The second weekend in September we spent hiking Jones Run at Doyles River. Again, the weather was beautiful, cool with very little humidity. The leaves at the highest elevation were just beginning to change. The entire loop is 6.6 miles and gains 1,400’ in elevation. We had our new Dachshund Max with us and so we cut part of the trail by taking the fire road down from the Brown’s Gap parking lot. The fire road was a great choice on the day we went. On a hot day though there is very little shade, it is used by horses and can be messy and smelly. The ticks can also be bad in the long grass.
Although the water was low, the falls were beautiful and the kids and dog had a great time jumping and climbing on the rocks. Because the water was so low, we spent part of the hike off trail hiking down the stream itself. We could see that there would be great pools to swim in on a hot summer day after a period of rain.
On the way back down on the fire road, we noticed a grave marker about 20 feet off of the road. Here’s what I found out when I researched it after I got home-
Browns Gap and the turnpike were used briefly during the Civil War. On May 2, 1862, at the beginning of his Valley Campaign, Stonewall Jackson marched his entire army through Browns Gap and camped there from June 9- 12, 1862. The grave marker along the road reads William H. Howard, Company F, 44th VA. INF, C.S.A. According to the White House of the Confederacy records, William Howard died from Typhoid fever while in camp. It is believed he may have been being transported back home to Fluvanna County, VA.
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