It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving and what better time for a hike. I had thought of going out because today was on tap to be the calm before the storm as the weather is supposed to get a bit cooler Sunday. Anyway, earlier in the week I came across a post that the Clinch Coalition was planning a hike up to the Great Channels of Virginia. My Dad is a board member with the Coalition which is a grassroots non-profit organization in Southwest Virginia conserving the Jefferson National Forest, Clinch Ranger District with a focus on the High Knob area. The hike to the Channels I first found out about in Johnny Molloy book Five-Star Trails-Tri-Cities of Tennessee and Virginia. The trailhead for the hike is at Hayters Gap on VA-80. This is where I was meeting the group who were all coming the from the other side of Clinch Mountain as I was coming up from I-81. We had a group of 10 including five Job Corps students from Flatwoods.
The first part of the hike use an easement on a private road, but with special permission, Jim Moran took us up the first seven-tenths of a mile up through the gate to an upper parking area. From here it was a well marked road bed hike up a slightly steeper trail than Molloy described in his book. About the time you see the Hayters Knob Fire (also known as Middle Knob) the trail splits to the right the Brumley Mountain Trail continues and the left headed to the Channels. On the way up I spotted the first icicles of the season, which means winter is just around the corner.
Once at the top the first thing that comes into view is the fire tower and then the ruins of the old live-in cabin, which has seen better days. The tower is closed to the public and the bottom of the ladder removed. While I think some thought this was the end of the journey, I knew better, because the Great Channels lie ahead. A couple of the Flatwoods crew followed me down into the Channels. They are a natural rock maze of huge sandstone monoliths that is a wonder to behold. It is great that this spot is now in public hands. The rest of the group eventually joined us and after exploring below we headed to the top of the Channels which offers a fantastic view back to the Roans & the other Unaka Mountains, Tri-Cities, Powell Valley and the Cumberland Mountains (including High Knob). It was here where we had a group picture taken.
As with any outing it was time to go back and I will say the trip down was much faster than up. When we finally reached the vehicles, I decided to hike back to my car, which made the hike about five and a half miles. I will say that this is an excellent hike that I recommend to anyone. Well on the way back I was driving down VA-80 and to my surprised to the left was a really nice waterfalls. There are three cascades that make up the Falls of Logan Creek, but the largest is a 35 footer that is a really nice falls for not much effort.
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