Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip (each photo is a thumbnail linked to a higher quality picture.):
1) Prabhupada's Palace of Gold, Moundsville, WV, September 6, 2024 - Jonna had never been into West Virginia before and I stipulated that you can't "count" driving through on the Interstate as having actually visited a state so Jonna pulled out her phone and found an interesting site to visit. Just half an hours drive off I-70 in the rolling hills near Elm Grove is Prabhupada's Palace of Gold. In the early 1970s the Hare Krishnas built a retreat center and the space was crowned with a hand-built palace intended to be home to their founder Srila Prabhupada. He passed away before it was completed but the beautiful building still exists and is now a preserved as a museum and pilgrimage site for those still following the Hare Krishna path. We stopped in to visit as well as to have lunch in the vegetarian cafe attached to the main temple and retreat center. It was an interesting side trip and allowed Jonna to "check" West Virginia off her list of visited states.
2) Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, Shenandoah National Park, Front Royal, VA, September 7, 2024 - Our first proper stop in the Appalachian mountains was at the northern entrance to Shenandoah National Park. We stopped at the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center to get maps and formulate a plan for the next few days. However, we also stayed long enough to hear a Ranger give an overview of the park, as well as to enjoy our first scenic view of the Shenandoah River Valley.
3) Appalachian Trail, Keyser Run Trailhead, Shenandoah National Park, Front Royal, VA, September 7, 2024 - We also made our first stop to hike in the Appalachians. Because of Alan's rib injuries we had to keep our hikes short but we were still able to make a short jaunt on the famous Appalachian Trail.
4) Overall Run Falls Trail, Mathews Arm Campground, Shenandoah National Park, Front Royal, VA, September 7, 2024 - In the evening we camped at Mathews Arm Campground inside Shenandoah National Park and that gave us another chance to fit in a hike this one down to Overall Run Falls in the valley just below the campground.
5) Upper Hawksbill Trail, Upper Hawksbill Trailhead, Shenandoah National Park, Swift Run, VA, September 8, 2024 - In the morning we made another stop along Skyline Drive to do another short hike, this one up to the top of Upper Hawksbill mountain. This offered the best view yet of the Shenandoah River Valley.
6) Rose River Falls Trail, Big Meadows Campground, Shenandoah National Park, Swift Run, VA, September 8, 2024 - In the evening we camped at Big Meadows Campground, also inside Shenandoah National Park, and we again did a hike from our campsite. This one partway along the Appalachian Trail and then down a side trail - Rose River Falls Trail - to see the Rose River Falls. Another beautiful hike and an encounter with the most docile white tailed deer ever. They would happily have tried to eat out of our hand if we'd just extended our arms but we backed away rather than encouraged their behavior.
7) Dark Hollow Falls Trail, Dark Hollow Falls Trailhead, Shenandoah National Park, Swift Run, VA, September 9, 2024 - In the morning we drive to just outside the entrance to the campground where we stopped for another short hike. This one down into the same valley as the evening before but this time to see Dark Hollow Falls. This was probably our favorite waterfall of the entire trip.
8) Turk Mountain Trail, Turk Gap Trailhead, Shenandoah National Park, Swift Run, VA, September 9, 2024 - In the afternoon we again stopped along Skyline Drive for our last hike in Shenandoah National Park. A park ranger at the Harry F. Byrd Sr. Visitor Center had recommended the Turk Mountain trail as his favorite in the southern end of the park so we followed that recommendation. There were two big highlights of this trail. The first is that it is one of the few places in the US where the functionally extinct American Chestnut trees still exist. Second, are the Skolithos trace fossils that can be found in the quartz near the top of the mountain. However, a third should be added to the list and that is the gorgeous panoramic view from the top.
9) The Frontier Culture Museum, Staunton, VA, September 10, 2024 - We camped at a commercial campground just outside Staunton, Virginia that night and the next morning we visited the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton. We knew nothing about the museum and I think we both had low expectations but we were pretty amazed by what we found. The museum space is huge and it functions as a living, open-air museum. There are buildings from different places around the world that were the starting point for the cultures that populated this area in the 18th and 19th centuries: an African village, an Irish blacksmith's home, an English Cattle farm and a German grain farmer. Then there are examples of different eras of colonial dwellings from this area - an early homesteader's log cabin, a small farm and a large farm. Each of the locations has a staffer person in appropriate costume explaining the history around the location. It was really fascinating and we both thoroughly enjoyed visiting the museum.
10) Natural Bridge Trail, Natural Bridge State Park, Natural Bridge, VA, September 11, 2024 - Our next camp site was at a beautiful horse farm outside Buena Vista, VA and the next morning we drove to neighboring Natural Bridge to visit Natural Bridge State Park. We did a short hike there which gave us a chance to see the famous Natural Bridge but the highlight was stopping a river otter as we hiked along Cedar Creek.
11) The Trail Of Trees, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, Big Island, VA, September 11, 2024 - The second half of our Appalachian Mountain exploration was driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. We started at the northern entrance and headed south. One of our first stops was at the James River where we hiked the very short Trail Of The Trees. Despite being a short loop it was very education because there were signs all along the trail identifying all the trees. It also provided a sublime view down onto the river so a worthy stop.
12) Johnson Farm Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Bedford, VA, September 11, 2024 - We camped at the Peaks Of Otter Campground run by the National Park Service and were able to do another good hike straight from our campsite. We hiked down to Abbott Lake and then from there a loop to the Johnson Farm - an old apple orchard with a nice old farm house.
13) Rocky Knob Picnic Loop Trail, Rocky Knob Recreation Area, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Conners Grove, VA, September 12, 2024 - After a day checking out the city of Roanoke our campground that night was at Rocky Knob Camground in the National Park. On our drive to the campground we stopped at the Rocky Knob Visitor Center where we did a quick hike on their Picnic Loop trail. The highlight was spotting a young spotted fawn that was feeding on a hillside in the valley behind the visitor center.
14) Rocky Knob Peak Trail, Rocky Knob Recreation Area, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Conners Grove, VA, September 13, 2024 - The next morning we did another hike straight from our campsite. This one was along the ridge up to Rocky Knob Peak. The highlight here was actually the weather. The morning fog was super thick which made for a very atmospheric hike as wisps of clouds blew over the ridge shrouding the forest in mist.
15) Floyd Country Store, Floyd, VA, September 13, 2024 - We stayed at Rocky Knob Campground for two nights and this gave us an afternoon to explore the nearby town of Floyd. We visiting in the afternoon and then drove back in the evening for the famous Friday Night Jamboree with an hour of Gospel music followed by an hour and a half of Blue Grass dance music. We enjoyed watching all the dancers and being part of an authentic local tradition.
16) Mabry Mill, Meadows Of Dan, VA, September 14, 2024 - Our first stop the next day was at Mabry Mill. This is an old water mill that powered a few different industries in the late 19th and early 20th century - grinding grain, cutting timber and running wood working equipment to make furniture.
17) Mabry Mill, Meadows Of Dan, VA, September 14, 2024 - Additionally, other tools from the same time frame have been collected at this location showing everything from the boiling of syrup to the distilling of moon shine.
18) Blue Ridge Music Center, Galax, VA, September 14, 2024 - Our next stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway was at the Blue Ridge Music Center. This museum gives the history of music in the Appalachian mountains from spirituals sung by African slaves to the African roots of the banjo to the Irish fiddle tunes and German singing methods. The museum is very well done and definitely worth a visit.
19) Fisher Peak Trail, Blue Ridge Music Center, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Galax, VA, September 14, 2024 - While we were at the Blue Ridge Music Center we also took advantage of the hiking trails on the mountain behind the center. We did a loop that included both open meadows and thick forest.
20) Bass Lake Trail, Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Ansley Heights, NC, September 15, 2024 - After camping at a commercial campground outside Boone, NC we were back on the Blue Ridge Parkway the next day. Our main sightseeing for that day was visiting the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park. This was a mountain estate of an early 20th century industrialist which has now been turned into a beautiful park. The estate home has been converted into a museum and Visitor center. The old carriage roads throughout the vast park are now hiking trails and the lakes and orchards are still there to see. After leaving the park we drove west into Tennessee where we camped at Roan Mountain State Park for the night.
21) Grandfather Mountain Trail, Grandfather Mountain State Park, Grandfather, NC, September 16, 2024 - In the morning we returned to the Blue Ridge Parkway and then immediately stopped at Grandfather Mountain State Park. After entering the park we parked in the lower parking lot so that we could do the short hike up to the peak. Then we crossed the famous "Mile High Swinging Bridge" and enjoyed the panoramic views. It is a gimmicky tourist stop but the view was nice and the hike gave us a chance to stretch our legs.
22) Linville Falls Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Marion, NC, September 16, 2024 - In the afternoon we made another roadside hiking stop, this time at the Linville Falls Visitor Center. Rain was looming but we still managed to get in the hike to see the Falls though we did get rained on during the return to the trailhead.
23) Buck Spring Trail, Mount Pisgah Inn Trailhead, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Woodrow, NC, September 18, 2024 - We spent a day exploring Ashville, NC but didn't take any pictures so that day isn't shown in this collection of photos. We also made a stop at the Museum Of North Carolina Minerals which was also not documented here. Once we were back on the Blue Ridge Parkway we stopped off at the Mount Pisgah Inn where we had a wet hike on the Buck Spring Trail.
24) Waterrock Knob Trail, Waterrock Knob Visitor Center, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Maggie Valley, NC, September 19, 2024 - After an evening camping off the Parkway we were back for our final day of driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We only had a short leg left and our final stop was at the Waterrock Knob Visitor Center. While there we made the hike up to the top of Waterrock Knob so we could enjoy our last scenic view from within this Park.
25) Blue Ridge Parkway, Waterrock Knob Visitor Center, Blue Ridge Parkway National Park, Maggie Valley, NC, September 19, 2024 - Our this entire trip our cat Leon had with us. We still isn't thrilled about being in the RV but he does seem to enjoy being with us. On a few occasions he would curl up on the dash but most of the time while we are driving he is either in Jonna's lap or on the couch in back.
27) Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum, Maggie Valley, NC, September 19, 2024 - One of the best motorcycle museums in the US is located in Maggie Valley, NC so Alan couldn't pass this close by without stopping in. Wheels Through Time focuses on American motorcycles which means a whole bunch of Harleys (which isn't really Alan's thing) but the layout of the museum is terrific and there are a lot of cool bikes to see. The highlight for Alan was seeing finally seeing the hand-made Roaddog in person after seeing it for years in various magazines.
28) Deep Creek Loop Trail, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Bryson City, NC, September 19, 2024 - For us, leaving one national park just meant going straight into another. We sent straight to Great Smoky Mountain National Park where we camped at Deep Creek campground for the night. From our campsite we were able to do an excellent hike along the Deep Creek where we saw three different waterfalls and enjoyed the stunning forest in this area.
29) Little River Trail, Elkmont Campground, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Gatlinburg, TN, September 20, 2024 - The next day we stopped in Cherokee, NC to visit the Museum of the Cherokee People. Then we drove through the park to the north side for our final night of camping in Great Smoky Mountain National Park was at Elkmont Campground. We found another hike we could do from this campsite and enjoyed a final beautiful hike along the Little River.
30) Cherokee National History Museum, Tahlequah, OK, September 25, 2024 - After a quick side trip down to the Gulf Coast of Florida to visit Alan's parents we made a short three day drive back to Colorado. Along the way, we made one more sightseeing stop - visiting the Cherokee National History Musueum in Tahlequah, OK. This was a nice bookend to the Cherokee museum we'd visited in Cherokee, NC and gave us a deeper understanding of what happened to the Cherokee people as European colonizers moved into the south as well as the modern lives of the Cherokee. A fitting way to finish our Appalachian journey.
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