Out and about in the wilderness of Life – This is my little place to keep track of things that happen while I am 0ut and About.

Ever since I moved to Virginia I had seen this old stone building along side of Interstate 66 and wondered about its history. I could see that there seemed to be a road leading to it but never saw any cars there. Well today I found out that the road had long been blocked off but there was a hiking trail that went to it.

After a little research I found my new hike on Hikingupward.com and set off to the starting point from work. The trailhead is only about 20 minutes by car from Manassas so relatively close by. This area is interesting as they require you to fill out a waiver before hiking, luckily you can print it off from their website and have things done in advance.

Upon reaching the trailhead you park in a designated area in front of a house. I suppose its occupied, but its an older looking place that you just aren’t sure if its part of the Conservancy or just where some family hangs their hat. I ran into a guy by the railroad tracks as soon as I dropped off my waiver at the information board. He worked for the railroad and was concerned that the trains did not whistle when they came through this area. Seems that there are a couple of trails that cross the tracks here in/around the Conservancy. I promised him that I would look both ways and headed up the trail.

The trail headed west paralleling the railroad tracks for a short distance before coming to the first interesting site, an icepit. Back in the good ol’ days you had to keep ice stored below ground in straw if you wanted it to survive past the last freeze. The pit was still in very good shape and quite large, about 15′ across.

After that it was a short distance on to the Chapman Mill, built in 1742. This old mill had seen better days, but was actually a working mill up to 1951. Then it was gutted by a fire in 1998 and now stands just as a reminder of how buildings could survive fires back in the old days. I wonder if they might want to restore it in the future.

Hiking uphill a ways I found the remains of a homestead and a mill. This consisted of a good stone mill and a wooden house nearby. Both were quite fragmented of their once greater glory.

It was a very pleasant day for a hike. While it was in the upper 80′s, the shade of the trees took care of most of the heat. This next part of the hike was a constant uphill climb. Luckily it was a gradual incline more than anything. I ran across this feld tree that was covered by an odd fungus. It looked like a bright yellow coral was growing off the tree, never seen anything like that before.

The hike up the ridge of Bull Run Mountain started becoming more and more steep. After last week I refused to give up, and even though I was going higher today it was more gradual. So I paced myself and was not afraid to take several breather breaks along the way. Once I got to the top I was able to go off trail a little bit and see out into the valley below. Pictures weren’t good due to all of the trees, but there was a nice rock outcropping to take a break on.

I knew that for the most part my uphill was over now for the rest of the day, what I didn’t realize that the next section of the trail would be quite so…downhill. Yeah, it was at a decline enough where you almost wanted to run but knew you would be tumbling before you knew it if you did. Still, it let me cool down a bit and enjoy the rest of the hike.

I turned north again on the Quarry Trail and found myself in a beautiful grove. Not much underbrush and only these really tall trees around me. That combined with the bubbling brook it made for a truly tranquil setting. I was soon trodding along to my inner zen.

I seemed to have gone a tad (a lot) further than what my instructions indicated on this leg of the hike. It was supposed to end quickly at a rock quarry, but that site was small enough that I overlooked it until I was on my way back. Instead I kept trekking along until I saw a powerline on the horizon and knew I had made it completely out of the Conservancy area. But like I said, it was a very peaceful area and I was moving at a brisk speed, so at least the walk back to the main trail was quick.

For the next hour of my hike it was just nice rolling trails. I did get to see a fairly large bee/hornet hive (not sure which) and a skunk that was out rooting around for food. Both got their pictures taken but I know better than to get to close to either.

It was a good hike and should be nice in the fall when the colors change. Will definitely come back for that.

Photo Gallery of Bull Run Mountain Conservancy