Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in Virginia



On Sunday (July14) we left the Dixie Caverns campground and drove about a hundred miles to a National Park Service campground called Grindstone. It is located in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in the southwest corner of Virginia. This is a very mountainous region and is the site of the highest point in Virginia which is 5729 feet above sea level. Grindstone is in an old growth forest, the tall trees and the canopy of green leaves only allowing speckled sunlight on the rhododendrons and moss covered boulders below.  The rhododendrons are flowering right now; dressing the mountain in its summer best, especially scenic is down by the campground wading pool. Cool spring water bubbles its way down the rocky stream bed to fill the sparkling pool. On weekends when the campground fills with families, intrepid youngsters will brave the pool of crisp mountain water and swear it’s not cold even as their lips turn blue.



Grindstone is one of the nicest campgrounds I’ve ever been in. Millie and I haven’t discussed it’s rating on our 1-5 scale but in spite of it not having internet, cell phone service, cable TV or full utility hookups, I think we will still rate it very high.

After setting up our campsite we drove about 6 miles to visit Millie’s sister Betty and her husband Paul. They have a blueberry grove on their property and Millie and I picked 3 gallons of berries in about an hour.



On Monday (July 15) we drove to Damascus Virginia to an outfitter where we rented bicycles and arranged for a shuttle to the summit of White Top Mountain. An almost 18 mile section of the Virginia Creeper Trail runs from White Top to the town of Damascus, and here’s the good part, it is a wide smooth old railroad bed  and all downhill! The first ten miles is an average 6 degree decline and you use brakes most of the time, rarely pedaling at all. The rest is still down hill at about 2 degrees and requires occasional casual pedaling. Most of the route is thru National forest and is very scenic as it follows a river down the mountain. We crossed over approximately 25 trestles and bridges as the trail switched from one side of the river to the other. Part of the Appalachian Trail follows the Creeper trail so we saw some of the back pack trekkers walking their way south to Georgia. We also met hikers, horse back riders and a few folks with questionable mental capabilities. The last group were easy to spot, they were the bicyclist’s who where pedaling uphill!



I’m giving the Virginia Creeper trail my highest recommendation, it takes about four hours to traverse the down hill section and it is very easy to do, we saw families with kids as young as 5-6 pedaling their own bikes, younger kids behind a parent on a tandem bike and a toddler in a  bike trailer. There are several outfitters in Damascus offering bike rentals and shuttle service, there are at least two rest stop facilities along the trail and a trailside restaurant at about the half way point.

                                        Junction of Virginia Creeper and Appalachian Trails


When we got off the trail we called Paul and Betty and made arrangements to meet them at a Mexican restaurant in Chilhowie. After our long day on the trail Millie and I both ate our entire dinner, something we rarely do. Most of the time we take half of our restaurant meals home with us.

Tuesday (July 16) we enjoyed the campground taking the girls for several walks. We also visited Paul and Betty again where I used their internet service to make reservations at our next destination. Betty made a delicious homemade pizza which we savored alfresco on their porch; afterwards we had a desert of ice cream and blueberry pie made with fruit from their berry patch.

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