Ok, I learned a few lessons here as far as excessive shaking while hiking using my Go Pro camera. I shouldn’t mount my camera on my backpack without a gimbal to stabilize the footage. I also need to be steady and slow down when I take videos on the trail. Hopefully, I get better the more I do this, but its a learning experience.
Anyways, hiking Spy Rock was a lot of fun on the Appalachian trail. Spy Rock is an incredible rock dome on the east side of Maintop mountain with 360° views of the Religious Range (The Priest, The Little Priest, The Friar, The Little Friar, and The Cardinal), Mt. Pleasant, Tree Ridges and St. Mary’s Wilderness areas, and the eastern foothills. We hike Spy Rock from the Meadows Lane parking Lot, but make sure you have a capable 4X4 vehicle to drive to the parking lot. There road was very rugged and there were two small water crossing before the parking lot. You can definitely get there with a car, but I don’t recommend going there with a 2 wheel drive.
The hike is part of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, and can easily be combined with the nearby Crabtree Falls (300ft cascading waterfall with a hike to the top). There are nice campsites at the base of the summit (no water source). I recommend combining Crabtree and Spy Rock in one hike if you have the time. It was never too crowded despite having probably the best 360 views of the Blue Ridge mountains. The spring and fall season are the best time to see the flowers and the fall foliage. I definitely enjoy this hike, but its quite a long drive from Maryland.