Virginia

April 30
Little bouts of light rain in the morning, but supposed to be another nice day. Travis and Lauren out early for another biking event. After another longish run for me we depart Boone and head north to Damascus, Virginia. Once there, it is a glorious sunny, 80F day. I ride the popular rail trail Virginia Creeper - just out and back from Damascus to White Top Station, a gentle uphill for two hours, just under 18 miles, wasn't arduous, but really didn't feel easy either.

A lot of the old rail stations are still there, here is White Top

Picturesque Laurel Creek

Just Picturesque

Despite the beautiful Sunday afternoon bringing out throngs of people, I got to see a deer and a black bear cub! The 'descent' was fun, taking just a little over an hour. Rudy rode the nearby Iron Mountain Trail - a little more challenging and remote. After the riding, we went to nearby Mount Rogers National Recreation Area for camping, ate pasta and played Hand and Foot (Rudy win) and 3-13 (Leslie win).

May Day!
Overcast, but no rain yet. I spent some time just dawdling around out side, expecting rain at any time (no service here to check weather - yes!)

Spring growth!

Rudy is awesome and picks up some garbage around the camp. Eventually we continue our drive a little ways toward Roanoke and park at the Walnut Flats Campground in George Washington National Forest and have an afternoon of off and on rain, not a lot though. Super hero movies for Rudy, puzzling for me, and split peas and sweet potatoes for dinner. The weather seemed to clear up and we got in a little evening stroll, enjoying lots of birds and frogs songs and chatting with a local about fishing the nice little stream.



After returning to the van, played Hand and Foot - Leslie win.

May 2
Cool, but sunny! Breezy too. A brisk little run for me on the gravel road, then we continue towards Roanoke. Our fun stop for the day was at Calvin's Cove trails northwest of town for biking. The trails were pretty good, user friendly, and relatively well maintained.

Calvin's Cove

Love seeing decorated trees out in the woods

We both felt good and had fun on our rides. Then a couple hour drive to another area of George Washington National Forest in the southern portion of Narrowback Mountain trail system. We found dispersed camping adjacent to a nice little day use area. Dinner was mac and cheese, followed by a lovely stroll around Braley Pond.

Rudy actually took this one the next day, I think

Further entertainment with Hand and Foot - Leslie win.

May 3
A coolish morning and a decent longish run for me on mostly forest road, a little pack trail and a little singletrack too. Rudy got in some biking in the warmer afternoon. Not moving today, so soak black beans and rice all day. Other activities for me included chilling out, and some yoga in the sun - I'm kind of a fairweather yogi without the indoors! Rudy enjoyed his longer ride, followed by eating, and Hand and Foot and 3-13, Rudy takes both!

May 4
Cooler, overcast, and supposed to be afternoon rain. A shorter run for me, then we travel a bit north to another area of Narrowback Mountain. Our separate rides both ended up being more than we bargained for! I intended on the Lookout Mountain loop, and pretty much did it, albeit with a few unintentional bonus miles, and rugged down tree crossings. There was actually lots of time on paved and gravel roads, and the few miles of singletrack I did get on the Wild Oak Trail was only somewhat manageable for me - lots of rock gardens and steep decents and I was pretty wore out by the end, where I got to cross a suspension bridge with high, less than bike handlebar width railings - should've gotten more pictures, pretty scenic!

Was a little disappointed with the recommended scenic overlook

Rudy was out longer than I was and he ended up with more of a back country adventure with the trail hard to find in some areas, but he did better with getting good flower pics.

Azalea

Moccasin Flower

The whole day was cool and threatening to rain, but the precipitation held off until after we departed on a drive of just under two hours northeast to Little Fort Campground - more of an OHV area and actually not far from the Massanutten Trail, which is hosted a 100 mile run in the upcoming weekend - heard it was a soggy one. Dinner was lentils and quinoa, fun was Hand and Foot - close game but Leslie takes it! A very rainy night.

May 5
The rain seemed to have let up by early morning - we didn't have service to check weather, but chanced a little bit of a hike on the Massanutten and Tuscarora Trails - lots of water on them, but rocky and not muddy, so not bad.

Sassafras!

Mountain Laurel

Still need to find this one...

 


The rest of the day was getting to a couple of my MTU running teammates Christy and Paul just outside Baltimore, kicking off another good stretch of visiting people.

Brevard, Bent Creek, and Boone, NC

April 24
Damp and cool, with not a lot of rain first thing, though it picked up during the morning, and still in the 40s, but supposed to turn back to Spring soon! The van had a little trouble getting out after a couple inches of rain, and I had to operate a vehicle for the first time in nearly ten months while Rudy pushed - no big deal. We headed a little further south, stopping at Sliding Rock, which we thought might be some geologic feature, but was actually a natural 'waterslide', and Looking Glass Falls - big and pretty.

No Sliding Rock takers when 50F after a couple inches of rain

Looking Glass Falls

Eventually got into Brevard for groceries and spent some time at Blue Ridge Bakery for treats and internet. We went overboard on the treats- my  favorites were the Outrageous Brownie and gingerbread men (bready and spicy), the pecan bar and cherry almond bar were also very tasty, and we also had a blueberry muffin and eclair (Rudy picks, I just sampled and was happy to let him have the rest!) - I'll note these were saved and enjoyed during the next couple days! We also stopped by a bike shop (the Hub, which also has lots of camping stuff, a tavern, and typically some food trucks around), but they didn't have much for recommendations on the best areas after the wet weather - just in general that higher ground might be better. We went back onto another forest road in Pisgah, closer to Brevard, with dispersed camping - quite a few people around, but not bad. We took a short stroll, mostly to check out a nearby 'group' camping site, and found a biker to chat up - he didn't have much mud on him and gives us hope the trails weren't too bad. Ate pasta and played Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 25
Cool and foggy, but some blue sky! I got up relatively early and got in a short run before we went back into Brevard for a little more town stuff, including stopping by Bracken Mountain Bakery (they were closed yesterday), which has more bread than treats - we picked up walnut whole wheat bread, a couple scones and a ginger-molasses cookie - all pretty good. We then decided to try Dupont State Forest for biking. Most of the trails were happily drier than expected, the doubletrack ones certainly had more water than the singletrack, and all of it has a very sandy/rocky base, so bikes and legs got sandy but no rutty mud! My loop became more of an out and back due to a river crossing - looked a little unruly from the recent rain.

Uncertain depth...not trying this one along!

Rudy's loop was more successful, and he was out for quite a while, enjoying the lovely weather. We were a little later getting back to camp, made quick shells and cheese, and got on with more Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 26
A little warmer and clearer this morning, good for a longish run for me. It was mostly gravel road, with a failed attempt at trail as I went on an overgrown forest service road instead of the singletrack a little further on. A chill morning otherwise, then we headed back to Dupont to an area north of the prior day. More good trails, I even rode Ridgeline, labeled as 'advanced' but not very technical, just steep and fast with big berms, jumps and such. I wasn't out too long so had a couple hours before Rudy finishes his ride, I got to hang out with the bees.

They piled up in the bug netting - eek!

Rudy met some Vermonters out on the trail to ride with the next day, we met for a beer at the Hub
to plan, since there was no cell service in the woods. Back later to camp again. We experimented with barley cooked in pickle juice, didn't work perfectly, may try it again though, adding more water to the brine, which I don't think soaked into the grains very well. Just one game of Hand and Foot - Rudy win.

April 27
Up and at 'em relatively early for biking with the Vermonters before mid day thunderstorms supposed to hit. We had some distraction after a pair of birds knocked themselves out on the side of the van - I enjoyed being able to easily identify them as Northern Parulas.

Female Northern Parula

Male Northern Parula

The female looked to be in rougher shape, but actually recovered and flew away sooner than the male did (he was actually still on the ground when we biked away, but gone, with no signs of foul play, when we returned.) Luckily there was very little light rain while I went out with Rachel and the dog, Ross, up Thrift Cove Trail (marked as beginner, but really a longish, steepish, semi-technical climb) and down the lower part of the 'advanced' Black Mountain, not as crazy as the upper sections apparently - doable and fun for us! We chatted for a while about biking and traveling as Rudy and Henry were out on a bigger adventure, with rain slightly increasing - they didn't get poured on though. About noon the Vermonters continued on with their vacation, and we had another lazy rain day, though it didn't actually rain a ton. Fantastic Four, tea, reading, and puzzling. Dinner was bean burritos, and fun was Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 28
Cool morning. My ambitions to get up early for a run didn't happen, but still got in an OK run, legs a bit tired.  The sunny morning was good for a couple flower pictures though.

Yet another variety of Trillium

May Apples

We packed up and headed back north, stopping by the Ranger Station for water and talked to an older couple from South Carolina that were pretty excited about our trip - haven't gotten sick about other's enthusiasm yet! We continued on to Bent Creek Experimental Forest just south of Asheville. A popular place with nice trails, though lots of intersections. I didn't mind all the stopping, still tired legs. A lack of planning ended up with me not hitting the trails I intended, but what I got on was enjoyable, and I loved the hot sunny day. Rudy had a longer fun ride, as usual. After the rides, we skirted around Asheville, stopping at REI for Rudy to get a new pair of bike shoes, I also picked up some clearance arm sleeves. We also made a stop at Stone Bowl for Korean food - good to us! We traveled further north to the Grandfather district of Pisgah National Forest to just clean up and sleep. Got in a quick game of Trivial Pursuit - Rudy win.

April 29
A beautiful morning, relatively warm, nice for another early rise to get to Boone by 9 so Rudy can help out with a big trail work day at Rocky Knob - yay! I was selfish and ran the trails while others were improving them.

Little Irises

Boat Rock Trail - its a little rocky

More Trilliums!

Rocky Knob has some skill parks, good signs, and nice views

After the trail work and some lunch, there was a group ride and I opted to bike too (requesting they didn't wait for me!) I'm glad I did, I felt better and rode better than I would have thought and actually had fun! After the ride and a little shopping, we made our way back to Travis and Lauren's to steal some showers and help celebrate Travis's birthday - they were super nice letting us hang out uninvited at their closer-friend party. There were some light bouts of rain, but otherwise a wonderful evening - lots of biking conversation!

Pisgah - Big Ivy and Mill River

April 18
Rudy wrapped up van repair stuff (ended up not needing to do much, but replaced some brake sensors) and I got in a decent run of ten miles of sidewalk and gravel path, more than intended, but I enjoyed it. After a little cleanup, cheesecake, and farewells, we departed Boone and headed a couple hours south to Pisgah National Forest Big Ivy area northeast of Asheville. Kind of a damp day, and we didn't do anything too ambitious. Rudy finally opened the coconut - seemed past its prime and we weren't brave enough to sample. I took a nice stroll and looked up some flowers despite the spotty service.

Violas

Fern and geranium

Trillium

Bellwort

Ate shells and cheese with mushrooms and played Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 19
Light rain in the morning, but no significant precipitating, and I was motivated to run! I went up, up, up the gravel road a bit over an hour, took an old road bed of more rolling hills, which was a bit grassy with a few mucky spots.  Most of the descending was on a short, way too steep stretch of singletrack (actually my slowest mile of the run!), then back on the gravel road. Rudy biked more of the singletrack in the area - we actually met as he was pushing his bike up the steep stretch I descended. After three hours and 15 miles on my feet, I enjoyed lots of eating and wandering around looking at flowers, and the sun actually came out!

Foam Flower

Butterflies!

Another Bellwort

Jack in the Pulpit!!!

Rudy finished up a bike ride, lunched, and got back out again! I eventually got on the bike too, just an out and back on the gravel road, taking stops for photos on the way that I didn't make time for during the run, so barely faster than the run. I had fun though.

Duthman's Breeches, I think

This was pretty cool in the fog too

The fault makes this look fake

Cool cliff and magnolias

With the lack of sun, I took a pretty tepid solar shower, but at least the weather was nice. Rudy returned from ride two and a clean up in the creek just in time for food. My favorite gruel of split peas and sweet potatoes, followed by Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 20
Another cool and drizzly morning with scattered thunderstorms forecast for the day. We headed toward Asheville, some along the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. Stopped in town for groceries and a little wifi and caffiene gorging at Starbucks, then continued further down Blue Ridge Parkway and into more of the Pisgah National Forest southwest of Asheville. Rudy's first camping option was to be near Bent Creek Experimental Forest, but there was a closed gate at the access road. So we went further south and ended up in the Mills River area of Pisgah National Forest, where camping is allowed at designated sites only. Found one decent drive in spot that was next to an already occupied site with dogs that barked, but didn't seem problematic. A few bouts of light rain during the afternoon, nothing major though, and I got out for a stroll along the Funneltop Mountain trail. Rudy biked some of the surrounding singletrack, just checking things out, and reported most areas were wet, but mostly rocky and sandy base meant the mud wasn't bad at all - and he saw a bear! I just saw some birds.

nice view

magnolias

Rudy was back past regular dinner time, and I was contemplating if I should go look for him! No need though. We made quick and delicious bean burritos and played one game each of Hand and Foot and 3-13, Leslie's night for both games!

April 21
A cool but pleasant morning - the forecast pushed the chance of thunderstorms into the afternoon, which was lucky for Rudy. When he thought rain would start before noon, he had planned to bike early, but slept in instead! Both of us got out for a bike ride. I checked out some of the 'intermediate' trail nearby - still way too advanced for me, lots of walking up, and even down, the steeper rooty sections. Still, a nice day, cool scenery, and only one minor crash.

An awesome overlook, worth a little detour

I swear the trail is steeper than it looks

Being Friday, by early afternoon, we acquired some new neighbors, with horses, a dog, two little kids, and a chainsaw - really no issues to complain about though! Rudy enjoyed his ride and actually came across some guys he rode with a few years ago when he was in the area for work. The afternoon did bring thunderstorms, reading, and puzzling. Dinner was pasta, then Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 22
A beautiful day, we each got out for longer respective bike and run. Black Mountain for Rudy - one of the more famed technical downhill trails in the area. Pink Beds and Barnet Branch trails for me, plus gravel road to get to and from. I managed to get in over half, mostly easy singletrack for the 31+ mile outing with nothing to complain about - one little tumble to get my arms dirty.

On Barnet Branch, the only picture I got myself to take on the run

Refueled with plenty of lentils and quinoa and relaxed with more Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 23
Lots of rain overnight and through the whole day. I got out to hike a couple hours anyhow in the morning - luckily light rain for most, though the precipitation picked up near the end so I got to finish up nicely soggy. We ran the van a bit to help dry things out, and add a little warmth as the temperature steadily dropped down into the 40s! So lots of van time, watched Straight Outta Compton, lots of tea, puzzling and reading. I was feeling confident enough after the prior day's run to sign up for Kettle Morraine 100 mile in early June, probably too soon, but yeah... We continued the rainy day tradition of soaked black beans and rice, and played Hand and Foot - two Leslie wins!

Knoxville, TN to Boone, NC

April 11
Sunny! The air was warm enough I even enjoyed a little yoga pre-breakfast. Just a little listening to birds and watching fish swim around in the lake (bass, I think), and Rudy finding and husking a deserted coconut (didn't open it up yet), before departing Lake Santeetlah for Knoxville. We drove Highway 129, which is excessively winding. Lots of motorcycles and photographers on scenic turns - like in running races!

Scenic

Destination was Ijams Urban Wilderness, Mead Quarry trailhead. A good variety of trails, though a little confusing to navigate at times with many intersections - I particularly enjoyed how spring like the area looked!

Mead Lake

So green!

An old cemetery along Tharp Trace

Pretty Plants

A run/hike for me - tired legs to start and end, but had a few miles in the middle that felt nice. Rudy said he felt similar for his longer ride. Dinner was just snacking in the park, letting the air cool off before showering (got into the 80s). Rudy didn't find any good camping options close to town and we resorted to the second night of our trip at a Walmart parking lot. Played only one game of Hand and Foot - Leslie win!

April 12
Some rain overnight, didn't seem too wet though. We went to Baker Creek Preserve, still part of Ijams, with less facilities and people than the Quarry. The trails here are more flowy and downhill, a little tacky and certainly not too much rain last nigh! A shorter run and ride for me was fun and felt good. Rudy biked a few hours and claimed to still felt like a turd. Amazing weather again though, so hard to really complain. After cleaning up we headed east a couple hours to camp in Nantahala National Forest, between Asheville, NC and Greeneville, TN, in a bit of a valley, so no service - hooray! Closed out the evening with bean burritos and Hand and Foot - two Rudy dominations.

April 13
Cool and clear, and late with the sun getting in, but so nice when it showed up! We had a little fun watching a snail before we hiked up the Fork Ridge trail.

Snail fun

A very steep, 1,700' climb in two miles, brought us to the Appalachian Trail. We jogged/hiked 'north' (actually going east) a couple miles along the North Carolina/Tennessee border, looped around 'Big Rock' then headed back.

An easier portion of the AT

View from the top of Big Rock

AT around Big Rock

When we hit Fork Ridge, Rudy made his descent while I went on for a couple more miles 'south' on the AT to get a little more running. Challenging, but fun.

Our pretty little camp creek

Another nearby creek - manmade fishing or swimming hole?

We played around in the nearby creek a bit and had lots of hanging out 'recovering', including a pre-dinner game of Rummy 5000 - Rudy win. Made pasta, then played Hand and Foot - thought I had a chance, but Rudy crushed me, then 3-13 - Leslie dominated!

April 14
Another nice, relaxed morning. We continued east, stopping by the Beech Mountain Ski area for the Emerald Outback trails. This was a bit technical for me - very rooty and short but steep climbs, but good to get some movement, legs were sore from the steep Fork Ridge Trail.

Elk River Valley Overlook

Just a couple hours of bike fun, then we headed to Boone to visit a college friend of mine, Travis, and his wife Lauren. We hung out in the lovely afternoon sun, chatting a few hours, then took a nice (though hilly) stroll through the Appalachian State University campus, downtown and to Vidalia to eat 'upscale Southern'. We sampled pimento cheese with sorghum hoe cakes and bready onion rings, and had entrees of chicken and waffles and catfish - all delicious, but I definitely overate! Everyone was full, and happy to have a little walk back to the house after, which included a stop at a cookie shop where Travis did get a couple cookies and Rudy had some ice cream. Just a chill evening after that.

April 15
A nice, relaxed Saturday morning before the four of us drove about an hour south to the Wilson Creek area, popular for fishing and mountain biking. I opted to do some running while the rest of the group mixed up gravel roads and steeper downhill trails for a few hours of biking. I ended up mostly running gravel too, I checked out some of the relatively new Mountains to Sea Trail and some other hiking trails, but it was more technical than I was up for that day, having my heart set on more running than hiking.

Pretty rock and waterfall

Mountain to Sea Trail

Despite the easier pace, it was not an awesome run for me (I blame all the fried food), a few afternoon sprinkles actually woke me up and felt good. The bikers had a good time though, and definitely a pretty area, so all good. Travis had started a pork shoulder (aka Boston Butt) in the smoker early in the morning, so we got to enjoy that al fresco once we returned to Boone, along with homemade barbecue sauce, cornbread, and salads - once again, we had some fantastic hosts! Rudy made a cheesecake too! But couldn't enjoy that until the next day, so Travis picked up some cookies from another cookie shop in town - I guess college towns need lots of options for sweets.

April 16
Lauren had some office work to take care of and Travis a few errands to run (Rudy tagged along on that), so I tried another longish run to the nearby trails at Rocky Knob. This is a small (~7 miles of trail) but nice, and challenging system of newer mountain bike trails - friendly to those on foot too. Over half my run was getting to and from the trails, but I felt good and had fun, even with the town running. The guys also headed out for an afternoon bike ride. There was some showers later in the day, so we ate indoors, scrumptious smoked pork tacos! Then more visiting while dinner settled enough to finally dig into some cheesecake - turned out dense and creamy, one of Rudy's best efforts I'd say!

April 17
Back to regular life for Lauren and Travis. Rudy needed to do some van repairs and had ordered parts last week to arrive in the afternoon. Unfortunately, not all the parts made it, but an auto parts store was able to fill in the gaps the following day. I took an excessively easy day - just some nice yoga on the deck, reading, wasting time on Facebook, and making pizza dough. My pizzas turned out a little tougher than usual, almost cracker-like crust, but still tasted good - did a Greek veggie-style with olives, capers, garlic, and spinach, along with a smoked pork and sauerkraut. More chill visiting and cheesecake to close out our final evening in Boone.