Out and back “figure 8”: 6 miles
As another practice hike for our upcoming Colorado trip, Dad and I took Hunter along on a gorgeous day to hike to Flat Rock. The newly-rerouted trail is an offshoot of a shortcut from the Rattlesnake Loop Trail, although the original harder alternative is still there. The new way involves more gradual elevation gain; in fact the steepest section is now the top half of the trail to the overlook, not the bottom…
With the low humidity and blue skies, this was probably the clearest view we’ve ever had from Flat Rock. We enjoyed it for a short time, then turned and decided to make a short loop of things. We followed the Tuscarora Trail through some pleasant oak and mountain laurel forest, down to the Lehman Trail. Hunter stopped for a long drink in the mountain-top creek there, then we turned left and followed the Lehman Trail back to the five-way junction with the Flat Rock (etc.) Trail.
On the return, instead of following the lower half of the Rattlesnake Loop, we turned right and followed the upper half. The woods were uninteresting, and this is definitely a lesser-used portion of the trail. We didn’t quite understand the “loop” though, as this ended at a gravel road. We turned left and road-walked the rest of the way back to where we had parked the truck—where there were now dozens more vehicles with people out enjoying the awesome day.
