Buffalo Mountain Peak in Virginia

I love when a hike is so close to where you live, albeit temporarily. Buffalo Mountain Peak trail is a unique find that offers amazing views with little efforts of hiking - just 2 miles round trip with about 500 ft elevation gain gets you this.

On my way to the trailhead, I was a bit anxious about bears. They are frequent in the area, very very frequent...

I wanted to get there early in the morning because of the parking lot being small (only 10 cars can fit there). About a mile from the trailhead, I saw a small bear crossing the road. Did I mention that bears were frequent here? Yeah, and this one was in the forest I was hiking in.

I was the first one at the parking lot... Peaceful? You bet! But that bear stayed in my mind the whole trip up as a jiggled my loud bear bell attached to the backpack. I could not hear any birds or the peaceful sounds of nature, just the darn bell. I also decided to listen to a podcast, you know, so that I don't feel so alone (except the bear, of course).

The views at the top were stunning. I was breezy and peaceful. A few clouds were passing by, everything was so green. But now I was thinking of the way back. There was another trail that I could take back, around 0.5 miles but steep. I decided to go for it. The way back was quick, and as I got to the parking lot two more cars appeared with folks hiking up. I am glad I had the peak all to myself...