Dragon's Tooth Earthcache EarthCache
Dragon's Tooth Earthcache
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Located on the Appalachian Trail north of Roanoke, Va. A
challenging 2.6 mile hike (one way) with beautiful views along the
way.
Dragon's Tooth consists of spires of Tuscarora quartzite which
outcrop on the top of Cove Mountain. The tallest "tooth" projects
roughly 35 feet above the surrounding rock. This rock was laid was
down as sediment on a sea floor 440 million years ago. It is the
same rock which makes up the famous crags of the Shawangunk range
in New York State. In the "Gunks", the rock appears in horizontal
layers, just as it was laid down on the ancient seabed. In many
places like Dragons Tooth, the quartzite layer was literally turned
on end by enormous geological forces during the formation of the
Appalachian Mountains some 230 million years ago as the Earth’s
crust folded upward. The trail to Dragon's Tooth ascends steep,
rugged outcrops of quartzite which form the spine of Cove Mountain
and North Mountain. The spine is known as Dragon's Back. A
difficult hike, Dragon's Tooth summit offers magnificent views of
nearby and distant peaks year-round. To log this Earthcache, count
the number of rock spires and estimate the angle (from horizontal)
of the spires. E-mail this information to me to confirm your visit.
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