I have been in Virginia now for two years. I have been occupied building our life in our home, getting to know our neighbors and our new region. Last year I did a couple of hikes but this year I hope to do many hikes right here in our section of Virginia. The trouble is that there are so many national parks, state parks and wilderness areas near my home that I was over whelmed as to where to start. So, over the holidays I made a list of the top hikes in the region with categories. Then I made little signs with distances and when the best time would be to go on each hike.
I had planned to do McAfee Knob later when the flowers were in bloom but it was such a perfect spring day, I decided I couldn’t wait. I wanted this to be the first hike of the season. It did not disappoint.
Arriving at the trail head parking lot, I discovered that it was under construction. I love to see our nature spots being improved! Thanks tax payers and politicians for making that happen! It wasn’t too inconvenient we parked on a side street just down the way not too far. We still didn’t see exactly where the trail began but a pickup drove up and the local Virginian gave us wonderful directions. Heading up the side of the highway and crossing the road, much to my surprise the trail head to such a magnificent spot was understated. It was literally right on the side of the road.
Excited I stepped into the trail. Ground cover flowers met me as if to welcome me to the mountain and reassure me that my timing was just fine.
After a short walk up some groomed steps a map appeared on the right side of the trail. This is what I was expecting at the beginning. I love maps, especially trail maps.
With my map fix satisfied I headed up. About a mile and a half up the trail forks off to a walk in camp complete with a group of young women gathered around the table having breakfast. Stopping to chat I learned that three were from the University of North Carolina and the four from Ohio State. One of them was from the Roanoke area. She was proudly sharing her home mountain with her friends. They were friendly and delightful. It warmed my heart to see young women out enjoying the wilderness.
The camp ground not only had a table or two but a full shelter and a biffy. It didn’t have toilet paper but was surprisingly clean for a mountain outhouse. It even had a broom inside. Only in Virginia have I ever seen a broom in any camp facility. It had a sign on the door that declared that it was maintained by the Girls Scouts. No doubt the brownies took great care of this place. I might add that only in Virginia would the broom not be stolen, vandalized or perhaps ridden off.
Past the big rocks the trail heads on. The trail itself is very well marked and fairly easy. I would say it was one of the most pleasant hikes. There were not too many roots or rolling rocky sections. It was very sunny and warm. I was glad that I wore layers. I can imagine that the whole trail would be shady once the trees grow their leaves back.
Having been refreshed from the facilities and sparkling conversation I headed up once again. A short piece up the trail lay spectacular rock formations. I enjoyed playing around under the giant ledge. I imagined it would be handy in a strong rain storm before the shelter was built. Some of the rocks had a spectacular light shade of green moss growing on them.
Leaving the rocky area with lots of open trees, the trail leads into an area full of bushes and undergrowth. I suspect they are some kind of flowering bushes with waxy type leaves. The sun shone brightly and reflected like a star off each of these leaves. I am sure the pictures show it a little bit but the atmosphere in person was pure magic. Little sparkles of light everywhere throughout the forest. I can see why people could believe in fairies with a sight like that. I had to take my shades down to see if what I was seeing was real. Wow!
Heading out of the fairy leaves soon I saw the sky began to clear out and I could feel the cool breeze picking up. My anticipation peaked and my legs quicken my pace.
And all of a sudden there it was. Coming out of the woods my eyes opened up to a grand panoramic view over the vastness of the blue ridges. I could see the lines of the ridges running out into the distance like I was looking at a contoured globe. Being sunny and clear I could not see the end of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The advantage of going this early in the year was that it was not crowded at the top. We met only two sets of folks up there. The first were a couple of Europeans young men traveling long term on the Appalachian trail. The other a young man and woman who were standing back away from the knob near the trees. After the Europeans were finished taking their pictures at the overhang it was my turn. I approached the ledge with caution. It is easily thousands of feet straight down. You definitely get the impression nothing but the after life is down there if you were to fall. I didn’t dwell on it, though. I sat on the comfortable ledge just she shy of the edge, edge. Looking around, I took a moment to take in the beauty of the scenery. The wind blew briskly but did not take off with my hat. But as I sat there the wind subsided and the sun rested on my shoulders and I felt a profound peace. This is what it is all about. This moment of wow!
Then my belly started growling. I hadn’t eaten breakfast and was looking forward to the snack I brought. I had homemade dried apples and almonds. This was the first time I had eaten the dried apples and they were surprisingly delicious.
While we snacked the young woman and man came over to talk. The girl, Alexa, from Oregon was hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail with her friends. She had just met the young man, Art, just the day before. She was curious and excited about everything. She was a delightful bundle of joy.
Art, had just arrived back in the states from being in Antarctica for the past five months! He was working as support staff to the science station down there. I asked him what he saw. He said that he saw lots of penguins and they were cool. But the most exciting thing was seeing a rare bird South Pole bird called a skua. He described then as large sea gull type birds that were black and white. I found this picture of one on the internet. I had never heard of a skua before. Imagine a bird that lives at the South Pole! Wow.
One of my favorite things about hiking is meeting all the interesting people that cross my path.
Up on the McAfee Knob these different kind of pine trees grow. They remind me of the rare Torrey Pines of La Jolla, California except the Virginia ones are way bigger. With all my chatting, snacking and viewing it started getting chilly as the breeze picked up. The layers went back on. I lingered there and almost didn’t want to leave.
Heading back down hill the ground had dryed out a bit. Being a bit tired now I tripped a couple of times and caught myself. That should have been a warning to slow down a bit but nope. I trotted along and got my right foot stuck under a root and down I went. No torn Pants or too much broken skin. I did however have an audience. A kind older gentleman that introduced himself as a 71 year old waited until I was up and brushed off before he approached. He told me that once his wife had fallen like that and three days later it still hurt. Turns out her wrist had been broken. I was lucky, I had nothing but a couple of bruises to brag about.
I still had energy to do some rock climbing before the hike was over. I love how the sun is sitting in the tree in this shot. This amazing shot would not have been possible if I had waited another month to do this hike. Turns out my time was just right.
The hike was phenomenal but it was over and now for the really fun part! The celebration lunch was well earned after an eight mile mountain hike. We went to the first restaurant we went to after we bought our house and our favorite restaurant to date in the area, Tizzone Wood Fired Kitchen and Wine Bar in Daleville. It was only about a fifteen minute trip to the restaurant. I was starved! The food as usual was fantastic. I had Pizza, a crab cake sandwich, chicken wings, a side salad with their homemade cranberry poppy seed vinegarette with a mock mojito wow! It was so yummy and perfectly cooked. Oh, and chocolate cake for dessert. No, I didn’t eat all of it by myself but I tried! LOL The service is always the best at Tizzone from the sweet waitress to the general manager. They always remember us and treat us like valued customers. Thanks Tizzone for finishing off the perfect day!
This goes down as one of the my best days. Now I get to put my McAffee Knob square on my homemade calender. I can’t wait to see where my next adventure takes me. I hope you get to enjoy McAfee Knob yourself soon. Let me know how it was for you!
Peace, love and freedm.
