Bear Church Rock (Rating: A)

You must read the following NVHC Sign-in Sheet Statement/Liability Disclaimer, https://nvhc.com/signin.pdf and then answer the question that you will see when you RSVP with "I accept" to be permitted on the hike.

A 9 mile hike with ~2100' of uphill with a visit to remote Bear Church Rock and excellent views on central SNP via Staunton River and Jones Mountain Trails. In addition we will take two side trips to see remnants of chestnut trees and the Jones Mtn cabin.

Hike rating: A-difficult
https://nvhc.com/2020/hikeinfo/ratings/
Optional — There are 2 side trails that you may eliminate to reduce the difficulty down to a B-hike.

Pace: 2 - 2½ mph going uphill, a bit faster downhill

Leader: Harvey

Driving Time to trailhead: 1 hr 30 minutes from Centerville Park and Ride. Feel free to organize car pools in the comments section below.

Park entry fee: $0

Dogs: permitted on this hike in accordance with the NVHC Dog Policy. https://tinyurl.com/nvhcdogpolicy

Hike map:
pdf map:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oL2vdQVmAdvq-IOU7TzzF0jbzK_-NQ0q/view?usp=sharing
GaiaGPS map:
https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=13.5/-78.4030/38.4521&layer=GaiaTopoRasterMeters

Geology:
Bear Church Rock is one of the few hikes on the older (1+ billion year old) basement granites. I find this granitic rock easier to hike on than the more ubiquitous Cotoctin formation which is prevalent for much of the AT in northern Virginia and Maryland.

In addition there are recent Debris-flow deposits which are the result of catastrophic landslides from excessive rain. A storm in 1995 caused debris flows and floods in the area between the Robinson River to the North and Conway River to the South in Madison County. As much as 2¼ ft of rain fell in a 50 sq mi area, which resulted in about 1,000 debris flows in Madison County. We will see evidence of these debris flows as we hike up the Staunton River at the start of the hike.