I began the hike a bit early, crossing the road from the parking lot and coming to a fork which I turned left and headed down Mill Prong Trail.  There were several springs along the way until I reach Mill Prong (creek) which following me all the back down to Rapidan Camp but passing a very nice waterfall, Big Rock Falls.  The camp, which had 13 different buildings, some of considerable size, now only has a handful of buildings left, mainly the Creel Cabin, The Brown House (Hoover’s cabin) and the Prime Minister’s cabin, home to about a half-dozen water snakes, which is a bit startling.  I saw 5 of them, two on the deck, and which were good- sized snakes.  I took a self-guided tour of the Prime Minister’s cabin and as happenstance would have it, I joined a group just about to enter Hoover’s Brown Cabin with a Park Tour guide.  After a short lunch, I headed up the Fork Mountain Horse trail before splitting off onto the Laurel Prong Trail.  At first this was a gentle rising trail but halfway up it was a rather steep and long climb back.  There were several places to stop and enjoy views through the open spaces between the trees.  The Laurel Prong Trail ended at the AT, which I took back to the parking lot.  The hike and walk around the camp totaled about 8.5 miles and 5.5 hours.  A good day’s hike.

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