15-Sep-2026 -- I’m currently on a 10-day vacation in the U.S. East coast, and will (of course) try to include several visits to Degree Confluence Points. My first point was a repeat visit to a point that I had previously visited in April 2011, during my “around the US” tour.

From the parking lot at Virginia’s Sky Meadows State Park, I hiked up the North Ridge Trail to eventually reach the famed Appalachian Trail. where I turned right (north). Shortly afterwards, I turned left (westward) onto the Old Trail. I then turned onto an old road cut that I had identified during my 2011 visit. This turned out to be a mistake, because this old road cut was a lot more overgrown than it had been in April 2011. This is likely due both to the passage of time (more than 15 years), and also because of the change of seasons; there was a lot more vegetation growing in late Summer, compared to early Spring. In hindsight, a better approach would have to take the Old Trail all the way to a hairpin turn at [39.00006,-77.99498] (0.27 miles East of the point), and bushwhack from there.

After a lot of bushwhacking, I eventually reached the point. Usually, when I make a repeat visit to a Degree Confluence Point, it seems very familiar. This time, however, the point seemed completely unrecognizable, as there was so much vegetation. I didn’t even notice the old chimney that I had seen in April 2011. The overall (one-way) hike was about 3.1 miles, with an elevation gain of about 1000 feet. It seemed much more strenuous than I had remembered it being in 2011. This is likely due to both the increased vegetation, plus the fact that I’m now more than 15 years older (67 years old, compared to 51 years old during my last visit).

Virginia State Parks do not allow drones, so I wasn’t able to get an overhead view of the point. (I probably would have had trouble finding a clearing in the tree canopy anyway.)