Thursday, January 08, 2015

Next Trip

Carole and I have planned our next short excursion to another park where we've never been. This time we're going to stay in a cabin at Fairy Stone State Park in Virginia. It's located just at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains so I'll get a chance to do a little hiking while we're there.

One of the features of the park, and its namesake, are the "fairy stones" that can be found there. Fairy stones are rough crystals actually called staurolites. I knew a bit about these formations as a kid because they can be picked up commonly in Fannin County in the north Georgia mountains where I went to high school. Christians like to find them because sometimes they form as little crosses, but are more often found as "X" shapes.

The park has some decent trails, it seems, so I'll try to explore some of those. Also, we plan to hit a couple of wineries in that part of the state and I want to climb Buffalo Mountain which is located about an hour from the park. Buffalo has been on my bag list for a number of years. I once tried to hike it but could not locate the trailhead. This time I will find it and climb to the summit, which I've been told is a pretty cool place.

We're hoping the weather will be cold, as we want to use the cabin fireplace while we're there. Carole and I enjoy visiting the high country in the winter. Usually, it's our only chance to experience real cold weather and to see some snow (on occasion).

Cabin at Fairy Stone State Park.

Summit of Buffalo Mountain, Virginia.

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