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No. of Days: 1
15th October 2011 (Trek is similar to Skandagiri, Bangalore - half the distance and difficulty though)
Peaks of Otter - Steep Top Mountain Peak A Small group
PicasaWeb Link: here
Finally, hiking in the US. This is the first one for me. Thanks to SIT, Sammy Joo and the others. We met in the parking lot (Colonial Arms) at 7am in the morning. It wasn’t that bad cause this is very close to my place. We were about 30 people in total. After signing up the “No Responsibility” , we moved into our vehicles (the trek leaders also our drivers directed us), and then we were off on the journey to the base camp (so to speak). The peaks of Otter lie somewhere west of central Virginia which is pretty far from Raleigh, North Carolina, where I live. We were to reach the base camp at about 10am but after the breakfast stop at Burger King on the way and due to taking wrong roads a couple of times, we ended up reaching the place at 12:15am.
The place is very picturesque with a magnificent lake overlooking the steep top which we were planning to climb. There is a nice picnic, camping spot around the lake and also a commercial lodge which is situated exceptionally well. My roommates Rajath and Niranjana accompanied me. We finish our lunch (Chapatis & curry) and started the trek at almost 1pm. The trail is 1.5miles which would ideally take just about 1.5hrs.
We took a lot of pictures and reached the top at 3pm. Enjoyed at the top for almost about an hour and decided to start the descent. Atop the mountain though, it was pretty windy and we did have good fun there.
We were down pretty quickly (by 4:40pm). After some rest, we left the beautiful peaks of otter to get back to Raleigh. Pizza in Pizzahut on the way in Bedford was amazing.
(I’ve not mentioned all the fun we had during the trek and in the van – yet to ask for ‘right to publish/mention’.. It’s US :-D)
PicasaWeb Album Link: hereHike Info:
Best time to visit: Fall season
Things to do: Night trek up for the sunrise, though I am not sure if that’s allowed. If not, camp by the river for a day or two.
Route: One can definitely google (Best route though: Milton, Bedford, Blue ridge parkway)
Things to carry: nothing actually. 1 ltr of water is more than enough for the entire hike.
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