May 31 – Flat Rock and Green Knob

Two easier trails today.

First up was the 0.8 mile Flat Rock Loop Trail.

No competition for parking today.

We did a easy climb through the woods to the viewpoint.

There was not much colour on the trail up but the rhododendrons were out at Flat Rock.

It had been very sunny when we left the car so we didn’t bring any rain gear. It stayed that way going up but at the top there was an ominous band of very dark clouds directly over us.

We never did get rained on though.

We had passed a winery, that had a lot of customers, on the way home yesterday. We could see the vines off in the distance.

I love the orange azaleas. They never seem to occur in groves. You just see one or two at a time.

About 15 minutes farther up the parkway was our next hike. It is a 2.1 mile loop called the Green Knob Trail. For the first 1.5 miles you gently climb about 500 vertical feet and then steeply go back down in the last 1/2 mile, assuming you do it in the right direction.

Around the pond.

Then follow the stream that feeds it for quite a while. It was dark and cool for this section.

Always gently uphill.

We crossed under the parkway.

One wet and slippery section.

And out into a wide open meadow.

I was wondering what Jennie was doing so long down there. She was waiting for these moths to pose.

Whenever Jennie sees the Tulip Tree petals on the ground she always searches for the tree. We finally found one still in bloom.

A happy stump, on the steep downhill.

Another lone azalea.

Another, somewhat more overgrown,  meadow.

Then back in the rhododendrons for a short while to get us back to the car.

The sky had been getting darker so we waited to have lunch until we got to a picnic area just up the parkway. It sprinkled for a few minutes while we sat in the car.

We got home early at about 2 pm and had a restful afternoon. There have been lots of looming dark clouds but no rain or thunder so far.

The campground has gotten much emptier after the weekend, even though at most it was 1/3 full then. Tonight there are 7 out of 70 campsites taken.

I had hoping to be able to get my telescope out here. We are in an open field far from the lights of any big city and there are no lights in the campground. The only problem is that the week I pick to be here coincides with a full moon which washes everything out. It was even a clear night.

May 30 – Lynn Cove Viaduct and Rough Ridge

Two hikes today in roughly the same area of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had thought that the first one would be easy but is was not.

The Lynn Cove Viaduct is a bridge on the Parkway that was built to go over an environmentally sensitive area. It was built section by section using the completed sections as a base to add the next. In this way the ground underneath was touched as little as possible.

From the visitor’s center, near the viaduct, there is a 1 mile return trail to a classic viewpoint of the bridge. The first 0.15 miles go to a viewpoint under the bridge. It is paved, flat and easy. It lulls people into a false sense of security. The rest of the trail is very rocky with huge steps up and down, which was tough for Jennie.

One interesting thing I noticed about the supports is that the bridge seem to sit on a point in the middle, with the outside parts just to provide emergency support.

The section are held together by steel cable under tension so I guess it just need the single point of support at each post.

The trails gets tougher.

We came to thus huge fallen slab and realized the trail goes under it.

Coming out the top.

Another Alien tree sucking the life out of a rock.

There was lots of rock climbing and this cliff to walk under.

We got a nice break on the bridge.

The trail continues on a long way. The view point is actually on a very inconspicuous side trail that you have to scramble down and then up on a rocky perch.

Too bad it wasn’t a bit sunnier.

Heading back, can you tell that Jennie is in an “Are we there yet?” mood.

The next hike started just over a mile farther north at an overlook. The 1.5 mile return trail takes you up 480 vertical feet to the top of Rough Ridge. Let’s just say that it lives up to its name.

Right from the parking we had to climb over these logs that had been put in place to help stop erosion but had obviously failed.

A nice arched bridge to give you a break.

And then endless rock steps. It was not too steep but the steps were tall and the rocks were wet and slippery.

Next it was into a narrow tunnel in the rhododendrons but now they are in bloom.

After about 1/3 of a mile you come to 200 feet of boardwalk to protect some fragile ground and plants.

An interesting rock formation. We couldn’t decide what it most looked like. We settled on a gargoyle after all the ones we had seen at the Biltmore Estate.

Lots of Mountain Laurel and Rhododendrons.

You could also perch yourself out on the overhanging rock. Jennie declined.

You can see the viaduct off to the right.

Looking up the ridge behind us.

We will turnaround at the top but our next view point is that outcropping of rock in the upper left, below.

Our future lunch spot at the top.

Upwards.

The next viewpoint.

Another shot when we were heading back down.

Looking back down at the boardwalk.

This tree looked like it had a bunch of mouths yelling “FEED ME!”.

A new plant for us called Turkey Beard.

The bushes got closer to Jennie sized as we neared the top.

We were initially going to sit and have lunch at the very top.

But there were no flat spots and the closeness to the edge was too much for Jennie.

Here is a side view.

We picked a nice flat spot a little farther downhill.

The very top got pretty crowded.

Heading back down. Our knees were sore at the bottom from all the big steps but what a view at the top.

On the drive back we headed into town to try and get our cellular hotspot to connect. It struggled a lot so we ended up using the WIFI at a MacDonald's. Going home from there we discovered that the hotspot got a fairly good connection only a few miles from the campground.