The Littlest Pinnacle EarthCache
Hidden : 1/8/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
3.5 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

The Grayson Highlands Park is on U.S. 58 midway between Independence and Damascus. The Park entrance is 8 miles west of route 16 on US 58. Both trails to the cache are moderate with the Twin pinnacles Trail being the easiest.

Before you start feeling sorry for the Little Pinnacle, it isn’t one bit hurt or jealous of it’s “big” brother, the Big Pinnacle. Yes, it may be called the Little Pinnacle but it is 21 feet higher in elevation than the Big Pinnacle. It seems that those who name peaks were after mass rather than height. While the Big Pinnacle has more mass as an outcropping, the Little Pinnacle is taller. Both are rare and beautiful and get along well as siblings!


Before we get into the Little Pinnacle’s geology let’s look at the Grayson Highlands Park. The 4,935-acre Grayson Highlands State Park showcases the Natural beauty of waterfalls, northern hardwoods and red spruce-fir forests and igneous rock outcroppings such as the Buzzard's Rock, Listening Rock plus the Big and Little Pinnacles. Native trout streams, rugged mountains, and high alpine meadows with panoramic vistas of valleys below are features of the Park. A community of hardy wildflowers, shrubs, insects, birds, amphibians, and mammals that can withstand the harsh conditions of the open highlands have adapted to life in the alpine meadows. If you are lucky and hike to one of the meadows, you may see some of the wild pony herd. Many are ‘human friendly’ and may come over for a visit. Please don’t feed or handle the ponies but do take lots of pictures.


The peaks of the Grayson Highlands Park (Haw Orchard Mountain) along with it’s neighbors Mount Rogers, Pine Mountain and Whitetop Mountain have something uniquely in common. They are all remnants of long extinct and inactive volcanoes. All of the above are part of the Mount Rogers chain. The Mount Rogers Chain is part of the Appalachian Mountains, which stretches from the Quebec province of Canada to the coastal plain of Alabama. Unlike most of the peaks of the Appalachian Mountains and because of the volcanic activity, the geology of the Little Pinnacle and the rest of the Mount Rogers Chain peaks are much different. While most Appalachian peaks are composed of sedimentary rock, the Mount Rogers chain peaks are definitely igneous rock. Igneous rock is formed by fire not sediment. It is often referred to as volcanic lava, magma or molten rock. Rather sedimentary, metamorphic or igneous rock, most geologists agree that rocks are formed in a cycle.

The Cycle of Rocks


Here are two illustrations which depict the formation of the sedimentary and igneous rocks that are found in the Appalachian Mountains. In the North are the sedimentary peaks:




Sedimentary Rock Formation


In the South and found in the upper levels of the Mount Rogers Chain are the igneous rocks:






Igneous Rock Formation


Igneous rock has several classification schemes. Among the classifications methods are the broad ‘Intrusive’ and ‘Extrusive’ categories. Intrusive are igneous rocks that were formed below the surface of the Earth. Some examples of intrusive igneous rocks are: granite, diorite and gabbros. These rocks are course grained especially when compared to their extrusive fine-grained cousins. Some examples of extrusive igneous rocks are basalt, andesite and rhyolite with rhyolite being the most commonly found rock of the Little Pinnacle peak. Rhyolite is considered to be the extrusive equivalent to the intrusive granite rock and consequently outcroppings of it often bear a strong resemblance to granite. As previously mentioned, the Little Pinnacle is largely rhyolite. Ryolite varies greatly in color. It can be the light gray, almost white, to dark red or maroon depending on what minerals or other rock is present.




Ryolite Example




Directions


There are two ways to reach the Little Pinnacle and other wonderful geological areas of the Park. The ‘easy’ way is to drive to the Visitors Center and take the Twin Pinnacles Trail (Red Blaze) that is behind and to the left of the Center. After the short distance to the Little Pinnacle continue to the Massie Gap Overlook and on to the Big Pinnacle. You may backtrack or continue the Red Blaze loop back to the Visitors Center. This trail is a 1.6 mile easy loop. The only caution is that during snowy/winter times, the gate at Massie Gap is often locked which prevents the drive to the Visitors Center. An alternative route is to park at the Massie Gap parking area and take the Big Pinnacle Trail (Yellow Blaze), which is directly across the road from parking. Look for the sign and yellow trail marker.






Big Pinnacle Trail Marker


Follow the Big Pinnacle Trail for approximately .4 mile to where it joins the Twin Pinnacles Trail (Red Blaze) just below the summit of the Big Pinnacle. Follow the Red Blazed trail to the Little Pinnacle. After visiting the Little Pinnacle you may continue for a short walk to the Visitors Center in order to visit the Buzzard Rock and Listening Rock. After reaching the Visitors Center, head right along the road in front of the Visitors Center to the picnic area on the left. Here you will find the boardwalk that is immediately next to the Buzzard Rock and the yellow blazed Listening Rock Trail. The Listening Rock trail takes about 45 minutes to complete the loop and return to the Visitors Center Parking area. From here, you may ‘back track’ to Massie Gap via the Twin pinnacles and Big pinnacles trails or follow the main road down to the Massie Gap parking area and where you started! It is about 1.0 miles downhill to Massie Gap by following the road.


NOTE: In order for you to claim a find, please post a picture of you and your entire group with GPSr in hand at the given coordinates and the Little Pinnacle in the background. Also, please email us with answers to the following questions: 1. What is the elevation of the Little Pinnacle?, 2. By carefully examining the rocks of the Little Pinnacle, what are the different colors that you observe? Please do not log your answers and use only email.


Take a lunch and take your time. After all, it took millions and millions (billions) to create this masterpiece so what’s a few hours? Enjoy!

This Earthcache was approved by the Geological Society of America


We have earned GSA's highest level:

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Jngpu bhg sbe Fzbxrl!

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


Advertising with Us

Inventory

There are no Trackables in this cache.

View past Trackables

What are Trackable Items?

Bookmark Lists

View all 6 bookmark lists...