Our Meetup group went to the summit of Elliot Knob on May 18th. We'd rescheduled this trip after postponing due to severe weather a couple weeks earlier.

The hike is within the George Washington National Forest and uses an access road for radio towers as part of the route. The access road is about 1.5 miles in length and was the more fatiguing trail I have ever hiked. It took us over 2 1/2 hours to cover. I would not hike this segment of the trail in summer or at mid-day. It was just too tough. I'd hike it early in the morning if possible. But the dividend of this effort at the summit is worth it.

The forest service allows hikers access to a decommissioned fire tower at the summit. It is from this location that you can see east completely across the Shenandoah Valley. Views to the west extend into West Virginia. I could pick out landmarks in this direction that were 30 miles away and the view extended further. The transition from dusk to night was stunning. Lights across the Shenandoah Valley looked like a Christmas tree.

I hung in a grove of spruce adjacent to the fire tower. I'm glad that I did because the winds blew steadily all night. Folks in tents remarked that they felt a little buffeted by the wind.

You'll see a pond in the video. This is the water source for the hike. It is a spring-fed pond that was damned up. Water is good.

Here is a link to the trip video that I put together for my group.

https://youtu.be/WGvplXrG5ps