Cole Mountain/Mount Pleasant Figure 8 (~12.1 miles, 2,600 elev gain)

Long Mountain Wayside - Initial meeting point @ 9:00 am. Low clearance cars may have difficulty making it to the trailhead. We will stop at the Wayside and consolidate into cars that have higher clearance as needed.
Mt Pleasant Trailhead Parking - we will then drive to the trailhead - arriving by about 9:20 so we can be on the trail by 9:30.

Hike: Mt Pleasant / Cole Mtn Figure 8

The Cole Mountain/Mount Pleasant Figure 8 is a popular hiking route in Virginia's George Washington National Forest that combines the Cole Mountain loop and the Mount Pleasant loop into a single, longer figure-eight circuit. The ~12-mile hike offers spectacular open views from Cole Mountain's meadows and forests, and also features the summit of Mount Pleasant. The two trails meet near the parking lot, allowing hikers to switch between them and form the figure-eight.

We will start our hike on the Henry Lanum trail, following it clockwise to the Mt Pleasant Trail which we will follow to the peak and take in both the east and west views. We will retrace our steps to the Henry Lanum Trail where we will continue to follow it clockwise back to our starting point. We will continue thru the parking area to the road where we will walk a short distance to the AT. We will follow the AT to the Old Hotel Trail and follow it to complete the second loop and arrive back at our cars.