This is a short, relatively easy mountain day hike with a some excellent views, a good workout, and nice trail.
It took me four hours car-door-to-car door. It was about three hours of walking, to complete this roughly 6 mile round-trip hike.
The hike
Start from the parking lot/trail head just north of U.S. 50, at Ashby Gap. That is, on the other side of U.S. 50 from your destination, Sky Meadows State Park.
Take the short blue-blazed trail from the parking lot down to the Appalachian Trail, and turn left.
This takes you down to Route 50. Cross.
After you cross 50, and walk alongside it for a bit, then do the the long uphill climb to the top of the mountain.
Most of the trail is pleasant walking, with only the occasional rocky bits.
You cross into Sky Meadows State Park in about 1.5 miles or so. At that point, just follow the signs to the Whitehouse overlook. You pick up the Ambassador Whitehouse trail in the middle of a large open area.
That takes you down to the Ambassador Whitehouse overlook.
From there, continue on the Ambassador Whitehouse trail, then follow the signs to the Piedmont overlook:
If you want more exercise, walk down this hill to the visitor’s center. It’s a stiff walk down, and a stiffer hike back up. Any of several trails in Sky Meadows park will take by back up to the Appalachian Trail. As long as you turn right (north) when you get to the AT, you’ll get back to Ashby Gap.
The hiker
The context of this relatively short, easy mountain day hike was the weather forecast. In theory, I only had a narrow window of fair weather, before it started to rain mid-day, and then continued to rain for the rest of the week.
In theory, I had to get back to the car by 11 AM, when rain was supposed to to roll in. I left Vienna well before dawn (about 5:15 AM). Got to the trail head around 6:15 AM. Got back to the trail head around 10:15 AM, after the four-hour round trip to Sky Meadows via the Appalachian Trail.
By this time — my fifth mountain day-hike this spring — I have the drill down pretty well. This was a two-PB&J-sandwich hike. The new boots continue to work out well. I now carry and use my trekking poles throughout the hike. And my balance on the trail continues to improve.
I’m still eating an ounce of hydrolyzed collagen peptides each day, hoping this will speed up the rate at which my joints recover from the wear-and-tear of these hikes.
So far, that seems to be successful. My joints seem to be hurting less, with hiking, the longer I continue eating that (presumably) joint-friendly protein.
But this collagen protein isn’t a miracle. Everything from my feet to my lower spine aches a little bit. But it sure aches less than it did from some of my earlier hikes.
In any case, for me at least, I think hydrolyzed collagen has been a big help, so far, for speeding recovery of my joints after a hike.
