Day 61: Two towns, one hour

Hiked 22.5 miles, camping near the top of Cove Mountain.

We started off with intentions of leaving early today but that didn't really happen.  We slept in until at least 7 then went down and had a thoroughly unexciting breakfast and ended up just chilling in the lobby for a long time before finally motivating ourselves to get on the road.  It was almost 9:30 I think by the time we got hiking again.

"Early Morning" trail photo



Leaving Daleville and Troutville

Shortly after getting back on the trail we crossed under I-81 and entered another town.  Daleville and Troutville are right next to each other and are separated by the interstate highway in between.  We jokingly talked about stopping in town again but given that we had only gone 1.5 miles so far today that seemed a bit ridiculous.

Leaving Troutville, everyone stops to soak up the sun and enjoy the view

We did a lot of up and down today but none of the terrain was too bad.  For the first time the rhododendrons were out in full bloom today and the trail was awash in purples and pinks.  We have been going through rhododendron tunnels since Georgia and to finally see them flower was definitely a treat! 

A freshly built privy!  Out here it is the small things that make us happy.

Fullhardt Knob shelter

Curry Creek

Curry Creek

 We stopped at Curry Creek for lunch and to soak feet.  Next we climbed up to intersect with the Blue Ridge Parkway for the first time.  The Blue Ridge Parkway is a long scenic road through Virginia and we parallel and cross the road many, many times from here to Harper's Ferry, which is about 275 miles away.  The AT for the time being conveniently only crosses at the scenic overlook pulloffs for cars.  So every time we cross we get a great view of Virginia!  Looking at the road made me really wish I had my motorcycle with me.  I'm definitely coming back to ride this road when I am done hiking.  Roadtrip in September anyone?

Rhododendron flower

Hard to read with the glare, but fascinating info about the collier's pit that used to be here



Rhododendrons in full bloom



The flowers make the trail so much more colorful!

At the first crossing we ran into Timon and G-hippy doing trail magic.  Unfortunately there wasn't a ton left, so we snacked on the remainder and chatted with them for a while.  Our plan had been to stay at Boblett's Gap shelter but when we arrived the shelter was full and tenting spots were almost nonexistent.  We decided to keep going and see if we could find a place to stealth camp that could fit all four tents.  This meant we passed two additional overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway which were all excellent.  Most of the overlooks have signs which talk about the history or naming of what you are looking at.  I found them fascinating.  We had talked about tenting at one of the overlooks but none of the ones at the end of the day had a big enough median.

Taylor's Mountain Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Harvey's Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Peaks of Otter Overlook on Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway (Mills Gap Overlook)

Trust in the trail and it will provide.  We learned that on the day we camped on Rocky Bald and reaffirmed it today.  Just as we were starting to become pessimistic about ever finding a good site and not looking forward to walking all the way to the next shelter, we happened upon a flat area near the top of Cove Mountain that could perfectly fit four tents.  We even got a decent sunset view through the trees.  Glorious!

Mills Gap Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway