| From the Jewel Hollow Overlook, the starting and ending point
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| At the pinnacle, the highest point of the hike and an outstanding view (more pictures on the return)
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| A break point at a day-use shelter maintained by the PATC
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| A view to the east (towards Washington)
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| Another rock outcropping with a view of the valley below
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| Look closely in the first photo and you'll see what's magnified in the second: a person at the top of Marys Rock, our destination
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| Arrived at Marys Rock, the mid-point of the hike at 3.4 miles. There were for the first time quite a few people. There is a shorter trail here from Skyline Drive that most people seemed to be from.
The long photo is a six-picture panoramic I pieced together from the viewpoint at Marys Rock. The left edge is underexposed due to the sun on our left (south).
Below in some of the pictures is the Thornton Gap entrance in the central-northern part of the Park.
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| Maggie's rock picture
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| The rock overlook just down from Marys Rock where we ate our sandwiches.
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| Through the trees at this low point in the hike, you can see Skyline Drive.
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| The trail post at the junction of the AT and the Meadow Spring Trail.
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| Skyline Drive again
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| The section of the hike is littered with medium and large stones falling down the slope. The trail walks along atop a rock retaining wall. You can see the edge of the wall on the left edge of the trail.
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| Back at The Pinnacle, a spectacular view of past-peak fall foliage.
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| The trees along this exposed ridge are lightning and wind damaged.
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| Don't really know what this is, I'll have to ask my botanist.
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| The section within 1/3 mile of Jewel Hollow has lots of Mountain Laurel. What caught my interest was that there seemed to be lots of little plants with green leaves growing at the base of older trees with mostly no leaves. Mountain Laurel is evergreen, and a friend suggested this was probably a fire-damaged area where the adult trees did not make it but new plants are growing from seed.
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