to push it, my little car is not a mountain car. It is more of a "long drives near the beach" kind of car. We got partway up the road when my car stopped going forward. The wheels spun, the engine revved, but alas, even while making the noise to rival NASCAR, my car wasn't moving. I started to back down the hill, praying that no one would come up at the same time. A few skids and swerves later, I panicked and made Casey take the wheel. He backed us down the road much more smoothly. At this point, I was anxiety ridden and adamantly refused to park alongside the road. Whether or not this would have been entirely legal, I am not sure, but either way, I wasn't having it.

Being a good boyfriend, Casey drove us back to the first lot without so much as a complaint. And so, as it was, Crabtree Falls became our single destination. It was an 'out-and-back' this way, with 1.7 miles in each direction. Despite the interesting morning, the hike was pleasant, despite being quite busy by this time. I wasn't a huge fan of how "built up" the hike was. There were guard rails and stairs and a rock wall at the top to prevent natural selection from occurring, but the waterfall was definitely a plus. Overall, not a bad hike and I came out in better spirits than when I had started.

This was originally going to be our 10th out of 10 hikes on a "Ten Best Day Hikes in Virginia" list created by Mike Vaughn (list here). Now I suppose we have 9.5 out of 10 done. Ah well, you win some, you lose some. We'll be back, I can promise you that.