Switzerland of Virginia? Appalachian Trail Hiking at Cole Mountain Bald
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In this video we take a hike on the Appalachian Trail along the crest of Cole Mountain in the Mount Pleasant National Scenic Area in western Amherst County, Virginia. This section of AT is sometimes described as the "Switzerland of Virginia" because of the high open meadows. While I can appreciate the comparison, this is no Swiss Alps haha! But it is an excellent place to visit, and definitely one of my favorite areas for hiking and backpacking! Here we start the adventure along a forest road at Hog Camp Gap and take the AT in a southbound direction, quickly and steeply arriving to the high meadows along the crest of the mountain, and we continue through the meadows until we reach the high point of Cole Mountain at 3,920 feet above sea level. There were heavy clouds around the area and the horizon was quite hazy, but we still got some excellent views off the mountain. Please LIKE, COMMENT, and Subscribe! Thanks for watching!
Comments
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Cheers! Smith Mountain Lake resident here. Yes..LOVE COLE!! I need to get there before it gets too cold to add the Mount Pleasant loop...as I have only done the Cole loop (6.5 miles??) Nonetheless ...Wonderful area worth visiting! see you on the trail! where do you live in Va? Thx
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Did you do the entire loop as described in this map? http://midatlantichikes.com/coldmt.htmif so what did the camping sites look like?
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NICE hike, been there a few times, did the Mt. Pleasant summit one time, that is hard. You might try the loop that goes down going south to the shelter and up and out on the loop. Five mile loop back to the parking lot. Not a good place to go if the weather looks like a storm. Dave
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Hey! Nice trip. Looks like I will try to get this one planned to do before I tackle SNP in April. Nice work, Thanks!
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nice area , great views it's easy to see why you enjoy the hike .. thanks for sharing
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I have watched videos of the Appalachian trail and that's one hike I would love to walk, beautiful woodlands in Virginia.
Can see why that's one of your favourite places to be, just stunning my friend.
Terry. -
Virginia has some of the best views for hiking on the AT anytime of the year. With that said, FALL is coming and there is nothing like Fall on the east coast. Man I wish I could be hitting some mountains for that back east. Really enjoyed this video!
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What a beautiful hike. Do they allow camping? That meadow with the views is where I'd set up and just chill out. Also, I'd hate to be doing about 50mph when a random cow steps out.
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Welcome back to the highlands my friend. I'm so happy for you. This is one of my favorite areas you have filmed. The south/easy view was majestic...the smoke enhanced the view and added to the "mystery" of that area. Take care.
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Love those kinds of hikes.. Great video man!
Cheers. -
Loved this hike! I added it to my favorites. Such a beautiful forest. I have seen so much in Virginia, but a lot of your videos remind me that I have just scratched the surface. I was going to say it's too bad my car wont make it to this trailhead, but then I realized that there is like 5 to 10 hikes that you showed me that I still want to do and that my car will make it to.Just never enough time man. One day there will be though...hopefully. Maybe I should just retire from fishing? :)
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Spectacular summit! It was amazing that it was at 3900 ft and open like that. Take cover in thunderstorms LOL Thanks for sharing your hike!
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Wow, this was a very beautiful area! I agree with you - there is nothing like being in the mountains, it's addictive in a sense. I also like the rocky area you showed us on the way up. It may not be a 'Switzerland', but the ridge line of Cole Mountain has got to be one of the prettier places on the Virginia section of the AT!
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